How does the Christian table meal shape us as individuals and as the church? Why is bread at the center of Jesus’ meal? What does this have to do with feeding a spiritually and physically hungry world? Glenn Packiam, associate senior pastor and Anglican Priest serving at New Life Church, Colorado Springs, has written a…
Infant Baptism: The First Step of Family Discipleship
I am all about believers’ baptism. Dunk ‘em. Let’s do it. A couple weeks into my time as assistant rector at my local parish, we celebrated as a church family when the father of one of our members was baptized as an adult Christian believer. I am also all about infant baptism. Sprinkle that child….
How to Receive Communion, Part 2: A Practical Guide
My 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…
How to Receive Communion, Part 1: Receiving with Faith
First time I visited an Anglican church, I was afraid to go forward for communion for two reasons. If you are visiting an Anglican church for the first time, you may feel the same. So here is what we believe is happening during communion in this post, and then in the next post, some instructions…
Why Every Church Should Have Weekly Sunday Communion Like the Anglicans Do
There was a long period where many Anglican churches didn’t have communion every Sunday. They would have morning prayer for a few weeks, and then a Holy Communion once a month or so. But a movement called Parish Communion successfully restored the tradition around the world. Today, most (but not all) Anglican churches celebrate Holy…
I Don’t Want a Celebration of Life, I Want a Burial Service
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. Bury me according to the rites of a Christian. I want to be one more brother in Christ,…
Holy Communion: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Eucharist
This article was originally written in 2018 using the 1979 BCP and updated for the 2019 BCP in 2023. Important: As with all of our Rookie Anglican guides to the Prayer Book, differences will exist between what exists here and other historic and global Prayer Books. Have you ever wondered what’s going on during a…
Another Surprise Baptism Brings Sudden Appearance
I am leading a tour group of pastors through the Holy Land. Our group is about a dozen clergy, spouses, some dedicated lay people from their churches, and a father with his teenage son. A few days into the trip, the father and son asked if the young man could be baptized here in Israel. Wow….
Collect Reflections: The First Sunday after the Epiphany; The Baptism of Our Lord
This post, in addition to being a part of Rookie Anglican, is part of a series on the Collects of the Christian Year (ACNA), called “Collect Reflections.” If you’re just jumping in, make sure to check out the introductory post, “Announcing Collect Reflections.” All Collect Reflection posts can be found here. Epiphany-what? Sadly, the time for saying “Merry…
Getting Over the Hurdle of Infant Baptism: An Atonement Argument
Like many current Anglicans, I grew up as a Baptist, a Southern Baptist in fact. I even went to a Baptist college on the campus of a Southern Baptist seminary and got an excellent foundational education in the Scriptures and Great Books. When I married an Anglican, we started attending Baptist churches but never found…
