diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 4406e4a4..9f96a26d 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -2,4 +2,6 @@ source 'https://rubygems.org'
 
 gem 'ruby-prof', platforms: [:ruby_22, :ruby_23, :ruby_24]
 
+gem 'rake', '>= 12.3', '< 14.0'
+
 gemspec
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1ebb7b80..1543d9e8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ class Processor
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue :logs
 
-
   def work(msg)
     err = JSON.parse(msg)
     if err["type"] == "error"
diff --git a/examples/benchmark_worker.rb b/examples/benchmark_worker.rb
index d1866e3c..4f38c300 100644
--- a/examples/benchmark_worker.rb
+++ b/examples/benchmark_worker.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ class BenchmarkWorker
   from_queue 'downloads',
              exchange_options: { durable: false },
              queue_options: { durable: false },
-             :ack => true,
+             consumer_options: { manual_ack: true },
              :threads => 50,
              :prefetch => 50,
              :timeout_job_after => 1,
diff --git a/examples/max_retry_handler.rb b/examples/max_retry_handler.rb
index 4571418f..e407a6d9 100644
--- a/examples/max_retry_handler.rb
+++ b/examples/max_retry_handler.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 Sneakers.logger.level = Logger::DEBUG
 
 WORKER_OPTIONS = {
-  :ack => true,
+  :consumer_options => { :manual_ack => true },
   :threads => 1,
   :prefetch => 1,
   :timeout_job_after => 60,
diff --git a/examples/middleware_worker.rb b/examples/middleware_worker.rb
index e1ccf0b4..685fb2a2 100644
--- a/examples/middleware_worker.rb
+++ b/examples/middleware_worker.rb
@@ -21,8 +21,10 @@ def initialize(app, *args)
 
   def call(deserialized_msg, delivery_info, metadata, handler)
     puts "******** DemoMiddleware - before; args #{@args}"
-    @app.call(deserialized_msg, delivery_info, metadata, handler)
+    res = @app.call(deserialized_msg, delivery_info, metadata, handler)
     puts "******** DemoMiddleware - after"
+    
+    res
   end
 end
 
diff --git a/examples/profiling_worker.rb b/examples/profiling_worker.rb
index 1aab0abc..3abb4fc2 100644
--- a/examples/profiling_worker.rb
+++ b/examples/profiling_worker.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 class ProfilingWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'downloads',
-             :ack => true,
+             :consumer_options => { :manual_ack => true },
              :threads => 50,
              :prefetch => 50,
              :timeout_job_after => 1,
diff --git a/examples/workflow_worker.rb b/examples/workflow_worker.rb
index 0739aed1..0d1a5c6f 100644
--- a/examples/workflow_worker.rb
+++ b/examples/workflow_worker.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ class WorkflowWorker
   from_queue 'downloads',
              exchange_options: { durable: false },
              queue_options: { durable: false },
-             :ack => true,
+             consumer_options: { manual_ack: true },
              :threads => 50,
              :prefetch => 50,
              :timeout_job_after => 1,
diff --git a/lib/sneakers/configuration.rb b/lib/sneakers/configuration.rb
index 40ebedfc..5392db6f 100644
--- a/lib/sneakers/configuration.rb
+++ b/lib/sneakers/configuration.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ class Configuration
       :arguments => {}
     }.freeze
 
+    CONSUMER_OPTION_DEFAULTS = {
+      :block              => false,
+      :manual_ack         => true,
+      :arguments => {}
+    }.freeze
+
     DEFAULTS = {
       # Set up default handler which just logs the error.
       # Remove this in production if you don't want sensitive data logged.
@@ -40,12 +46,12 @@ class Configuration
       :prefetch           => 10,
       :threads            => 10,
       :share_threads      => false,
-      :ack                => true,
       :heartbeat          => 30,
       :hooks              => {},
       :exchange           => 'sneakers',
       :exchange_options   => EXCHANGE_OPTION_DEFAULTS,
-      :queue_options      => QUEUE_OPTION_DEFAULTS
+      :queue_options      => QUEUE_OPTION_DEFAULTS,
+      :consumer_options   => CONSUMER_OPTION_DEFAULTS
     }.freeze
 
