O Lord our God, whose blessed Son gave his back to be whipped and did not hide his face from shame and spitting: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, [...]
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the Cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with [...]
The Collect for Palm Sunday Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon himself our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also [...]
Earlier this week, the Evergreen Project hosted a panel of Rectors from Anglican churches in the US and Canada to talk about how they are navigating online worship and plans for this coming Holy Week & Easter. The webinar began with greetings from Archbishop Foley Beach who prayed for our Rectors and joined us for the entire presentation. He even [...]
This week, the Presbyterian theologian Carl Trueman reflected on what Christians ought to learn about ourselves and about the world from the COVID-19 pandemic. One thing, he says, seems obvious: “The levels of general panic indicate that few of us have been properly prepared for the reality of our own mortality.” Many Christians have reflected on the significance of the [...]
We recently received a question from a reader looking for "Good Friday liturgies that would work well for home worship," given the global COVID–19 pandemic. Greg Goebel pointed out that the 2019 BCP's Good Friday service could easily be adapted for use at home. If you're looking for liturgical materials for Holy Week and Easter, you should know that you [...]
Quite a few new priests have never officiated a funeral. We have had many requests for a simple overview, and we reached out to Fr. Lee Nelson for such a post. We also include a funeral planning guide that can be used to work with individuals and families in planning. This post assumes the ability to hold a public funeral [...]
What Day Is It? When a crisis hits, it’s easy to lose track of time. “What day is it today?” has been asked in our (virtual) office a lot this week. Our minds are all muddled, our senses are in overdrive, and our routines have been disrupted. This is why, even though I otherwise expected it, I was surprised when [...]
We are living through what is objectively the most widespread and devastating pandemic in living memory. As of March 19, most state and local authorities are banning meetings of more than 50 people, and President Trump has counseled, along with many public health officials, that people not gather in groups of 10 or more. John Inazu has recently written that [...]
The Anglican Church in North America's 2019 Book of Common Prayer is available for free online here. However, I've heard that people are looking for an easy-to-navigate bookmarked PDF. (Granted, an app or something like http://www.bcponline.org/ would be better! But for now a PDF must suffice.) Special thanks are due to Matthew Heflin, who took the time to go through [...]
Editor’s Note: You can listen to this Ash Wednesday Sermon on Restoration Anglican Church’s podcast. The life of Jesus is marked by healing. We marvel at the messiah as he travels through Galilee and Judea performing miracle after miracle, bringing wholeness and restoration to those who feel broken. Does the solemn reminder of mortality we receive at the outset of [...]
“The Psalms are the single best guide to the spiritual life currently in print.” – Ellen Davis, Getting Involved with God “The Psalms are inexhaustible, and deserve to be read, said, sung, chanted, whispered, learned by heart, and even shouted from the rooftops. They express all the emotions we are ever likely to feel (including some we hope we may [...]
I belong to the generation that no one appears to understand: The Millennials. We have been referred to by the “e” word (entitled), and some spend thousands to purchase books and attend conferences in an attempt to understand this “everyone gets a trophy” generation. It’s pretty wild. We are the generation that grew up with the rise and transformation of [...]
Despite its focus on repentance, Lent is no exception to the gracious focus of all Scripture—Jesus Christ himself. Scripture is always about redemption. How should we read Scripture in Lent? Before we look at that question, we have to lift a few burdens. First, not all of us are expert Bible scholars, and that’s okay. As the Church Father Tertullian [...]
Learning to Love Lent The very first time I gave anything up for Lent, I did it with a desperate heart: not sure what I needed, not sure what I wanted, and not sure what the whole thing was about anyway. I was raising and homeschooling three growing children, teaching literature at my homeschool co-op, running 30+ miles a week, [...]
Ash Wednesday If you are new to Lent, you can go to any Anglican, Lutheran, or Roman Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday. Or find another type of church that has an “Ash Wednesday” sign. None of the traditions listed here require that you be a member to participate in the Ash Wednesday service. Just note that Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian, [...]
The following list (drawn from our book, Lent: The Journey from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week) is not exhaustive, but consider these Lenten lessons. Lent reminds us that we are sinners and we need to repent. We are sinners and we need to repent—even after we are baptized, saved, forgiven, and healed. Yes, we continue to be a part of [...]
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 which I cultivate a life [...]
From The ACNA Catechism The following is an excerpt from the Anglican Church in North America’s catechism, To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Crossway, 2020), pp. 29–35. You can download a PDF of the entire catechism here. The Apostles' Creed and the Life of Faith All genuine Christians affirm that authentic Christianity is apostolic Christianity. Apostolic Christianity rests on the historic, eyewitness [...]
From The ACNA Catechism The following is an excerpt from the Anglican Church in North America's catechism, To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Crossway, 2020), pp. 55–63. You can download a PDF of the entire catechism here. Concerning Sacraments 121. What is a sacrament? A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. God [...]
As an update to the 2014 “Working Edition,” The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has released the “Approved Edition” of its catechism: To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Crossway, 2020). (You can download a free and easy-to-navigate PDF of the catechism by clicking here.) In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, a “catechism” is “a text used for [...]
Who is this book for? This book is for anyone and everyone interested in the ancient Christian season of Lent. If you’ve never observed Lent before, there’s plenty to learn! But even if you’ve been observing Lent for a long time, we trust that the personal reflections and collect reflections we’ve assembled will add richness and depth to your Lenten [...]
We first enter through the bright red doors of an Anglican church, a preteen and two teenagers in tow. Questions permeate my thoughts, how will our children endure this shift, especially at this stage of their spiritual development? Is this even the right choice for our family? We have all grown up within the church; however, never exposed to liturgical [...]
How do we know if our experiences of God are real or not? If we thought that we, or our congregations, were experiencing revival, or renewal, how would we discern if it was really from the Holy Spirit? What would be happening? What wouldn’t be happening? If we pray for God’s work in our own hearts, and in the lives [...]
