In the face of senseless suffering, it’s easy to doubt that God exists. Family is a sacrament that could make all the difference. But what happens when someone lacks the sacrament of family? Whether in the form of a miscarriage, suicide, divorce, terminal illness, sexual abuse, job loss, or the slow revelation of the everyday brokenness that cohabitates each of [...]
I have been having fun writing about some gift ideas for Rectors and their Spouses. I served as a Rector for over 30 years and spend a lot of time now with Rectors and their families. I know that many laypeople want to get the Rector and their Spouse a gift for Christmas to show their love and appreciation. I [...]
Earlier, I wrote a post about What Your Rector Wants For Christmas. I love Rectors and have the good fortune to spend time with, teach, coach, and encourage lots of Rectors around the Anglican Church in North America. But I don’t just love Rectors. I also love their families! The role of a Rector is unique. So is the role [...]
Dear Readers, At the end of this amazing year, I want to thank our Managing Editor, the Rev. Joshua Steele, for a terrific ministry overseeing the day-to-day work of Anglican Pastor. He has helped our blog "step up" to the tremendous opportunity that we have to speak words of clarity and charity about the Gospel faith and The Great Tradition. [...]
I have a unique position in the church today. I used to be a Rector of a large church in North Dallas. (Christ Church in Plano, TX). But I am no longer a Rector. Instead, I have the good fortune to hang out, teach, coach, and encourage a lot of Rectors. For example, I spent three hours in the last [...]
The following is Tai French's review of A Thrill of Hope: Celebrating Advent at Home by Ashley Wallace. If you, like Tai, enjoy A Thrill of Hope, would you please leave a 5-star review on Amazon? It's the best, easiest way to get the word out about Anglican Pastor's very first book! A brief and delightful read, A Thrill of [...]
“We could call ‘halfway believers’ Only halfway read Ephesians Only if they knew what I knew I was never new till I knew of True and living God, Yeshua The true and living God Somebody pray for me.” Since last week, I’ve been listening to Kanye West’s new album Jesus is King and not just enjoying it, but finding myself [...]
For the past ten years, I’ve been making homemade Communion bread from the same handwritten recipe on a molasses-stained scrap of yellow legal pad. This recipe is now shared among a team of volunteer bread bakers in my small church plant, who follow it each week to bring homemade loaves to our Communion table. While I’ve got absolutely nothing against [...]
Recently, I presented a webinar on general trends in attendance and generosity across the United States and Canada for clergy and vestry / lay leadership. The webinar was part of the ongoing training related to the The Evergreen Project and our Fall Program – The Joy of Giving Up. Rooted in a vision of flourishing from Psalm 1 and Jeremiah [...]
Slightly edited from a sermon I recently preached at Church of the Savior in Wheaton, IL. There are just some passages of the Bible that you can’t get away from. Sometimes it’s because a passage is particularly inspiring, encouraging, or comforting. Think Psalm 23. Other times, it’s because the passage really bugs you. And I’ll confess that our Gospel lesson, [...]
Editor's Note: The following letter was written by Fr. Shawn McCain to his congregation, Resurrection Anglican Church in Austin, TX. It originally appeared on the church's website. With Shawn's permission, we're sharing it with you as we pray together for justice and peace. Rez family, We are all still reeling from mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. If you’re like [...]
If someone had told me ten years ago that today I would be an Anglican priest, I would not have responded with joy or even disappointment; I simply would have been confused. Raised in a squarely evangelical culture, I grew up without conscious knowledge of liturgical denominations—and probably a degree of suspicion toward them. I still remember the first time [...]
My Anglican adventure began when I left home to go to a foreign country called Durham, North Carolina. Foreign to me, because I am from East Los Angeles. I grew up surrounded by the stories of a loving family and an eclectic neighborhood's influences of the '60s. In the words of the spiritual, “My soul looks back and wonders; how [...]
As we get ready for the Anglican Church in North America’s Provincial Assembly in Plano, TX, we are very grateful—not only that we three have met the Lord Jesus Christ, but also that we have found the Anglican tradition, a tradition that provides a vehicle to follow Him and express our love for Him in time-honored ways. Today we want [...]
Greetings from Atlanta, Georgia! Greg Goebel, David Roseberry, and I (Joshua Steele) are excited to be here for the Telos Collective’s 2019 Intersection Conference. The topic this year? “For the Sake of the World: An Anglican Missional Ecclesiology.” I’m looking forward to hearing from the following speakers over the next few days: - Bishop Todd Hunter – Opening Session - [...]
How should the Church relate to the world? Is our primary relationship one of acceptance or rejection, engagement or retreat, affection or animosity? Is it appropriate for ordained clergy to engage in local or national politics, even from the pulpit? How exactly are we to think of this world, this beautiful gift and fallen mess which we are “in,” but [...]
By John Rivenbark. John Rivenbark was a priest candidate who served for many years as a pastor, teacher, and Christian Formation director. He passed into the arms of Jesus on the eve of Ascension in 2018 after a long battle with cancer. John’s teaching and preaching had a profound affect on me, and on many others. His teachings were faithful, [...]
In Anglican circles we all too often find ourselves dealing with the issue (sin) of gossip—spreading rumors and reports about others without first confirming the facts. Recently, Archbishop Foley Beach addressed this issue on the ANCA website in an article titled, “A Christian Code of Ethics for Using Social Media.” He states: Most of us have done it!! We have [...]
The horrific fire at Notre-Dame de Paris on Monday has captured many of us. Nearly every tourist who has been to France has visited it. Nearly everyone who has an image of Paris has Notre Dame at the center. Seemingly floating on the Île de la Cité, it actually is at the heart, sectioned off and yet pulsing through the [...]
The Church needs to see more Christians faithfully walking out lifetime singleness for the sake of the kingdom (AKA "celibacy"). That witness helps the Church grasp the hope of the gospel and begin living into the reality of the kingdom today. No witness to this hope is more moving than that of Christ himself. Jesus and Paul teach that singleness [...]
A Breathtaking Stage After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, the gospels record that he immediately was driven into the desert for forty days. For those forty days, he was tempted by Satan. He was attended by angels. He played with animals. And out in that desert place, for forty days, Jesus fasted. You can go to this place today, [...]
On Monday, January 14, we'll be unveiling our redesigned website! We've been hard at work to make the new website both visually appealing and easy to navigate. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for you to read, share, and benefit from our content! Here's a sneak peak of the new home page: Anglican Pastor, published by [...]
“A week to experience England? Right after Easter? In 2019? Are you kidding me? Perfect! I’m in!” Those were about the words I spoke late last year when the travel agency called me. I loved the idea…especially for clergy. It is perfect! Why? Because so many of our new clergy do not come from Anglican backgrounds. Instead (and most impressively), [...]
The images are stark and scary, like something from an apocalyptic movie. Devastation. Hurricane Michael has cost so many people so much: the loss of human life, material property, businesses, family homes, rentals, and even entire communities. We must surely pray for them. But we can do more than prayer. We can help them recover. Through the ministry of the Anglican Church [...]
