What Your Rectorโ€™s Spouse Wants For Christmas

Posted on December 17, 2019
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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 donโ€™t just love Rectors. I also love their families! The role of a Rector is…

The 12 Days of Christmas: A Rookie Anglican Guide to Christmastide

Posted on December 16, 2019
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Sure, you’ve heard the song, but did you know that the “12 days of Christmas” actually start on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) and go until the day before Epiphany (Jan. 5)? So, December 25 is the first day of Christmas. December 26 is the second day. And so on, until the twelfth day of Christmas…

Let John Chrysostom Preach His Nativity Sermon on Christmas Sunday

Posted on December 13, 2019
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Several years ago, I served as the Assistant Rector at a large Anglican Church. This meant, of course, that I had the wonderful opportunity of preaching cultural holiday weekends when attendance would be predictably low … i.e. Memorial Day Weekend, Labor Day Weekend, etc. One of the key weekends that I always got to preach…

Incarnation

The Incarnation: What is it? Why does it matter?

Posted on January 4, 2018
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During the Christmas season, I keep returning to the doctrine of the incarnation. St. John writes in the opening verses of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:1, 14 The Doctrine of the…

Collect Reflections: The First Sunday of Christmas

Posted on December 30, 2017
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This post, in addition to being a part of Rookie Anglican, is part of a series on the Collects of the Christian Year (ACNA), called โ€œCollect Reflections.โ€ If youโ€™re just jumping in, make sure to check out the introductory post, โ€œAnnouncing Collect Reflections.โ€ All Collect Reflection posts can be found here. Have you ever had a hard “Christmas…

What Is The Christ Candle?

Posted on December 24, 2017
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The “Christ Candle” is the large white candle in the middle of an Advent wreath. On the four Sundays of Advent, you’ll see the Advent wreath at the Anglican Church. Around it will be four candles, either purple or blue (and sometimes one is pink!). And in the center is a large white candle. That’s…

Giving Even When You Receive

Posted on December 7, 2017
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Last week, I talked about how to encourage generosity at the end of the year by making ย growing generosity a part of your teaching ministry, and teachers need to be creative. We’ve talked about getting creative by making a Christmas Wish List for your church. Itโ€™s a way to engage the people directly with the…

Make a Christmas Wish List for Your Church

Posted on November 30, 2017
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We’ve talked a lot about increasing generosity at the end of the year. As weโ€™ve posted elsewhere, the end of the year brings challenges. Youโ€™ve got this yearโ€™s budget gaps, next yearโ€™s budget planning, end-of-the-year appeal lettersโ€”itโ€™s a lot. On top of that, Christmas is fast approaching. There are two temptations during seasons like this…

What’s on Your Christmas Wish List?

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At LeaderWorks, we are all about helping church leaders do their work. To that end, we posted a new idea for helping your church give in the final month of the year: make a Christmas Wish List for your church! Still, you deserve more than a lump of coal, so take a break and write…

“The Day Beyond Christmas” (A Christmas Poem)

Posted on December 29, 2016
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The Day Beyond Christmas โ€œHey! Good News has come here! I bring you Good News.โ€Thatโ€™s the message I heard as I woke from my snooze.The daylight had gone, I had fallen asleep.I was cold to the bone and darkness was deep. Iโ€™m lonely at night like most young shepherd boysWith only some sticks and a…