Our Books

Books from our own Unbroken Circle Press and other titles from leaders and friends of the Fellowship.

Jubilation: Cultures of Sacred Music

Vol. 2 of the Unbroken Circle Series

This collection of essays from the Fellowship of St. Moses the Black brings forth the old and the new with material from past conferences, and essays and interviews special to this volume.

“Must God Remain Greek? Such is the title of a theology text that could have also asked, ‘Must God Remain Slavic?’ The worship and music of the Orthodox Church was venerably shaped in and through those and other cultural worlds, and subsequently wherever the Church would take
root. This book awakens us to how our Living Tradition is coming to sing within a culture deeply ready for it; it testifies to how the seeds of the Word are growing in rich soil tilled by centuries of faith and struggle. But Jubilation will also significantly broaden, deepen, and enrich any reader’s understanding of the Orthodox Church and of the ongoing journey of Christian faith in America.

It will show us that Orthodox Christianity, with its worship, is a bigger tent than we might have
thought.”
 
—Peter Bouteneff, D.Phil.
Professor of Systematic Theology & Director, Institute of Sacred Arts
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

Published: 2022 by Unbroken Circle Press

List price: $19.95. Available for purchase from S. Tikhon’s Monastery here
Bookstores and book group coordinators can order bulk copies of books from Unbroken Circle Press by using this order form.

Foundations: 1994-1997

Vol. 1 of the Unbroken Circle Series

This collection of talks from the foundation years of the Fellowship of St. Moses the Black Conference, 1994–1997, shows the deep resonance between the faith of the early Church and the heartfelt Christianity born out of the experience of the enslaved Africans on American soil. Indeed, the “sad joyfulness” that characterized the African Desert Fathers and Mothers of the 4th century and that permeates traditional Christianity today, is our legacy from the suffering Church of the enslaved African-Americans, our elders in the faith. Now that the link between America and the African Christian tradition is restored, the time has come to embrace the Unbroken Circle which is our rich heritage from the past—and our hope for the future.

This book is a replacement to, and updated edition of, An Unbroken Circle, which is now out of print.

Published: 2021 by Unbroken Circle Press

List price: $19.95. Available for purchase from Amazon.
Bookstores and book group coordinators can order bulk copies of books from Unbroken Circle Press by using this order form.

Akathist to the Merciful Savior: Healer of the Wounds of American Slavery

A prayer service written in the traditional form of the Orthodox Christian akathist, with 13 sections. Each one is dedicated to the common experience of captive Africans or Native Americans or to specific lives that shone for their especial dedication to Jesus Christ.

Published: 2021 by Unbroken Circle Press

List price: $5.00. Available for purchase from Amazon.

A PDF version of the Akathist is also available for free.

Bookstores and book group coordinators can order bulk copies of books from Unbroken Circle Press by using this order form.

Become All Flame: Lent with African Saints

Recovering the tradition of African Christian holy men and women from centuries-long neglect, Fr. Deacon John R. Gresham, Jr. restores the sacredness of early African Christians to modern seekers. This book is a remedy for the broken images about Black sanctity that have eroded the hope of the African diaspora and the whole Church in the years since violence, greed, and negligence pushed these stories into obscurity. From the African pilgrim who carried Christ’s cross in His passion to the holy women in hiding who overcame demons in Christ’s name, these African Christian ancestors shone so brightly that they still enlighten the Church, extending the call to the African diaspora to reclaim their place at God’s table. With poetic prayers and suggested scripture readings after each brief recollection of a saint, this daily lenten devotional will draw you into habits that will build you up to be more like the saints, too.

This collection of the stories of 49 saints from Africa can be read in Lent or at any time of the year.

Author: Fr. Dn. John R. Gresham, Jr.

Published: Available February 20, 2022 by Park End Books.

List price: $17.95. Available for purchase from Park End Books.

The Prayer of a Broken Heart: An Orthodox Christian Reflection on African American Spirituality

What do African American spirituality and Orthodox Christianity have in common? More than you might think. Drawing on both his own background as a biracial convert to Orthodoxy and historical resources that span St. Athanasius to Frederick Douglass, Fr. Paul Abernathy details the many intersections between these two traditions, including a redemptive understanding of the Cross and a faith shaped by suffering and persecution. In so doing, he points to a new path whereby Orthodox Christianity can uniquely answer the spiritual needs of African Americans.

