FROM "I LOVE CHRISTMAS": "The Angel of the Lord wears priest's vestments as a costume. Marsden plays the part in his stocking feet and he likes to wear socks that are weird colors, like pale green or bright yellow. The way he plays the Angel of the Lord makes you see how something can be fun and solemn at the same time." "The girl who plays Mary gets to bring a doll to be the baby. Myisha doesn't like dolls, so Tim, who played Joseph, brought his old Cabbage Patch doll." "The worst part of any performance is the time right before it starts. Everybody is dashing around trying to take care of some last-minute problem or other, and the little kids are running and yelling instead of staying organized, and there's nothing to do while you wait, so you get nervous." "When we were all clustered at the back, Marsden stood alone in front of the tree for the very last reading. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end ... I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star ... he who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon.' And with a sweep of his arm, he threw a huge handful of glitter over the congregation."	I LOVE CHRISTMAS A holiday book about family and parish celebration! By Gretchen Wolff Pritchard, with Margaret Pritchard. 78 pages. Illustrated with full-color photographs. I LOVE CHRISTMAS is about celebrating God's gift of a Savior as Christian families really celebrate it - in the family and in the Christian community, each with its special wonders. Ten-year-old Margaret introduces us to her family Christmas traditions - the home-made creche, the tree with real candles - and to equally well-loved traditions in her racially mixed urban parish, including a food pantry, late-night Eucharist, and the magnificent Christmas pageant, "People Look East." (script available in "Go, Tell it on the Mountain" - see below). Children will share her joy in yearly rituals, growing in depth as she grows in understanding year by year, and her pleasure in Christian fellowship as young and old are drawn together in celebration and service, in song, story, and prayer. The description of the pageant incorporates quotations from Scripture and hymns, deepening the book's message as a Christmas story. Full color on every page gives this holiday book the appeal of a family photo album. For children 8 to 12, or for reading aloud with 5 and up. Special direct order price: $16.50 I just read through "I Love Christmas."  What a sweet read!  I absolutely loved the book ... it brought tears to my eyes.  ~ Renée Hostetler, Licensed Kindermusik Educator, Saratoga Springs, NY
"Ms. Pritchard seems to have an amazing understanding of the way music, drama and liturgy interact. Her plays are simple to mount and are much more than simply acceptable. You're really interested, even if it's not your kid up there acting it out. Part of the reason is a subtle but persistent theological sophistication that underlies all three scripts." ~ Music Commission Newsletter, Diocese of Massachusetts "So many people commented on how moving, different and really special the pageant was this year.  In the words of one of our 'more mature members':  'This was NO CHILDREN'S CIRCUS!  This was THE SERMON!' No small compliment!  When our priest did the announcements following the Peace, he was teary-eyed as he addressed the congregation." ~ E'Lane Rutherford, Holy Cross Faith Memorial Episcopal Church, Pawleys Island, SC	GO, TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN Three Christmas Pageants for Church Schools by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard REVISED EDITION, published by Church Publishing, Inc. GO, TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN includes the scripts for three complete Christmas pageants: "Good News of Great Joy," a traditional Nativity play with carols; "A Child of Might," an adaptation in verse of Medieval mystery plays; and "People Look East," a dramatized service of lessons and carols with Eucharist (the pageant featured in "I Love Christmas"). The scripts may be used alone or as part of a Sunday service on any Sunday from Advent IV through the Christmas season. Full production notes and sheet music are included. Paperback, 8½ by 11": $22.95
