The Benedictus – also known as the Song of Zechariah, Luke 1:68-79 – is a canticle used in Morning Prayer. It is featured in certain editions of the Rookie Anglican Daily Office Booklet. Below is an audio file of the easiest way, in my opinion, to chant the canticle. As you can see in the…
An Anglican Spider Bite: My Journey into the Anglican Way
My Anglican journey began in a class about the theology of the early Church—specifically, with a particular article. Before we read J.N.D. Kelly’s Early Christian Doctrines, our professor wanted us to read a short biographical essay on him by H.E.J. Cowdrey. Now, Kelly himself entered Oxford as a Presbyterian. However, according to Cowdrey, “he was…
Daily Office Booklet
NOTE: Daily Office Booklets are now located at https://anglicancompass.com/rookieanglican/dailyofficebooklet/. In the interests of making the Anglican Church in North America’s Daily Office Lectionary, Morning Prayer, and Evening Prayer more accessible, I have been putting together Daily Office Booklets, which contain the basics of the Morning and Evening Prayer liturgies, as well as the references for all Scripture…
How to Chant the Nunc Dimittis
The Nunc Dimittis—also known as the Song of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32)—is a canticle used in Evening Prayer. Below is an audio file of the easiest way, in my opinion, to chant the canticle. As you can see in the pagescan from the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal below, I’m chanting #668, a setting written by J. Naylor. Source: The…
How to Chant the Te Deum laudamus
The Te Deum – a very early Christian hymn – is a canticle used in Morning Prayer. Below is an audio file of the easiest way, in my opinion, to chant the canticle. As you can see in the pagescan from the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal below, I begin by chanting #613, the setting written by E.G….
Episcopal Polity: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Authority isn’t a bad word Protestants, especially Western Protestants from democratic countries, who look at the Anglican Church from the outside will find a method of leadership that is quite foreign and perhaps distasteful. If we have been set free by Christ, they may think, why should we let some man in a pointy hat…
My Anglican Journey
The best way to describe my journey to Anglicanism is to say that I stumbled into it. But before I get to the Anglican part, I have to talk about my journey to becoming a Christian. My Christian Journey I grew up in an Indian Hindu family, and my first experience attending church was in…
The Church Calendar: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Christian Year
What time is it? At first glance, it might not seem like it, but this is one of the most important questions a human being can ask! Thankfully, there’s an Anglican answer! Or, better, there is a Christian answer that the Anglican tradition helps proclaim! While the secular calendar organizes life around civic holidays, national…
The Vestry: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Tonight, I have another vestry meeting, maybe my 350th monthly meeting of the elected leadership of Christ Church. The vestry in an Anglican church meets routinely, usually monthly, to give leadership and oversight to the congregation’s mission and ministry. Over the years, Christ Church has undergone many phases of vestry development, involvement, and leadership—not all…
The Blessed Virgin Mary: A Rookie Anglican Guide
March 25th is the feast day commemorating the Annunciation, the announcement to the Virgin Mary that she would bear the Son of God. See Luke 1:26-38 for the beautiful story. We observe this day because it is nine months before Christmas Day. Mary: The God-Bearer, or Mother of God Mary’s faith lives on, and many generations have…
What is a Collect? A Rookie Anglican Guide
As you gather for worship on Sunday, you encounter the Collect for Purity and the Collect of the Day. At Morning or Evening Prayer, you encounter “the Collects.” What are these strange things called “Collects,” and how do you pronounce this word? What is a Collect? A collect is simply a prayer meant to combine…
