In Shusaku Endo’s famous novel Silence, two Portuguese priests are sent as missionaries to Japan. The year is 1637, and the Japanese church is struggling under the weight of religious persecution. These priests want to encourage the fledgling flock, so they give their lives to a dangerous voyage and the possibility of martyrdom.
When they […]
A few years ago, leading up to Holy Week, I was about 50/50 on becoming an Anglican. I saw some things I liked, I didn’t understand a handful of other aspects, and I wrestled with leaving a tradition that raised me. And then Holy Week got me. It was all over from there.
Now, […]
In November of 2019, I sat in our priest’s office at church with my ministry partner, Jessi, as we naively discussed small group plans for 2020. It had been a discouraging season in ministry, but we had finally found a topic to get excited about. We would spend the beginning of the year […]
Death is on people’s minds these days, whether they want it to be or not. According to a recent report by White House science advisors, there is a chance that between 100,000 and 240,000 people will die because of the Coronavirus. In the face of such a staggering number of fatalities, what each of us does, or does not […]
Assist us mercifully with your grace, Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the meditation of those mighty acts by which you have promised us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
If you’ve ever had a horrendous […]
O Lord our God, whose blessed Son gave his back to be whipped and did not hide his face from shame and spitting: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, […]
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the Cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with […]
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon himself our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share […]
Earlier this week, the Evergreen Project hosted a panel of Rectors from Anglican churches in the US and Canada to talk about how they are navigating online worship and plans for this coming Holy Week & Easter. The webinar began with greetings from Archbishop Foley Beach who prayed for our Rectors and joined us for the entire presentation. He […]
This week, the Presbyterian theologian Carl Trueman reflected on what Christians ought to learn about ourselves and about the world from the COVID-19 pandemic. One thing, he says, seems obvious: “The levels of general panic indicate that few of us have been properly prepared for the reality of our own mortality.”
Many Christians have reflected on the significance of the […]
We recently received a question from a reader looking for “Good Friday liturgies that would work well for home worship,” given the global COVID–19 pandemic. Greg Goebel pointed out that the 2019 BCP’s Good Friday service could easily be adapted for use at home.
If you’re looking for liturgical materials for Holy Week and Easter, you should know that […]
Every collect makes a request. […]
We’d like to share some music and artwork recommendations for Holy Week. If you have other suggestions, please let us know in the comments below!
Christ’s descent into hell is one of the strangest things Christians confess. Two out of the three ecumenical creeds confessed by Anglicans contain it (Apostles’ Creed and Athanasian Creed).
From Augustine to Aquinas to Calvin, the vast majority of theologians have concluded that the descent into hell is implicitly taught in Scripture. They have argued that confessing Jesus Christ as […]
Starting on Palm Sunday, we embark on what’s known as “Holy Week.”
As I put it in my overview of the Church calendar and the Christian liturgical year,
The last week of Lent, Holy Week, remembers the last week of Christ’s earthly life, beginning with Palm Sunday’s commemoration of Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt 21:1-11).
So, put simply, Holy Week is […]
On April 10, LeaderWorks will facilitate a webinar from the meeting of the ACNA’s Liturgy Taskforce as they work on common texts for liturgical use for our province. We hope to provide an opportunity to hear from the faithful men and women who have put in years of hard work on this prayer book. In October 2017, we were able […]
Easter isn’t a finish line—it’s our kickoff to a season of celebration. Still, pastors can be forgiven for admitting that after Holy Week, they are a little exhausted. Whether your church hosts vigils, daily services, or some other Easter extravaganza, there is a lot to juggle.
Especially tricky is managing the liturgies. Palms and Passion, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday; Holy […]
Holy Week is the “Week of Whiplash.” The highs in the Story of Palm Sunday are followed all too quickly by the shouts from the crowd calling for His death. Then He slow-walks the next days: from the Garden to the Courtyard to the Praetorium to the Streets to the Calvary Hill to the Cross to the End to the Tomb […]
I love being an Anglican Christian. This Communion is my home, these are the people I’m called to serve with, and I’m thankful for the beauty of this tradition.
But during Holy Week, I’m not an Anglican. I’m not a Baptist either. Or a Presbyterian. Or a Roman Catholic.
On Maundy Thursday, my feet are being washed, and I’m washing feet. There […]
Here is a small collection of quotes and comments about the Cross and Holy Week that I have collected over the years. They are sermon starters, devotional nudges, and deep expressions of our faith and love of Jesus Christ and the Cross He endured. May the Lord richly bless you all in the Holy Week.
I am praying with and for […]
If we do not (preach the Cross of Christ) our churches will lighthouses without light, wells without water, dumb witnesses,
sleeping watchmen, silent trumpets, messengers without tidings, a comfort for infidels, jubilant joys to the devil, and an offense to God. –Robert E. Lee
Golgotha, the place of the skull, where nails smashed through the wrists and feet of Jesus, the teacher from […]