"We did 'The Lord of Life' this weekend and I wanted to tell you what a wonderful experience it was for all of us - children and adults - building community, reminding us of how sight and sound are important ways we experience God, breaking down the child/grownup dichotomy in the way we think about worship." ~ Lydia Agnew Speller, Christ Church, Reading, PA "I was so taken by what I read in 'Risen With Christ' that I adapted it to a Vacation Bible School format. We stretched out your one-day program into five, and it was really one of the best we have ever experienced, and everyone who was involved in it is still glowing." ~ Harriet Claiborne, St. Michael's, Barrington, IL	RISEN WITH CHRIST Celebrating the Paschal Mystery with the Parish Family by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard RISEN WITH CHRIST offers a rich variety of resources for celebrating Holy Week and Easter with all ages in the parish family. It includes suggestions for classroom and hands-on activities with children in preparation for Holy Week; an essay on celebrating the liturgies of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil; and the full script, production notes, and sheet music for "The Lord of Life," a pageant for Eastertide incorporating Scripture, movement and song. Spiral bound: $21.00
"I think it is marvelous work, visually delightful and theologically very sound." - Madeleine L'Engle, Newbery-Award winning author "I'm a longtime fan and wanted you to know that 'Alleluia! Amen' has been a big hit with parents and students in our recent Communion classes for grades 1-3. Now we're working on making 'New Life' well-known too." ~ The Rev. Sharon Ancker Snyder, St. Michael's Church, Carmichael, CA "Every single teacher read it avidly and learned happily from it. The book becomes a springboard for questions, laughter, sharing and discussion ... this is adult education at its sneakiest!" ~ Mary Grant, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, Philadelphia, PA "I smiled all the way through your book, 'New Life.' What a wonderful job you have done with it. The little touches are magnificent: e.g. the clear balance of men and women, young and old and all the races is a teaching tool in itself." ~ The Rt. Rev. Theodore Eastman, retired Bishop of Maryland and author of "The Baptizing Community."	ALLELUIA! AMEN, The Sunday Paper's Communion Book for Children and NEW LIFE, The Sunday Paper's Baptism Book ALLELUIA! AMEN was published in 1984, follows the Episcopal Rite II Service, and has sold over 50,000 copies. Its companion volume on Baptism, NEW LIFE, was published in 1986. Clergy and teachers find the books indispensable in preparing children and families for Baptism and Communion, and deepening children's experience of the sacraments. ALLELUIA! AMEN and NEW LIFE are 7 by 8 1/2 inches in size, printed on heavy paper, and bound in brightly colored card stock. Each is about 80 pages long, in cartoon style, with big, bold pictures. Each includes the complete people's part from The Book of Common Prayer and most of the celebrant's words, in easy-to-follow cartoon form, so that even beginning readers can follow along during the liturgy, while non-readers can relate to the clear, simple pictures of the church gathered for celebration. The drawings show a great variety of priests and people, church furnishings and vestments: all sizes, shapes and styles of God's family.
ABOVE: A page from "New Life." "I think you do wonderful work. Your two books on baptism and the Eucharist capture a rich simplicity while leaving the mystery intact." ~ Marilyn Watkinson, Holy Trinity Church, Buhl, ID "Concentrates on the Eucharist as a celebration ... conveys the attitudes I want my children to adopt as their own." ~ The Church Militant, Diocese of Indiana "6-8 year olds preparing for baptism loved it, and it helped them ask questions and figure out their reasons for baptism. We used it in class, they read it at home with parents and then kept the books for themselves - all very helpful." ~ Brenda Husson, All Angels', New York NY	ALLELUIA! AMEN The Sunday Paper's Communion Book for Children ... has six chapters: BELONGING ... COMING TOGETHER ... LISTENING AND LEARNING ... PRAYING AND SHARING ... BREAKING BREAD ... GOING OUT ... unlike some communion books for children, ALLELUIA! AMEN does not embellish the liturgical text with unexplained pictures of Scruptural parallels or inspirational analogies from daily life ... the pictures relate directly to the text, and primarily show the liturgical action, with enough homey detail to make them fun to look at again and again. NEW LIFE The Sunday Paper's Baptismal Book ... focuses on the Baptismal Mystery (its Scriptural roots in the story of salvation, its powerful images, its place in our worship together) ... has four chapters: GOD'S SAVING WORK (Creation, Flood, Abraham and Sarah, The Red Sea, the Promised Land, the Messiah, the Cross, the Resurrection, new life in the Spirit) ... WATER AND THE SPIRIT (images of water, wind, fire, birth, death, rebirth, how the Church has used them to celebrate our new life in Christ) ... CHRIST'S BODY and CHRIST'S OWN FOR EVER - step by step through the order of Holy Baptism in the Book of Common Prayer. ALLELUIA! AMEN and NEW LIFE (alone or in any combination) under 10 copies: $8.00 per copy 10 or more copies: $7.00 per copy (discounts for very large orders can be arranged - call us at 203-624-2520)