It may seem odd to others why I would write and record an entire album from the Book of Jeremiah. As a singer-songwriter who writes music for the Church, this certainly isn’t typical. Many albums, especially of music written for worship, focus on themes within Scripture, but rarely does an album focus on one book…
Hymn Guide: Tell Out, My Soul
Tell Out, My Soul is an elegant and fun-to-sing paraphrase of Mary’s Song from Luke 1:46-55. Written in 1961 by Anglican Priest Timothy Dudley Smith, the hymn draws its title and opening line from the New English Bible published in the same year. The New English Bible was controversial for its use of contemporary idioms….
We Praise You, O God: Reflections on the Te Deum
The Early Church has furnished us with a wellspring of liturgical resources. Studies in this area have seen a minor renaissance as modern Christians, particularly Evangelicals, have expressed a desire for a living tradition to hold on to. [1] They desire for this tradition to not simply be the accepted beliefs and practices of those…
Hymn Guide: Be Still My Soul
Little is known about the life of Catharina von Schlegel, the 18th-century German author of “Be Still My Soul.” She was likely never married, which may have appealed to her unmarried translator, the 19th-century English hymn writer Jane Laurie Borthwick. Then there’s another striking similarity: Borthwick’s most famous hymn is “Come Labor On,” which, like…
Hymn Guide: Joyful, Joyful
“Joyful, Joyful” is a hymn so classic that it sometimes feels cliche. Presbyterian clergyman Henry van Dyke wrote the text alongside the Ode to Joy, from the finale of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. But inside this familiar topic, set to a familiar tune, there is unexpected theological substance. It does not treat joy as mere happiness….
10 Reasons for Anglican Optimism
When we observe the world—the sin and disbelief and conflict surrounding the church, together with the sin and disbelief and conflict within the church—it is easy to grow weary of the “changes and chances of this life” (BCP, 60). But take heart: our Lord Jesus Christ is on his throne, his Kingdom is at hand,…
Full Circle with Anglican Compass: The Editor’s Story
Becoming the editor of Anglican Compass was a full-circle experience. It’s possible that I wouldn’t be an Anglican without Anglican Compass, much less have been ordained a priest in this tradition. I spent my first 34 years in Southern Baptist churches, after all. Only God could have orchestrated the journey that led me to the…
To Be a Window Through Thy Grace: A Reading of George Herbert’s “The Windows”
During my time in seminary, I decided to take a class in preaching to practice the craft in preparation for my future ministry. While the course taught me a suitable method for preparing my sermons, I never received a theological explanation regarding the how, why, or what of preaching, especially as it pertained to Anglican…
Hymn Guide: And Can It Be
Charles Wesley was an Anglican Priest and itinerant preacher who wrote around 6500 hymns in his life. One of the first and best was “And Can It Be.” Likely written shortly after his evangelical conversion in May 1738, it reflects a personal relationship with Jesus through the experience of spiritual rebirth. Charles published “And Can…
Hymn Guide: St. Patrick’s Breastplate
St. Patrick’s Breastplate is one of the great hymns of the church, an ancient invocation of the Trinity that is relevant in every age. The hymn began as an Old Irish prayer of protection called a lorica, and the text is attributed to St. Patrick or his followers in early Celtic monasticism. Literally, lorica is the…
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Every day, thousands of people walk or ride past Christ Church in the old city of Jerusalem. Would you help us restore our tubular bells, to strengthen our gospel witness? As John Donne, the great Anglican poet, wrote: Send not to knowFor whom the bell tolls,It tolls for thee. The Gospel to the Jew and…
Hymn Guide: Zadok the Priest
Zadok the Priest is a choral work by George Frideric Handel, and one of his four Coronation Anthems. It adapts the text of 1 Kings 1:38-40, which recounts the anointing of Solomon as the King of Israel, by Zadok the priest. Written for the crowning of George II in 1727, this anthem has been used in every British coronation…
