Smart, strong, and a follower of the Jewish God, Lydia has nonetheless always quietly conformed to the expectations of the wealthy Roman society surrounding her. Even though married off at fifteen to a man she dislikes, she is determined to be a faithful wife. But when her husband is killed some years later, Lydia vows never to remarry and returns to her father's house in Thyatira with her twelve-year-old daughter. There, a new life begins to emerge. // As she is trained in the family dye business, Lydia’s shrewd management quickly creates profit, prestige—and envy. At odds with her jealous brother, who is a staunch Roman and can't understand her obsession with the Jewish religion, Lydia finds herself yet again at the mercy of a patriarchal society. Will fleeing to Philippi be enough to protect herself and those under her care? Will she keep her vow to widowhood when a handsome Greek God-fearer turns out to be more than just an employee? ​And when she meets a strange man named Paul the apostle by the river one Sabbath day, will Lydia have the courage to once more let her life be dramatically changed—this time forever?

Fully revised and expanded, this new work is the first major revision of the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in more than 40 years! It is the official revision of Lesser Feasts and Fasts and authorized by the 2009 General Convention. All commemorations in Lesser Feasts and Fasts have been retained, and many new ones added. Three scripture readings (instead of current two) are provided for all minor holy days. Additional new material includes a votive mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, many more ecumenical commemorations, plus a proper for space exploration. For years the oft revised volume, Lesser Feasts and Fasts (LFF), has served parishes and individuals mark part of the holiness of each day by providing Scripture readings, a collect, a Eucharistic preface, and a narrative about those remembered on the church's calendar that day whose lives have witnessed to the grace of God. Holy Women, Holy Men (HWHM) is a major effort to revise, but also to expand and enrich LFF. Where LFF provided two readings (gospel and other New Testament) plus a psalm, HWHM adds an Old Testament citation. Where LFF was limited to few non-Anglicans in the post-reformation period (and few non-Episcopalians after 1789), HWHM dramatically broadens appreciation for other Christians and their traditions. Over-emphasis on clergy is redressed by additional laity, males by females, and "in-church" activities by contributions well beyond the workings of institutional agendas. These almost daily commemorations occupy over 600 of the book's 785 pages, by far the lion's share of its content. Remaining sections address: principles of revision and guides for future revision; liturgical propers for seasons (Advent/Christmas, Lent, and Easter); and new propers for a miscellany of propers usable with individuals (or events) not officially listed in the formal calendar. Two cycles of propers for daily Eucharist are also included, one covering a six week period, the other a two year cycle.

One of the most important steps in every young person's life is coming to the place where you decide for yourself what you believe in. Lydia, A Seller of Purple is the true story of a Pennsylvania girl looking for answers and her purpose in the closing decades of the last century. Containing all the elements of drama, suspense, romance, and narrative, this book will capture every reader's interest. Out of mean and lowly circumstances, Lydia grew strong in moral virtue and spiritual grace. Resolute in being true to her conscience, she conquered obstacle after obstacle in her faithfulness to God's service, enduring unique trials and misadventures until she at last emerged fully adjusted to a happy Christian experience. Josephine Cunnington Edwards was a woman of no little versatility. In her full life she was a missionary to Africa, wrote over 23 books on topics such as missions, history, children, and the home. She has collaborated on three TV shows, and in addition, found time to collect dolls, dishes, Siamese cats, and to do oil painting and to travel.

In 1989 we four friends, all living in different parts of the country, decided to form a working circle and write letters to each other to explore our thoughts and feelings about our current life experiences. We were friends holding hands through the experience of growing older, while seeking and finding the emerging possibilities of our lives. This book is a selection of those letters "about our joy, sadness, loss, fulfillment, laughter, and tears." These four women met in 1954 at Talledega College (one of the country's forty historically black colleges) and began an enduring friendship that continues to sustain them more than forty years later. All with accomplished careers, two in long, joyful marriages, one divorced, one widowed, and each a mother (with six sons-no daughters-among them), their intimate letters discuss everything. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! By sharing their letters in a book, Lydia, Marilyn, Otis, and Mildred reassure us that we are all extraordinary, that we are all spiritual con-querors in our "ordinary" lives--with help from our friends! Their ever-growing closeness, cultivated since their teens and early twenties, reminds us to value our friendships, whatever our age. And, as they enjoy their late fifties, these four women not only give voice to a generation no longer young in years, but they also exuberantly redefine what it means to grow older.

It's a man's world? ? and Lydia lives and works in the heart of it. Selling luxurious purple in a Roman trade city, she watches the people struggle to preserve their decaying empire through devotion to pale, lifeless gods of stone and myth. Followers of The Way arrive and share with Lydia and the citizens of Philippi a powerful new message of love and redemption. Caught in the middle is Marcus, Lydia's young cousin whom she raised as her own. Marcus searches for truth in a world of deceit. Seduced by the ways of Rome, he questions the promise of hope through Jesus of Nazareth. Can Lydia survive in this man's world and help Marcus choose the correct path?