 
@@ -107,6 +113,7 @@ def map_all_deprecated_options(hash)
       hash = map_deprecated_options_key(:exchange_options, :durable, :durable, false, hash)
       hash = map_deprecated_options_key(:queue_options, :durable, :durable, true, hash)
       hash = map_deprecated_options_key(:queue_options, :arguments, :arguments, true, hash)
+      hash = map_deprecated_options_key(:consumer_options, :ack, :manual_ack, true, hash)
       hash
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/sneakers/queue.rb b/lib/sneakers/queue.rb
index 0bd3a5b7..8e84e217 100644
--- a/lib/sneakers/queue.rb
+++ b/lib/sneakers/queue.rb
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def subscribe(worker)
     # retry queues, etc).
     handler = handler_klass.new(@channel, queue, worker.opts)
 
-    @consumer = queue.subscribe(block: false, manual_ack: @opts[:ack]) do | delivery_info, metadata, msg |
+    @consumer = queue.subscribe(@opts[:consumer_options]) do | delivery_info, metadata, msg |
       worker.do_work(delivery_info, metadata, msg, handler)
     end
     nil
diff --git a/lib/sneakers/runner.rb b/lib/sneakers/runner.rb
index b681baa2..37f674f1 100644
--- a/lib/sneakers/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/sneakers/runner.rb
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ def run
       @se.run
     end
 
-    def stop
-      @se.stop
+    def stop(stop_graceful=true)
+      @se.stop(stop_graceful)
     end
   end
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def to_h
 
 
     def reload_config!
-      Sneakers.logger.warn("Loading runner configuration...")
+      Sneakers.logger.info("Loading runner configuration...")
       config_file = Sneakers::CONFIG[:runner_config_file]
 
       if config_file
diff --git a/lib/sneakers/spawner.rb b/lib/sneakers/spawner.rb
index 54b04b1f..25fb4e16 100644
--- a/lib/sneakers/spawner.rb
+++ b/lib/sneakers/spawner.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require 'yaml'
+require 'erb'
 
 module Sneakers
   class Spawner
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ def self.spawn
       end
       @pids = []
       @exec_string = "bundle exec rake sneakers:run"
-      worker_config = YAML.load(File.read(worker_group_config_file))
+      worker_config = YAML.load(ERB.new(File.read(worker_group_config_file)).result)
       worker_config.keys.each do |group_name|
         workers = worker_config[group_name]['classes']
         workers = workers.join "," if workers.is_a?(Array)
diff --git a/lib/sneakers/tasks.rb b/lib/sneakers/tasks.rb
index 689aa3e6..c1b96f9c 100644
--- a/lib/sneakers/tasks.rb
+++ b/lib/sneakers/tasks.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,11 @@
     Rake::Task['environment'].invoke
 
     if defined?(::Rails)
-      ::Rails.application.eager_load!
+      if defined?(::Zeitwerk)
+        ::Zeitwerk::Loader.eager_load_all
+      else
+        ::Rails.application.eager_load!
+      end
     end
 
     if ENV["WORKERS"].nil?
diff --git a/lib/sneakers/version.rb b/lib/sneakers/version.rb
index 5304ed17..c69fef9a 100644
--- a/lib/sneakers/version.rb
+++ b/lib/sneakers/version.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 module Sneakers
-  VERSION = "2.12.0.pre"
+  VERSION = "2.13.0.pre"
 end
diff --git a/lib/sneakers/worker.rb b/lib/sneakers/worker.rb
index 53df6ce2..bfe74095 100644
--- a/lib/sneakers/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/sneakers/worker.rb
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def initialize(queue = nil, pool = nil, opts = {})
       queue_name = self.class.queue_name
       opts = Sneakers::CONFIG.merge(opts)
 
