As an Anglican priest, parishioners often ask me where the Bible commands certain Anglican worship practices. The assumption is that we should only do what the Bible expressly commands us to do. The thinking goes: If the Bible doesn’t say to burn candles, then we shouldn’t burn candles. If the Bible doesn’t tell us to…
Confirmation: A Rookie Anglican Guide
What is Confirmation? Confirmation is a church practice that falls into the category of what the Anglican Catechism calls “rites and institutions commonly called sacraments.” Along with Confirmation, there are four others like it: Absolution (confessing one’s sins and receiving forgiveness in the presence of a priest), Ordination, Marriage, and Anointing the Sick. These practices,…
Ancient Anglican Evangelism
There is a perception that Anglicans in North America don’t have our own history of evangelism. Or, at minimum, that comes from within our own tradition—not true! The church in England began with a powerful evangelistic mission to spread the message and evangelize, following Jesus’ commands in Luke’s Gospel. The Anglican tradition contains a powerful…
The Procession in Anglican Worship
We are used to community parades, graduation processions, and wedding processions. Not everyone is used to a procession in worship at church. Although many modern churches or traditions no longer practice it, it is an ancient and important Christian practice. In many Anglican churches, as worship begins, the ministers process to the front of the…
Anglican Worship: The Focus is Not My Experience
At the heart of every church tradition lies one priority that shapes the community’s identity. This central aspect is the source of its energy and vision, and becomes the first of all other priorities. This aspect determines much, if not all, of its distinctive traits and eventually becomes the touchstone for every other facet of…
A Rookie Anglican Guide to an Anglican Worship Service
Word and Sacrament Our worship service consists of two parts, the Service of the Word and the Service of the Sacrament. These two elements are equally essential, as the Word of God reveals Jesus and prepares us to receive him in the sacrament of Holy Communion. This pattern follows the early Church of the Book…
Why the Parish?
It surprises many people entering Anglicanism from other Christian traditions that we use the term ‘parish’. They had always referred to their church as simply “church” or “congregation,” but now they hear the word “parish.” What is a parish? How is it different, and why? Let’s lay out two understandings of what defines a parish. The first is a canonical designation, or how…
Why Resurrection?
Why is it so important to Christians that we profess faith in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ? Many aspects of that reality could be discussed, because the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are right there at the very heart of our faith. However, there is an aspect that most speaks to today’s world….
Maundy Thursday: A Rookie Anglican Guide
What’s “Maundy Thursday?” Has there 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. No one could explain why it was called Maundy Thursday when I finally learned it was Maundy rather than Monday! Friends,…
The Blessed Virgin Mary: A Rookie Anglican Guide
March 25th is the feast day commemorating the Annunciation, the announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would bear the Son of God. See Luke 1:26-38 for the beautiful story. We observe this day because it is nine months before Christmas Day. Mary: The God-Bearer, or Mother of God Mary’s faith lives on, and many generations have…
Catechesis 3: On Building a Culture
Wendell Berry, in his 1977 book The Unsettling of America, argued that agribusiness was taking the practice of farming out of its cultural context and away from families. It was a prophetic work, and in the years since, we have seen continued decline in family farming in favor of a system that devalues community and…
Catechesis 2: Recovering the Old Ways
As I studied the ways of the ancient Church, I discovered two things. First, they had a very high standard for catechetical discipleship and subsequent Church membership, and second, that high standard only aided in their progress in evangelism. As we enter the age of Post-Christendom, it seems to me that if we seek to…
