Books

The Heavenly Party

When Michele embraced the Christian faith in her teens, she turned her back on a Jewish way of life that had offered her a rich cycle of celebration. In time she came to appreciate that she had lost something special and with her husband Peter, an Anglican Minister, set about trying to recapture the colour, joy and ceremony, that were once an essential part of the Christian tradition, from the time of its Jewish and Celtic roots.

In The Heavenly Party she explains what true celebration is, with ideas and resources for celebration for families, home groups and communities. She suggests symbols, rituals and liturgies to create a diverse, reverent, fun and satisfying way of life. Christians should have the best parties!

Part One: Explores the essence of true celebration and looks at God the great party giver, Jesus the great party-goer, and the implications for a church with a reputation for misery, rather than joy.

Part Two: Includes suggestions for integrating the sacred and secular, and rituals and prayers for birthdays, anniversaries, a weekly Sabbath, and many other events in the church calendar.

Part Three: Is a guide on how to organise a celebration on a wider scale - with a guide to holding a Passover, A Tabernacles Harvest Festival, a Pentecost event and many more.

Part Four: contains 50 best celebration recipes. Adapted from Michele’s monthly cookery column in Woman Alive.

Faith is a serious matter, but who says it has to be dull? Michele’s ideas and ideals are captivating and her imagery inspiring. This book dances like fire on the imagination and kindles a warm glow on the heart. To read Michele Guinness is not so much to read as to see.

Irresistibly infectious, Michele not only writes about a joyful partying spirit but lives it and draws us into it too. This further rediscovery of our rich Jewish heritage should blow church cobwebs away and make us a people of sparkling joy as well as truth.

Michele Guinness is ...refreshingly frank, irreverent, funny ..........Jewish humour is as real as English reserve. In this book the former is pitted against the latter.