-      @should_ack =  opts[:ack]
+      @should_ack =  opts[:consumer_options][:manual_ack]
       @pool = pool || Concurrent::FixedThreadPool.new(opts[:threads] || Sneakers::Configuration::DEFAULTS[:threads])
       @call_with_params = respond_to?(:work_with_params)
       @content_type = opts[:content_type]
@@ -72,31 +72,31 @@ def process_work(delivery_info, metadata, msg, handler)
           end
           res = block_to_call.call(deserialized_msg, delivery_info, metadata, handler)
         end
-      rescue StandardError, ScriptError => ex
+      rescue SignalException, SystemExit
+        # ServerEngine handles these exceptions, so they are not expected to be raised within the worker.
+        # Nevertheless, they are listed here to ensure that they are not caught by the rescue block below.
+        raise
+      rescue Exception => ex
         res = :error
         error = ex
         worker_error(ex, log_msg: log_msg(msg), class: self.class.name,
                      message: msg, delivery_info: delivery_info, metadata: metadata)
-      end
-
-      if @should_ack
-
-        if res == :ack
+      ensure
+        if @should_ack
+          case res
           # note to future-self. never acknowledge multiple (multiple=true) messages under threads.
-          handler.acknowledge(delivery_info, metadata, msg)
-        elsif res == :error
-          handler.error(delivery_info, metadata, msg, error)
-        elsif res == :reject
-          handler.reject(delivery_info, metadata, msg)
-        elsif res == :requeue
-          handler.reject(delivery_info, metadata, msg, true)
-        else
-          handler.noop(delivery_info, metadata, msg)
+          when :ack then handler.acknowledge(delivery_info, metadata, msg)
+          when :error then handler.error(delivery_info, metadata, msg, error)
+          when :reject then handler.reject(delivery_info, metadata, msg)
+          when :requeue then handler.reject(delivery_info, metadata, msg, true)
+          else
+            handler.noop(delivery_info, metadata, msg)
+          end
+          metrics.increment("work.#{self.class.name}.handled.#{res || 'noop'}")
         end
-        metrics.increment("work.#{self.class.name}.handled.#{res || 'noop'}")
-      end
 
-      metrics.increment("work.#{self.class.name}.ended")
+        metrics.increment("work.#{self.class.name}.ended")
+      end
     end
 
     def stop
diff --git a/sneakers.gemspec b/sneakers.gemspec
index 9e29a2e5..c9456cb3 100755
--- a/sneakers.gemspec
+++ b/sneakers.gemspec
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |gem|
   gem.email         = ['jondotan@gmail.com']
   gem.description   = %q( Fast background processing framework for Ruby and RabbitMQ )
   gem.summary       = %q( Fast background processing framework for Ruby and RabbitMQ )
-  gem.homepage      = 'http://sneakers.io'
+  gem.homepage      = 'https://github.com/jondot/sneakers'
   gem.license       = 'MIT'
   gem.required_ruby_version = Gem::Requirement.new(">= 2.2")
 
@@ -27,13 +27,12 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |gem|
   gem.add_dependency 'bunny', '~> 2.14'
   gem.add_dependency 'concurrent-ruby', '~> 1.0'
   gem.add_dependency 'thor'
-  gem.add_dependency 'rake', '~> 12.3'
+  gem.add_dependency 'rake', '>= 12.3', '< 14.0'
 
   # for integration environment (see .travis.yml and integration_spec)
   gem.add_development_dependency 'rabbitmq_http_api_client'
   gem.add_development_dependency 'redis'
 
-  gem.add_development_dependency 'rake', '~> 12.3'
   gem.add_development_dependency 'minitest', '~> 5.11'
   gem.add_development_dependency 'rr', '~> 1.2.1'
   gem.add_development_dependency 'unparser', '0.2.2' # keep below 0.2.5 for ruby 2.0 compat.
diff --git a/spec/sneakers/publisher_spec.rb b/spec/sneakers/publisher_spec.rb
index fd7f79b3..ede79030 100644
--- a/spec/sneakers/publisher_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/sneakers/publisher_spec.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
     {
       :prefetch => 25,
       :durable => true,
-      :ack => true,
+      :consumer_options => {
+        :manual_ack => true
+      },
       :heartbeat => 2,
       :vhost => '/',
       :exchange => "sneakers",
diff --git a/spec/sneakers/queue_spec.rb b/spec/sneakers/queue_spec.rb
index fe203f4f..421d60b4 100644
--- a/spec/sneakers/queue_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/sneakers/queue_spec.rb
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   let :queue_vars do
     {
       :prefetch => 25,
-      :ack => true,
       :heartbeat => 2,
       :vhost => '/',
       :exchange => "sneakers",
@@ -16,6 +15,10 @@
       },
       queue_options: {
         durable: true
+      },
+      :consumer_options => {
+        :block => false,
+        :manual_ack => true
       }
     }
   end
diff --git a/spec/sneakers/worker_handlers_spec.rb b/spec/sneakers/worker_handlers_spec.rb
index 7d3f15a7..495c49d0 100644
--- a/spec/sneakers/worker_handlers_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/sneakers/worker_handlers_spec.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@
 class HandlerTestWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => true
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => true
+             }
+
 
