Imagine listening in as Mary Magdalene experiences that first Easter. Join Lazarus after Jesus raised him from the dead. Share with Mary the mother of Jesus in exile in Egypt after escaping Bethlehem. These are just some of the forty monologues this book offers. Arranged around the seasons of the church's year, these imagined reflections offer familiar characters from the four Gospels and Acts. They are joined by a wider cast of women and men: someone in the crowd listening to John the Baptist, a young woman at the Last Supper, pilgrims in Jerusalem at Pentecost. Each monologue is brief enough to use in public worship. As a preacher and worship leader, Neil Thorogood treasures the opportunity to open the Bible with others, and hopes these pieces will add to that experience. They offer new ways into familiar texts, sitting alongside biblical passages to open fresh encounters with Scripture and all it reveals. As someone who regularly seeks out good worship material, Thorogood knows the importance of quickly finding the right thing for the right moment. The indexes show which biblical texts each monologue is based upon, and link each piece to relevant seasons in the Revised Common Lectionary.
