Joan Brown Campbell offers a moving collection of prayers for any occasion. Many of the prayers included were delivered at the historic Chautauqua Institution in Southwest New York. Campbell, revered for her dedication and extraordinary leadership to the national ecumenical interfaith community, delivers powerful moments for spiritual connection. For personal reflection or public participation, each prayer offers a new connection to God and a deepened awareness of the world we live in.

Our churches and our country long for an expression of common hope. Over the last century, venerable voices in affirmation of a common faith and a common ground have been lifted and heard in Boston, such as those of John Dewey and Howard Thurman. The Dean of Marsh Chapel, Robert Allan Hill, has preached on themes related to a common hope since 2006. Hill has lifted the theology of hope, of a common hope, at the marrow of the gospel. We cherish our forebears, who taught about a common faith and preached a common ground. In church and culture today in America, it is the prospect of a lasting, sturdy, shared hope, more purple than either blue or red, for which we hunger. The sermons about a common hope collected here were preached at the Chautauqua Institution in August of 2017.