Recently, a Lutheran pastor asked me a simple question. He was thinking of affiliating with either the Anglican Communion or the Roman Catholic Church. He wanted to know how we (Anglicans) understand Apostolic Succession. I am assuming he wanted to be in a church that had an unbroken line of succession to the first Apostles,…
The Bible Arranged for Worship: Our Book of Common Prayer
There is a rather common saying that the Book of Common Prayer is composed of 85% bible passages. It is true. As J.I. Packer once said, The Book of Common Prayer is the Bible arranged for worship. I like that. (To learn more about the Book of Common Prayer, read our Rookie Anglican Guide.) On…
How Anglicanism Saved Me from “Following My Heart”
Hello, my name is Ethan, and I am a recovering expressive individualist. You are familiar with “expressive individualism,” even if the term isn’t familiar. I’ll define and describe it below, but phrases like “be authentic” or “follow your heart” capture the idea to a tee. I became an Anglican to “be authentic” and “follow my…
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: The One Prayer Book Every Rookie Anglican Needs
A liturgy makes it easier to pray with others, and to pray with the church—past, present, and future. Liturgical prayers are not the only kind, but there is something special about them. These prayers can be etched on your heart, taught to your children, and remembered at the close of life. For Anglicans, these prayers…
Reading Scripture Together: Recapturing Thomas Cranmer’s Vision
In 2008 Phyllis Tickle made the important observation that about every 500 years, a significant transformation takes place in the Church. She points to the arrival of Jesus in the first century, the collapse of the Roman empire five-hundred years later in the late 5th century, the Great Schism five-hundred years after that in 1054,…
Are Anglican Priests Allowed to Marry? I Sure Hope So!
Can Anglican priests get married? What about deacons? Bishops? As a married Anglican priest myself, I’m happy to report that the answer is “Yes“! As Article 32 of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion puts it: Of the Marriage of Priests Bishops, priests and deacons are not commanded by God’s law, either to vow the estate…
Married to (a) Minister: The Vocation of a Priest’s Spouse
One of the first things I knew about my husband was that he had been accepted to two different seminaries. The following conversation was all about how he had spent the past year trying to discern what God was calling him to do. At the time, he thought God was calling him to become a…
Tell Us More! An Interview with Winfield Bevins about Simply Anglican
We just published Simply Anglican by Winfield Bevins. Winfield graciously agreed to answer some questions about the book’s backstory and what he hopes it will accomplish! What prompted you to write this book? Why do you think it’s important that this book exists? This is a good question. Writing a book is deeply personal. There…
The Surprising Contextualizability of Anglicanism—Yes, Anglicanism—to Frontier Mission Fields
I remember it as clear as yesterday. Ahmet had left Islam and decided to follow Jesus. In the Middle Eastern country where I served, this was not illegal, but it also wasn’t easy. After a few months of walking with Jesus, Ahmet approached me and said, “Chris, now that I’ve become a Christian, tell me…
What Do Anglicans Believe? An Overview of Anglican Beliefs
When someone visits an Anglican church, if they are new to our tradition, they often ask, “What do Anglicans believe?” As you can imagine, it is not that easy to summarize the doctrinal beliefs of a global communion with a long history and various schools of thought and practice. Nevertheless, here at Anglican Compass, we…
