Are you looking for fresh, thoughtful material for your congregation's Lenten journey that prepares them to experience the marvelous joy of the risen Christ? Here's an anthology of ready-to-use resources that you can build on to create memorable Ash Wednesday and Holy Week services. Included are: * A Season In Purgatory, an Ash Wednesday service with a sermon examining the concept of purgatory and how we atone for our sin. * Why I Am An Optimist, a service and message for Passion/Palm Sunday which reminds us why it is important to empty ourselves and experience the pain and despair of Holy Week. It is because only then can we truly participate in the optimism of God's ultimate victory which we celebrate on Easter morning. * As I Have Loved You, a moving Maundy Thursday program that recalls the scene in the Upper Room by combining the food and symbolism of a traditional Passover meal with elements of a tenebrae service. As the meal progresses, scripture passages are read and candles are extinguished, until as the service ends only one candle remains lit, reminding us that Christ is the light of the world. * Through The Eyes Of Jesus, a Good Friday service that intersperses hymns, prayers, and scripture readings with brief meditations depicting the various groups of people Jesus saw at the crucifixion. * Behold, I Show You A Mystery, a set of three choral readings that are especially appropriate for Easter sunrise services, but could be profitably used any time during the Easter season.

Leading To Easter

Religion & Spirituality

Stan Purdum

Kirk W. Bruce

Douglas Meyer

Kenneth Carlson

Christian Books & Bibles

CSS Publishing Company

In New Mercies I See, Stan Purdum does for the ministry what James Herriot did for veterinary medicine in All Creatures Great and Small. Set in rural Ohio churches, Stan's stories are humorous, poignant, thought-provoking, pathos-filled, and heartwarming. But above all, they are hopeful. Whether it's sudden rain falling on a pain-wracked young man clinging to his brother's coffin, the guilty woman whose love for an abused baby brings resurrection to them both, or the overly enthusiastic pastor who has to serve communion with walnut juice freckling his face, these accounts recognize that the persistent grace of God is never far from any one of us. I began to read New Mercies I See because I lived the pastorate for nearly forty years and have loved it all my life, but as the stories unfolded I found I was enjoying the book because I love God, love life, and love people, and these stories were increasing that love. J. Ellsworth KalasProfessor of Homiletics, Asbury Theological SeminaryAuthor of New Testament Stories from the Back SideNew Mercies I See is a wonderful book, easy to read and hard to put down. Stan Purdum writes with a simplicity and honesty that is matched by the characters he develops in story after story. In a culture that reeks with cynicism and despair, Purdum pulls back the curtain to show not a simpler age long past but contemporary vignettes which remind us that at the core of things, people are very human, struggling to make the right decisions, and some of them are fortunate to have a hard-working pastor, a person of integrity and good will, to help them along the way. You'll laugh, cry, and smile as you follow Rev. Tom Payton, the shepherd of various Ohio congregations, minister to, cope with, and comfort the lost, fallen, and sometimes bleating sheep of his United Methodist flocks. Enjoy! Timothy MerrillSenior Editor, HomileticsStan Purdum, pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Waynesburg, Ohio, is also a writer, editor, and journalist who has written for both the religious and secular press. His published works include material as varied as a study of the Gospel of John, a how-to manual for newsletter editors, direct-mail campaigns, adult Sunday school curriculum, short stories, family humor columns, and bicycle travel-narratives. In addition, he is the editor of the preaching journal Emphasis.

New Mercies I See

Literature & Fiction

United States

Playing in Traffic is an adventure-travelogue of Stan Purdum's journey by bicycle on the full length of U.S. Route 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas. Mingled in the narrative of the journey itself is the story of the U.S. highway system and accounts of several of the old historical roads that Route 62 intersects along the way. The book is filled with the author's humorous experiences, fascinating encounters, and wry observations, all on this road that slices diagonally across America's heartland.?the story of a highway, of a people, and of a journey? a fascinating and diverse portrait of America.The Louisville Herald?combines tidbits of conversations from the winding road? to be treasured? never tiresome.Craig Wilson, The Akron Beacon Journal?an unpretentious book? a grand adventure. But more than that, it opens a window onto small-town America and the ordinary people who are quite happy to live there.Donna Marchetti, The [Cleveland] Plain DealerStan Purdum is a writer, editor, and pastor. His published works include material as varied as a study of the Gospel of John, a how-to book for newsletter editors, numerous direct-mail campaigns, articles on preaching, sermons, short stories, family humor columns, and bicycle-travel narratives. He lives in North Canton, Ohio.

Playing in Traffic

Sports & Outdoors

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Books by Stan Purdum