Stephen Cottrell brings home, vividly and poignantly, the physical reality of the passion story.The narrative of Holy Week is powerful and painful, and because we know how the story ends it's easy to gloss over the difficult details, and stay in the comfort zone of our understanding. The Things He Carried is a book to stimulate thought, provoke discussion and create space for contemplation.'In order to understand the cross you need to stand under it . . . w...

In the Gospel of Mark's account of the Passion narrative, Jesus calls out from the cross 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' which is the Aramaic for 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' - the first line of Psalm 22. It's an anguished expression - traditionally ascribed to King David - of defeat, failure, abandonment and despair.This series of reflections, written for Lent and Holy Week 2023 by the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, ponders the significance of these w...

'Stephen Cottrell writes about Christ as if he were here now. As if redemption were possible for all of us, as if the void that threatens to engulf us all could be filled by a personal relationship with Christ in the present. He is a compelling writer.' - Russell BrandInspired by a conversation with a barista who asked him why he became a priest, this is the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell's extended answer to that question - as well as the letter he'd...

This book explores God through the eyes of a skateboarder, using stories from the world of skateboarding to explain who God is and what God's like. When a skater first learns to street skate, pop an ollie, or ride a ramp, there is a buzz of excitement! It's the thrill of riding a skateboard joined with the fun of learning a new trick. There's a similar thrill when someone begins a relationship with God. Each step into faith can brings fun and joy, like learning a new trick. Life's journey ...

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell argues that the first two words of Christianity's most famous prayer - the Lord's Prayer - encapsulate the radical heart of the Christian faith: that we belong to each other, and that we all have access to God. And if we could understand both these ideas they would truly change our lives - and the world.Unpacking each clause of this ancient prayer both for those who want to encounter it afresh and those beyond church circles, this is the Lord's P...

Messenger, sentinel, steward ... these three words have been used to describe the work of a priest in the Church of England since Cranmer wrote the original ordination rite in 1550. Two more, servant and shepherd, were added in 1980. Taken together, these five metaphors provide a rich and resonant set of ideas through which to explore the nature of Christian ministry.In this short, lyrical book, Bishop Stephen Cottrell explores each one; based on actual addresses given to ordinands...

Imagine you hold in your hands one of the nails used to crucify Christ. Do you accept responsibility for your part in his death, or do you blame another?The Nail makes you part of the Passion. Moving, first-person accounts from eye-witnesses and active participants place you right in heart of events leading to the crucifixion and beyond.Each account can be used as a personal reflection, a focus for group discussion, sermon base or even performed as a monolo...

On Preaching is not another book about what to preach from the pulpit. It's a book about how to be heard. In an age when people resist being "preached at," when attention is fractured and trust is fragile, the spoken word still has extraordinary power - if we learn how to use it well.This book is about the craft of preaching: how listeners receive meaning, how delivery shapes understanding, and how the smallest choices in voice, structure, and presence can...

'Cottrell has a gift for inhabiting the most diverse perspectives . . . All are rendered in glorious physical language, a strange but apt mix of Scripture and modern idiom. The result is revelatory.' The TabletWalking Backwards to Christmas gives you a new and grown-up perspective on the Nativity story you first encountered in school and church Nativity plays. Stephen Cottrell gets you back into the real meaning of the childhood story simply by telling it backwards...

Meditations on the story of Holy Week and the things Jesus did, from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday until his arrest on Maunday Thursday.One extraordinary week.Jesus rides a colt into Jerusalem.He shows righteous rage in the temple.He eats with the wrong sort of people.He lets a woman anoint him with oil.He washes his disciples' feet.He breaks bread and shares wine.He prays passionately in the garden....

'In less than seventy words, Jesus gives us a prayer to learn by heart and a prayer to get inside our hearts, shaping the way we live.'This book is for beginners of all ages: Whether you know this simple prayer already, or this is your first encounter, be inspired to learn more about how and why we pray these words in this simple guide.Each phrase and page is illustrated with original lino print artworks from Jack Seymour

Congregations are often confused or uninspired by the emphasis on Old Testament themes during Advent and too “over� Christmas by December 26 to pay much attention to the gospel stories that follow Jesus' birth. Walking Backwards to Christmas starts at the end of the story, with Jesus' presentation to Anna and Simeon at the temple, and moves backwards through Herod's slaughter of the innocents, the wise men's visit, Jesus' birth in a stable, Mary's pregnancy, and finally to the...