In Church, World and Kingdom: The Eucharistic Foundation of Alexander Schmemann's Pastoral Theology, author William C. Mills analyzes the pastoral and Eucharistic theology of the world-renowned Eastern Orthodox priest, pastor, professor, seminary dean, theologian, and author, Alexander Schmemann. Schmemann's theological legacy has influenced all levels of Church life. His books, articles, essays, and sermons are known world-wide and translated into numerous languages and have been referenced by theologians in the East and the West. William C. Mills expertly reminds us that for Alexander Schmemann, the scriptures, doctrine, faith, teachings, practices, and prayers of the Church are expressed and fully realized in the Eucharistic gathering.

The Byzantine liturgy, with its beauty, its richness, and its depth, intrigues, inspires, and fascinates a great number of today’s Christians; and yet it remains for many almost inaccessible if not incomprehensible. The Typikon, the liturgical book that contains the order of the liturgical celebration, is complex, whence the necessity of “decoding” it both for recent converts and for “cradle” Orthodox Christians desiring to deepen their liturgical observance.