Editor’s note: Here at Anglican Compass, we feature content from low church to high church, as long as it’s written with both clarity and charity. Even if you would never consider an “ad orientem” Holy Communion in your own church, I invite you to read about how and why Fr. Ben Jefferies has made the…
Pastor, Let the Children Preach: Why You Should Let the Youth Group Invade Your Pulpit
For the last two years, I’ve been teaching Scripture, theology, and ethics at a small Christian high school that shares space with a local church. It took me a year and a half to realize that, on one of my classroom walls, half-hidden behind a filing cabinet and obscured beneath a coat of paint, was…
Should You Preach a Father’s Day Sermon on Father’s Day?
We all know that Mother’s Day has a special place in American culture. I wrote about whether a pastor should preach a “Mother’s Day message,” and it was a popular post. I will address the same subject about Father’s Day…but I do not expect to generate a similar amount of interest! But it is as…
Get Dirty: 3 Reasons Why We Should Observe Rogation Days
The sixth Sunday of Eastertide, known as Rogation Sunday, is a day that Anglican pastors should get dirt on their vestments. This is not only encouraged, it’s expected. The psalmist said ‘all flesh is like grass,’ so it’s good that the people of God walk along grass in worship and praise a few times a…
3 Reasons Why College Students Should Consider Their Local Anglican Church
For the first two years of my life at college, I slept in late on Sundays. There was a hole in my heart I couldn’t seem to fill by partying on Friday and Saturday night, but Sunday service wasn’t the answer. The local church was just a place for people to come and be fake…
Talking Honestly about Anglicans and Alcohol
One of the earliest guides for pastors, the Book of Titus, tells a church leader to address drinking problems in the church, to instruct people “not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine” (Titus 2:3). The need hasn’t changed much. The National Institutes of Health estimate that 17.6 million people—about one in every 12…
Here’s How to Resist the Church’s “Conspiracy of Cordiality”
The following quote is from Stanley Hauerwas’ book Resident Aliens. It has hung in my office for years and I find myself reading on many occasions. As a college chaplain, I am often thinking about how to talk to my students about church; what it is, what it isn’t, why they need to be a…
5 Ways to Stop Gossip in the Church
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…
Ten Thoughts for the Mother’s Day Sermon
Motherhood is one of the most fundamental human roles, given by God and knit into our DNA. Hallmark’s calendar doesn’t dictate our preaching, but this particular holiday seems worth some attention. Some Mother’s Day Sermon tips are listed below and can be developed into whole sermons; others are just words of advice. Use this list to…
Why We Cry for Notre Dame
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…
