Formed by Love (Church’s Teachings for a Changing World: Volume 5)

The New Church’s Teachings was one of the most recognizable and useful book series in the Episcopal Church. The books were a mainstay on seminarian and clergy bookshelves. With this launch of the Church’s Teachings for a Changing World series, two visionary Episcopal thinkers and church leaders team up to revitalize the currency, integrity, and scholarship of the original series with fresh new voices and style; concise and clear enough for newcomers, yet grounded and thoughtful enough for seminarians and leaders.

In volume five of Church's Teaching for a Changing World, Scott Bader-Saye, Academic Dean and Professor of Christian Ethics and Moral Theology at Seminary of the Southwest, examines the moral life through the lens of the Episcopal Church and its traditions. Beginning with an introduction to ethics in a changing world, Bader-Saye helps the reader move past the idea that we either accept cultural change as a whole or reject it whole, suggesting that Christians need to make discriminating judgments about where to affirm change and where to resist it. Part I looks at some distinctive aspects of the Episcopal ethos that shape a particular kind of moral life. Part II looks at big ethical questions including the relation of goodness and happiness, the place of rules and desires in the moral life, the significance of love and justice, and engagement with those who are different. Part III examines how an Episcopal ethos might shape a typical day – seeing Morning Prayer and Compline as bookends of moral formation between which we work, eat, and play in ways that are distinctive to our identity.

The series features nine books. The introductory book, The Episcopal Way (Volume 1), and a summary book, Companions on the Episcopal Way (Volume 9), with seven books in between which cover seven topics:

1. Scripture - A Word to Live By (Volume 7)
2. Church History - The Episcopal Story: Birth and Rebirth (Volume 2)
3. Theology - A Faith for the Future (Volume 3)
4. Ethics - Formed by Love (Volume 5)
5. Contemporary Society -Church Meets World (Volume 4)
6. Worship - Gathered for God (Volume 8)
7. Practice of Ministry - Following the Way of Jesus (Volume 6)

- The next generation of the classic New Church’s Teaching Series
- Updated content and approach, compared to earlier New Church’s Teachings series, with emphasis on mission and applicability
- Jargon-free language
- Accessible and engaging for newcomers and adult learners; appropriate content for church leaders and seminarians
- Interactive study questions and exercises and accompanied by online materials