Julia Gatta

• Background on spiritual practices for Episcopalians • Noted spiritual director shares wisdom from Anglican tradition With its great heritage from English mystics, the Episcopal Church has been “spiritual” since before it was trendy, and modern Episcopalians have been in the forefront of exploring practices beyond Anglican boundaries. Yet, perhaps only rarely do they grasp the implications of the theology embedded in these practices or in the liturgies of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, which has shaped Episcopalians in this country with its emphasis on baptismal spirituality and the centrality of the Eucharist. Julia Gatta wants to change that with her new book, Life in Christ. Applying her years of experience as pastor and spiritual director combined with her study of the spiritual wisdom of the past, she explores common Christian practices and their underlying theology through an Episcopal lens. In the tradition of Esther de Waal, Martin Smith, and Martin Thornton, with particular reference to scripture, The Book of Common Prayer, and the wisdom of the Christian spiritual tradition, she illuminates methods readers may already be practicing and provides insight and guidance to ones that may be new to them.

Go In Peace is a unique resource to develop the skills of clergy in exercising pastoral ministry as confessors – ministers of the sacramental Rite of Reconciliation. This book makes available the kind of teaching and coaching that has been done individually and informally to pass on skills and accumulated pastoral wisdom, but has not been widely accessible or well integrated into clergy training. The book provides an overview of the theology and history of the Anglican Rite of Reconciliation and its place in our tradition. The authors discuss and explore the pastoral skills needed in the ministry of reconciliation, its relationship to pastoral counselling, the disciplines of confidentiality and the integration of this ministry into mature priestly identity and spirituality. They offer practical insights into helping people to prepare for the Rite and pastoral guidance for administering the Rite itself. Finally they explore how to offer spiritual guidance that helps people to take God's forgiveness to heart and supports them in their intention to amend their lives.

Although the sacramental Rite of Reconciliation is included in many Anglican prayer books, nothing has been written expressly Anglicans since the 1980s that focuses on the pastoral skills required for this ministry. This book combines and passes on the teaching, coaching, skill development, and accumulated pastoral wisdom that has not been widely accessible or well integrated into clergy training. Realistic transcripts and "verbatims" of sample confessions and counseling sessions involving a wide range of people makes this a unique ministry resource for most seminaries and theological colleges, plus clergy in general-including Lutheran pastors who use the rite of "Individual Confession and Absolution" in the Lutheran Book of Worship.

What distinguishes Christian ministry from other helping professions? While many books tell clergy how to run a capital campaign, handle conflict, and lead a vestry, this book helps pastors, chaplains, and lay professionals appreciate the spiritual depth of their calling and reminds them that Christian ministry is Christs ministry working through them.

Spiritual Direction from the English Mystics: 'The Revelations of Divine Love', by Julian of Norwich'The Cloud of Unknowing', Anonymous'Scale of Perfection', Walter HiltonThe current popularity enjoyed by these 14th century English mystics lies in their vocation to seek union with God. Here, for the first time, Julia Gatta shows these mystics to be prototypes for the modern spiritual director, displaying keen insights into that pastoral art. At the heart of the mystics' writings is their own intense desire not merely to see and know God for themselves, but also to bring others to this union with God.