Christmas Eve is rough on preachers; at least for this one.
The atmosphere for a truly great sermon is all there: scenery, families, music, lighting, Scripture, attendance, joy, and a holy hope in every heart and on every face. But my Christmas Eve sermons (33 and counting) are never equal to this setting. They always seem weak […]
“If you want to understand what a particular verse of Scripture means you have to stop reading it. In fact, you should never read a Bible verse.”
This is how I have opened virtually every talk that I have ever given to would-be Bible students. The Bible is a collection, not […]
Did you know about the online calendar of Sunday Lessons and Collects? Our founder, Greg Goebel, has created an easy to use Lectionary calendar for free!
You can subscribe to it and see the name of each Sunday, and all Feast days in the BCP 2019 Sunday and Feast Day lectionary. That way you can […]
In 2008 Phyllis Tickle made the important observation that about every 500 years, a significant transformation takes place in the Church. She points to the arrival of Jesus in the first century, the collapse of the Roman empire five-hundred years later in the late 5th century, the Great Schism five-hundred years after that in 1054, and finally the […]
Can Anglican priests get married? What about deacons? Bishops?
As a married Anglican priest myself, I’m happy to report that the answer is “Yes“!
As Article 32 of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion puts it:
Of the Marriage of Priests
Bishops, priests and deacons are not commanded by God’s law, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage; therefore […]
Anglicanism taught me that the Church exists.
I once thought that everyone had their own relationship with Jesus and they got together on Sundays to sing and talk about it. I know now that the Church is a ‘she’ not an ‘it,’ a great tradition that spans time and space, and a real spiritual home […]
(Note: Anglican Compass has a book about Advent! Check out A Thrill of Hope: Celebrating Advent at Home [Revised and Expanded for 2020], by Ashley Wallace!)
Advent is the first season of the Church year. It lasts for four weeks leading up […]
Today I found myself completely distracted by my little robot vacuum. (We call him “Eufy.”) While I should have been helping the kids with their homeschooling, I found myself increasingly frustrated by his sense of aimlessness.
All I wanted was for Eufy to clean the kitchen. With four teenagers in the house all day, that […]
Years ago I started researching a book about celebrating Advent. I learned so many things along the way! Here are ten of my favorite unusual discoveries about Advent.
In England and Ireland, plum pudding […]
We just published Simply Anglican by Winfield Bevins. Winfield graciously agreed to answer some questions about the book’s backstory and what he hopes it will accomplish!
The “Anglican” movement in the sixteenth century was a return to the pure and simple faith of Christianity as embodied in the Holy Scriptures. —W. H. Griffith Thomas
What we believe shapes our identity, and ultimately, who we are. Singer-songwriter Rich Mullins affirmed this in an older song called “Creed.” In the words of […]
In case you haven’t heard, we recently published Simply Anglican: An Ancient Faith for Today’s World by Winfield Bevins (#1 New Release in Anglican Christianity!).
It’s an easy-to-read introduction to Anglicanism, prompting many of our readers to ask “What’s the difference between Simply Anglican and The […]
Anglican Compass’s latest book, Simply Anglican: An Ancient Faith for Today’s World by Winfield Bevins, is available for purchase in both Kindle and paperback editions. The following post is an excerpt from the book.
Since I became an Anglican I have had countless conversations with those who are seriously exploring Anglicanism but don’t know […]
Where did Christ descend to?
If you worshiped in an Anglican Church between 1552 (when the Creed was first printed in full in the Prayer Book) and 1979 you would answer “he descended to hell” because in the Apostles’ Creed as you would have learned it, that is what it says: “[He] was crucified, dead, […]
From its inception in 1549, the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) has always been a text intertwined with the text of the Bible. Many of the prayers utilize phrases that have been extracted from the Bible. Verses of the Bible are quoted directly (for example, Opening Sentences in the Daily Office and Offertory Sentences in the Eucharist service) […]
I was a new Anglican, trying to participate by watching everyone else. I heard a voice shout “Please stand” and then “Blessed be God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!” As a cross passed, some people bowed their heads.
Everyone stood up as we sang a hymn. […]
Many folks accustomed to reading Bible-in-a-year plans are delighted to find out that the Book of Common Prayer (2019) has 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 then find out that a number of books are […]
“If God, why evil?”
When men first announced the death of God these four, short, stabbing, syllables were thought to be the nails in the Creator’s coffin. This riddle may not have been the instrumental cause of his death, but it was certainly thought that it would prevent any future resurrection on his part. Unfortunately for them, scoffers have a bad […]
Deacons cannot absolve, bless, or consecrate. These “ABCs” of the diaconate are often the first and most consistent way that people describe the order today, inadvertently defining the most foundational of the Holy Orders by what deacons cannot do. I have attempted to add parochial reports to the list, but it neither follows the alphabetic scheme nor works out consistently […]
Since the beginning of the modern era, westerners have typically divided the world into two categories: natural and supernatural. The natural world is thought to contain everything that can be proven by science, can visibly be seen; it’s the world of evidence, facts, and reality. In other words, it’s the “real” world. The supernatural is then considered the realm of […]
Whether you’ve been Anglican your whole life or are just starting to explore your local parish, chances are you’ve encountered the terms “Anglo-Catholic” and “Anglo-Catholicism.” What exactly do these terms mean? (How) is Anglo-Catholicism different from Anglicanism? What do Anglo-Catholics believe, teach, and do?
I want to try to begin answering these questions in a simple way. This article is for […]
This is the third of a series on sacred hymns, the story behind them, their text, a recording, and a simple companion devotional.
“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm.” ~William Cowper
William Cowper was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, […]
In the shadow of a global pandemic and the uncertainty it has brought to every aspect of life, I have found myself drawn again and again to the Compline service in the Book of Common Prayer. I have especially found deep comfort in the service’s collects and prayers, which deftly blend a realism about the contingencies of life with an […]
