It will be a great privilege to welcome guests to the Sarum College Bookshop for the launch of Michael Perham’s latest book, The Way of Christ-Likeness.
This practical and theological companion to Lent, Holy Week and Easter offers advice on creatively using the church’s most dramatic and transformative liturgies. It explores how commemorating Jesus’ death and resurrection is more than a reminder of the essentials of our faith, but also enables us to enter the familiar stories and discover their power to make us more Christlike in the painful events of life.
Michael Perham was Bishop of Gloucester until 2014. He is a former member of The Church of England Liturgical Commission, and is now Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Salisbury, and Visiting Scholar at Sarum College. He is the author of a number of books on the study and practice of liturgy.
Here is my introduction to this remarkable writer and liturgist.
Michael Perham
Michael has a lifelong love of liturgy and has published very widely. His books are among the most popular of their genre. Michael has embraced the remarkable developments born of the liturgical movement and translated them into pastoral and practically rooted support for clergy and laity alike. A new book from Michael is always a cause for excitement – he has been at the forefront of the liturgical revolution.
We talk a lot about pilgrimage and journey we know it is a helpful metaphor. Michael is the person who knows why and how it matters. For him, following the way of Christ is not a misty eyed commitment to the far horizon, but a deeply practical commitment to the liturgy and rhythms of the church. He loves and understand those routines and, using them, he rehearses the life of Christ and fits his own life into the gospel. It gives him a confidence and a grace that we admire.
He is an accomplished teacher. He is a visiting scholar of Sarum College, holds the Presidency of the Alcuin Club and has recently received the Cranmer award from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishop Michael welcome to Sarum College and we look forward to hearing more about this work.
James Woodward
Principal Sarum College