   def work(msg)
     if msg.is_a?(StandardError)
diff --git a/spec/sneakers/worker_spec.rb b/spec/sneakers/worker_spec.rb
index 0217fa7a..1d821e7c 100644
--- a/spec/sneakers/worker_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/sneakers/worker_spec.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ class DummyWorker
                :exclusive => true,
                :arguments => { 'x-arg' => 'value' }
              },
-             :ack => false,
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => false
+             },
              :threads => 50,
              :prefetch => 40,
              :exchange => 'dummy',
@@ -38,7 +40,9 @@ def work(msg)
 class AcksWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => true
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => true
+             }
 
   def work(msg)
     if msg == :ack
@@ -56,7 +60,9 @@ def work(msg)
 class PublishingWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => false,
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => false
+             },
              :exchange => 'foochange'
 
   def work(msg)
@@ -67,7 +73,9 @@ def work(msg)
 class JSONPublishingWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => false,
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => false
+             },
              :exchange => 'foochange'
 
   def work(msg)
@@ -78,7 +86,9 @@ def work(msg)
 class LoggingWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => false
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => false
+             }
 
   def work(msg)
     logger.info "hello"
@@ -88,7 +98,9 @@ def work(msg)
 class JSONWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => false,
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => false
+             },
              :content_type => 'application/json'
 
   def work(msg)
@@ -98,7 +110,10 @@ def work(msg)
 class MetricsWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => true
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => true
+             }
+
 
   def work(msg)
     metrics.increment "foobar"
@@ -109,7 +124,9 @@ def work(msg)
 class WithParamsWorker
   include Sneakers::Worker
   from_queue 'defaults',
-             :ack => true
+             :consumer_options => {
+               :manual_ack => true
+             }
 
   def work_with_params(msg, delivery_info, metadata)
     msg
@@ -176,7 +193,6 @@ def work(msg)
           :prefetch => 10,
           :threads => 10,
           :share_threads => false,
-          :ack => true,
           :amqp => "amqp://guest:guest@localhost:5672",
           :vhost => "/",
           :exchange => "sneakers",
@@ -192,6 +208,11 @@ def work(msg)
             :exclusive => false,
             :arguments => {}
           },
+          :consumer_options => {
+            :block => false,
+            :manual_ack => true,
+            :arguments => {}
+          },
           :hooks => {},
           :handler => Sneakers::Handlers::Oneshot,
           :heartbeat => 30,
@@ -214,7 +235,6 @@ def work(msg)
           :prefetch => 40,
           :threads => 50,
           :share_threads => false,
-          :ack => false,
           :amqp => "amqp://guest:guest@localhost:5672",
           :vhost => "/",
           :exchange => "dummy",
@@ -230,6 +250,11 @@ def work(msg)
             :exclusive => true,
             :arguments => { 'x-arg' => 'value' }
           },
+          :consumer_options => {
+            :block => false,
+            :manual_ack => false,
+            :arguments => {}
+          },
           :hooks => {},
           :handler => Sneakers::Handlers::Oneshot,
           :heartbeat => 5,
@@ -252,7 +277,6 @@ def work(msg)
           :prefetch => 10,
           :threads => 10,
           :share_threads => false,
-          :ack => true,
           :amqp => "amqp://guest:guest@localhost:5672",
           :vhost => "/",
           :exchange => "sneakers",
@@ -268,6 +292,11 @@ def work(msg)
             :exclusive => false,
             :arguments => { 'x-arg2' => 'value2' }
           },
+          :consumer_options => {
+            :block => false,
+            :manual_ack => true,
+            :arguments => {}
+          },
           :hooks => {},
           :handler => Sneakers::Handlers::Oneshot,
           :heartbeat => 30,
@@ -408,7 +437,10 @@ def call(deserialized_msg, delivery_info, metadata, handler)
       let(:worker) do
         Class.new do
           include Sneakers::Worker
-          from_queue 'defaults', ack: false
+          from_queue 'defaults',
+                     :consumer_options => {
+                       :manual_ack => false
+                     }
 
           def work_with_params(msg, delivery_info, metadata)
             msg