We walked into the church carrying our colicky, crying three month old baby boy. We had decided that we would try twelve different churches over twelve weeks (not necessarily a recommended practice). As soon as we walked into this particular church we were warmly welcomed but we immediately realized that we had misread their website. This church was part of […]
by Greg Goebel
Thomas avoids the temptation to turn Anglicanism into a subject to merely be dissected, instead choosing to be a guide along the way as someone is seeking to be formed as a Christian, and as an Anglican.
I vividly remember sitting in my car in the parking lot of the Music and Arts store here, talking to Fr. Thomas […]
Pastors often struggle to discern how to advocate for social change when public advocacy is so fraught with the possibilities of violence, division, and partisan power.
Pastor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, led a movement for social change in racial inequality and oppression, poverty injustice, and unjust warfare. He did so as a pastor and leader and his decision to lead […]
Does changing your habits change your life? Can you become healthier, happier, or holier if you incorporate new, small daily habits into your life?
Charles Duhigg may have launched the current habits movement in […]
Everyone stood up as we sang a hymn. I was looking upfront and nothing seemed to be happening. Suddenly, in my peripheral vision, I noticed a parade of sorts moving toward the front of the church. I turned and noticed that many in the congregation were half-turned toward […]
Join us for a webinar on Thursday, June 4 at 3:00pm Eastern. Hosted and moderated by Greg Goebel and Daniel Adkinson, our panelists will include Kimberly Deckel, Bishop Jim Hobby, Esau McCaulley, and other guests. Click here to register!
Archbishop Foley Beach has called the Anglican Church in North America to join him in prayer and fasting from […]
By John Rivenbark.
John Rivenbark was a priest candidate who served for many years as a pastor, teacher, and Christian Formation director. He passed into the arms of Jesus on the eve of Ascension in 2018 after a long battle with cancer. John’s teaching and preaching had a profound affect on me, and […]
Our last post discussed receiving communion by faith, and was more about our understanding of the spiritual aspects of communion.
This post is just plain practical.
We all want to reverently receive communion, not get in anyone’s way or spill anything, and to not have any surprises. But the surprises and spills will happen. Even though we intend to avoid it, […]
First time I visited an Anglican church, I was afraid to go forward for communion for two reasons.
When I die, please don’t call my burial service a Celebration of Life. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that people will want to celebrate my life. I just don’t want this to replace my Christian burial.
I want to be buried according to the rites of a Christian. I want to be one more brother in Christ, saved by grace, […]
This post about Anglican vestments first appeared on June 29, 2016. Updated on August 21, 2018.
I knew almost nothing about Anglican vestments when I first visited an Anglican church. My only experience of robes was graduations—and that one time my dad wore a hilarious robe with colorful puffies glued onto it by a friend, as […]
The “Christ Candle” is the large white candle in the middle of an Advent wreath.
On the four Sundays of Advent, you’ll see the Advent wreath at the Anglican Church. Around it will be four candles, three purple, and one pink. […]
A long time ago on a continent far, far away, Christians had several councils to discern whether icons and sacred images could be used to aid worship and prayer. Iconoclasts wanted no images or icons, and Iconophiles wanted to retain them.
After a lot of debate and prayer over centuries, it was finally determined that if a person is looking to […]
I love being an Anglican Christian. This Communion is my home, these are the people I’m called to serve with, and I’m thankful for the beauty of this tradition.
But during Holy Week, I’m not an Anglican. I’m not a Baptist either. Or a Presbyterian. Or a Roman Catholic.
On Maundy Thursday, my feet are being washed, and I’m washing feet. There […]
Lent is about to kick us in the seats of our pants soon, when it darkens our foreheads, and then takes away our chocolates. Not to mention causing us to face our privilege by helping others and then making us read the Church Fathers in the original Latin or Greek. (I made that last part up).
So what is this Lent […]
Ten or Fifteen years ago, I used to hear people in church say, “Why do we need to have a sexual abuse prevention program? That kind of thing wouldn’t happen here.” No one says that anymore.
Jesus said that we should never allow a little one to stumble. We need to take our responsibility seriously to provide as safe a community […]
We’ve always been curious about our ancestors, to know where we came from and who we are. We’ve also wanted to gain wisdom from the experience of the past, both successes and failures. And we’ve desired communion and reunion of some sort.
I know of a family that discovered an brother/uncle that no one knew about until he was a […]
I don’t think there has ever been a child who didn’t think I was saying Monday Thursday during the Holy Week announcements. Growing up, I thought today was Monday Thursday until about age 14. And when I finally learned it was “Maundy,” no one could explain why it was called that!
But friends, I have trekked through the boring dictionaries of […]
Christians have been preparing for the celebration of Easter by walking through a “Holy Lent” since ancient times. This is patterned after Jesus temptation in the wilderness.
Lent is a season of repentance, fasting, and self-reflection. Of course, all of this happens with the sure knowledge […]
