The day no words would come Whenever I’m with my family and I make a dumb joke, my parents like to roast me by saying that they look forward to eventually writing in my baby book the first time I tell a good joke. If this mythical baby book that has been dangled over my…
What’s the Difference Between the 1979 and 2019 Book of Common Prayer?
In the United States, there are two versions of the Book of Common Prayer you’ll encounter more than any other. There is the 1979 edition, used mainly by The Episcopal Church, and the 2019 edition used mainly by the Anglican Church in North America parishes (although many ACNA parishes used it for the province’s first…
Lessons in Omission: Why Are Some Chapters Missing in the Daily Office Lectionary?
Many folks accustomed to reading Bible-in-a-year plans delight to find that the Book of Common Prayer (2019) includes a Daily Office lectionary that leads the faithful Anglican to read through the whole Bible in a year—at least most of it. Those same folks are sometimes a little dismayed to find that several books are missing…
How to Pray as a Family at Home
Family Prayer, sometimes called Family Worship, is a cornerstone activity of the Christian family’s life. In it, we come together to sing, read Scripture, and pray. Yet, this activity can feel daunting and unfamiliar. What do we read? What do we pray? How long should it be? How often should we do Family Prayer? My…
Should We Pray Written Prayers? Didn’t Jesus Tell Us Not to Repeat Prayers?
Jesus teaches us how to pray by example and by explicit teaching. Embedded within the Sermon on the Mount written in the Gospel according to Matthew, there is an instruction from Jesus that seems to speak directly against repeating our prayers to God. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For…
Praying Around the Table: Making a Prayer Space in your Home
Now that the family is together every day and worship is virtual, families begin to wonder how to keep their children growing in the faith. Family devotions begin to seem more necessary. But how to begin? How to keep everyone’s attention? Maybe you’ve tried before, but things didn’t seem to work. You want family devotions…
What Do Anglicans Believe about Scripture, Prayer, and Worship? A Brief Overview of Anglican Spirituality
The following is an excerpt from the Anglican Church in North America’s catechism, To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Crossway, 2020), pp. 81–87. You can download a PDF of the entire catechism here. A Rule of Prayer: Scripture, Prayer, and Worship 224. What is a “rule” of prayer? A rule of prayer is a regular discipline by…
The Daily Office Is Not Enough: The Importance of Reading Scripture Devotionally
It was J. I. Packer who made an Anglican out of me. Although I had attended a student-led Anglican service when I first became a seminarian at Regent College, it wasn’t until I moved to the Anglican church that Dr. Packer attended (and at which he sometimes led liturgy) that I was struck by the…
Want To Pray the ACNA Daily Office Online? Check This Resource Out
The Story Behind AnglicanDailyOffice.Online Several years ago I was discerning a call into Anglican Holy Orders, and as part of that, I wanted to immerse myself in Anglican spirituality. What better way to do that, I thought, than commit to a season of praying the Daily Office, Morning and Evening, from the Book of Common…
How to Become a Subversive Church
Bowing to Baal I recently heard someone on the radio say that we (Americans) live in a “post-religion” nation. The radio personality went on to describe how America has become a land void of virtue, no longer giving spiritual matters much thought. In other words, America has become increasingly secular. This is, in my opinion,…
How to Chant the Agnus Dei (Merbecke)
Here’s how to chant the Agnus Dei according to the following setting from the 1940 Hymnal.
How to Chant the Phos Hilaron (Tallis)
If you’d like to chant the Phos Hilaron, I recommend the following setting from The Hymnal 1982. “O Gracious Light, Lord Jesus Christ,” The Hymnal 1982, #25 “Phos Hilaron,” Church of the Apostles in Seattle, WA It’s not exactly the same, but you the following rendition(s) of the Phos are clearly based on the setting above by Thomas Tallis.
