(NOTE: Read our Rookie Anglican Guide to the ACNA’s 2019 BCP here.) The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has released its 2019 Book of Common Prayer! I asked Fr. Ben Jefferies (who worked on the Liturgy Task Force as has written about the 2019 BCP’s typography and Daily Office Lectionary) what features of the…
Ordinary Time: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Season after Pentecost and Trinity
Welcome to Ordinary Time! Now, if you’re like me, you might hear “Ordinary Time” as “boring time.” But that’s not the case! Let me explain. The Church Year revolves around two cycles: But what about the rest of the year? Well, there are two periods of the liturgical year that are called Ordinary Time that…
Ember Days: A Rookie Anglican Guide
I don’t know about you, but when I first heard about “Ember Days,” I thought of a dying fire! However, when I began my ordination process, I quickly found out that Ember Days are about ordination and Holy Orders, not about fireplaces. What are Ember Days? As the 2019 ACNA BCP notes, “Ember Days are…
The Great Fifty Days of Easter: A Rookie Anglican Guide to Eastertide
Easter Sunday is only the beginning! A great fifty-day feast (known as “Eastertide,” “Easter Season,” or “Easter Time,” as well as “Paschaltide,” “Paschal Season,” or “Paschal Time”) kicks off on Easter Day. In the Church Year, this is quite literally fifty days of feasting. Easter is the high point of the Church Year. So it…
Holy Week: A Rookie Anglican Guide
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. Holy…
Lent: A Rookie Anglican Guide
What is Lent? Beginning on Ash Wednesday and lasting for 40 days, Lent is a season of fasting and penitence in preparation for Easter. The Church year revolves around two “cycles,” one for Christmas and one for Easter. The Christmas cycle begins with a season of preparation: Advent. The Easter cycle begins with a season…
The Book of Common Prayer (BCP): A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Prayer Book
This article was written in 2018 by Joshua Steele. It was heavily updated in 2023 by Jacob Davis. For a guide to the Anglican Church in North America’s 2019 Book of Common Prayer, read our Rookie Anglican Guide to the ACNA’s 2019 BCP here. You can’t be curious about Anglicanism for long without running into…
The Apocrypha: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Many people coming into the Anglican tradition have been told that the Apocrypha is bad, that its books are pure mythology, or that they distract from the aim of Scripture. Yet, upon closer examination, there seems to be a place for the Apocrypha. The New Testament contains allusions to the Apocrypha, and these writings enjoyed…
Holy Communion: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Eucharist
This article was originally written in 2018 using the 1979 BCP and updated for the 2019 BCP in 2023. Important: As with all of our Rookie Anglican guides to the Prayer Book, differences will exist between what exists here and other historic and global Prayer Books. Have you ever wondered what’s going on during a…
Trinity Sunday: A Collect Reflection
The Collect for Trinity Sunday Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us…
