As a youth minister, summer camp is a regular part of my life. Every year, we load up the church van and head into the middle of nowhere for a week of sleepless nights, camp food, sunburn, and ruthless competition. While I love all the craziness that comes with camp, there is one experience I…
The Gloria Patri: A Rookie Anglican Guide
The Gloria Patri (Latin for “glory to the Father”) is that small but mighty doxology in Anglican worship where we proclaim: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. The Gloria Patri is used most…
How Anglican Liturgy Stewards Our Emotions
As someone raised within the charismatic tradition, I grew up believing that emotions played an important role in Christian worship. However, after seeing numerous worship leaders and pastors use certain practices to fabricate an emotional atmosphere within worship, I became disenchanted with certain worship styles and their façade of authenticity. I later had the opportunity…
Stepping into Silence
Stepping into a rhythm of silence is counterintuitive to everything we practice in our society, but it has many gifts to impart.
Mystic Hunger and an Anglican Feast
I was a young child the first time I encountered the sign of the cross. It must have been on TV—probably watching The Sound of Music for the hundredth time. Having grown up in a staunchly non-liturgical evangelical home, I can’t imagine where else I would have ever seen such a gesture. It captivated me….
The Decalogue: A Rookie Anglican Guide
The Decalogue is a responsive paraphrase of the Ten Commandments, used (sometimes) in the Sunday Communion service. Each commandment is recited by the priest and is followed by a congregational response. For example, here is the first commandment: God spoke these words and said: I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other…
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Do you want to pray with the church and immerse yourself in the Bible? Then the Book of Common Prayer is for you. But there are lots of different versions. If you crave simplicity, then consider The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition. This book can be a structure for your spiritual life. It’s…
We Praise You, O God: Reflections on the Te Deum
The Early Church has furnished us with a wellspring of liturgical resources. Studies in this area have seen a minor renaissance as modern Christians, particularly Evangelicals, have expressed a desire for a living tradition to hold on to. [1] They desire for this tradition to not simply be the accepted beliefs and practices of those…
Confession: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Reconcilation of Penitents
When I first explored Anglicanism, I was surprised when I came across the Reconciliation of Penitents in my Book of Common Prayer. I was shocked as I read through the rite: this was confession! But wait, isn’t confession a “Catholic” thing? We can approach God without going through a priest! It’s one of the hallmarks…
From Methodist to Anglican: Returning to the Church of the Wesleys
In 2022, I left my spiritual home of over 23 years. God was calling me from the United Methodist Church to the Anglican Church, and I am just now beginning to put this spiritual journey into words. I realized that the United Methodist Church denomination that had nurtured me for so long was shifting. However,…
