A collection of vibrant and challenging essays on Anglicanism today, each written with real life experience at their core.

It is often said that the heart of Anglicanism is not about numbers, but it is less frequently articulated what that heart actually is.

This book identifies and testifies to that heart. Each chapter reflects on and quietly celebrates the particular character of Anglicanism, namely its incarnate ministry of prayerful presence and loving attention across a huge diversity of social contexts.

There are three notable characteristics of the chapters: firstly, the authors have spent substantial periods of time in parish ministry - in many cases in places of serious social deprivation. Secondly, the mood of the book is one of faithfulness and hope. The authors believe that the practice and communities they describe constitute the heart of Anglicanism's gift and witness to the nation. Thirdly, the style of writing is direct and unapologetic. It is beautiful in prose and simple in argument. Several of the authors have distinguished international reputations and bring profound insight from pastoral and academic experience.

This book also arises from a paradoxical situation - while Anglican theology is undergoing a notable revival worldwide, the numerical strength of Anglicanism in England is in serious decline. For example, Stephen Cherry's chapter is about the experience of a priest striving to maintain a faithful presence in a parish in which a brutal murder of a child by other children has taken place. Peter Wilcox engages with contemporary popular perceptions of glory, such as scoring an outstanding goal in a Premier League soccer game and how this interacts with the understanding of glory promised and practised by a local parish church. This is not ivory tower theology. This is theology deeply rooted in experience, which is the genius of the Anglican theological tradition.