Author: Rev. Paul Abernathy

Published: 2022 by Ancient Faith Publishing

List price: $16.95. Available for purchase from Ancient Faith.

Ebook: $8.99 at Orthodox Christian Ebooks.

Loneliness or Fruitful Longing

Transformative Wisdom Series, Volume 1

Loneliness or Fruitful Longing is for pastors, counselors, and people seeking hope for their own loneliness. It explores loneliness, its causes and its cures. It describes human vulnerability to loneliness from personal, social, and economic perspectives. It describes the impact of loneliness on physical and mental health, suicide, abortion. Finally, the book proposes spiritual approaches to resolve loneliness. Loneliness or Fruitful Longing expands on a talk originally delivered at the 20th annual Ancient Christianity and Afro-American Conference.

Author: Nun Katherine Weston, MA, LMHC

Published: 2014 by Weston Counseling, LLC

List price: $6.75. Available for purchase from Amazon.
Bookstores and book group coordinators can order bulk copies of Mother Katherine’s books by using this order form.

Race, Identity, and Reconciliation

Transformative Wisdom Series, Volume 2

Race, Identity, and Reconciliation is for anyone who seeks to be part of the conversation on the shifting paradigms of our times. The chapters are expanded from talks presented at the 22nd and 23rd annual conferences of the Brotherhood of Saint Moses the Black.

Different regional views on human value, race, and faith are at the heart of an ongoing national struggle over the identity and direction of the U.S. What insights can the Orthodox Church contribute as an expression of Christianity that was not involved in African slave trade or economy?

Author: Nun Katherine Weston, MA, LMHC

Published: 2016 by Weston Counseling, LLC

List price: $10.00. Available for purchase from Amazon.
Bookstores and book group coordinators can order bulk copies of Mother Katherine’s books by using this order form.

Illumining Shame, Anger, and Forgiveness

Transformative Wisdom Series, Volume 3

Illumining Shame, Anger, and Forgiveness examines these intrinsic human experiences through the complementary lenses of biblical faith and modern psychology. How does shame remind us that we have lost Paradise? What does anger have to do with family and social roles? How can we learn to welcome returning “prodigals”?

Author: Nun Katherine Weston, MA, LMHC

Published: 2017 by Weston Counseling, LLC

List price: $12.00. Available for purchase from Amazon.
Bookstores and book group coordinators can order bulk copies of Mother Katherine’s books by using this order form.

Anxiety, Trust, and Gratitude

Transformative Wisdom Series, Volume 4

Anxiety, Trust, and Gratitude is for any reader who desires to confront the angst of our times through living a more intentional life according to biblical precepts. The essays are based on talks presented at the 16th, 18th, and 25th annual conferences of the Fellowship of Saint Moses the Black, a pan-Orthodox, multi-racial ministry. Early Church writers define anxiety as a natural consequence of fallen human nature. Holy Scriptures give us trust and gratitude toward God as the remedy. What holds us back from practicing these essential virtues? How can we overcome the spiritual and psychological stumbling blocks?

Author: Nun Katherine Weston, MA, LMHC

Published: 2020 by Weston Counseling, LLC

List price: $12.00. Available for purchase from Amazon.
Bookstores and book group coordinators can order bulk copies of Mother Katherine’s books by using this order form.

Wade in the River: The Story of the African Christian Faith

Wade in the River is a fresh approach to the faith of Africa and its contribution to the world. Starting with the Biblical accounts of significant Africans, then passing through early Christianity, winding through the Islamic period, pressing past Western slavery, and finally arriving at the present era, the book describes the riches of ancient, African Christianity. This book fills an important gap in the need for people from all ethnic backgrounds to rethink the idea that “Christianity is a white man’s religion.”

Author: Fr. Alexii Paisius Altschul

Published: 2001

List price: Currently out of Stock – Second Edition coming in 2024

An Unbroken Circle: Linking Ancient African Christianity to the African-American Experience

This book has been replaced by Foundations: 1994-1997, Vol. 1 of the Unbroken Circle Series. See above.

Reflections on Nature in These Times

Reflections on the Orthodox Christian view of nature with quotes from Scripture, the Holy Fathers, Church Services, Chief Seattle, and George Washington Carver.

Author: Hieromonk Alexii Altschul

List price: $7.95. Available for purchase from Archangel Michael Skete.