Last week in The Curate, we took a look at what Anglicans have to say about the meaning and number of “sacrament/s” in general. This week, let’s take a closer look at what Anglicans believe about the first of the two “sacraments of the Gospel,” Baptism!
The following is an excerpt from the Anglican Church in North America’s catechism, To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism (Crossway, 2020), pp. 55–63.
You can download a PDF of the entire catechism here.
A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and […]
This post is a part of Rookie Anglican, a blog dedicated to Making Anglicanism Accessible. It was first preached as a sermon by Fr. Steven Lanclos on January 3, 2018 at Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in Pelham, AL.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which […]
Like many current Anglicans, I grew up as a Baptist, a Southern Baptist in fact. I even went to a Baptist College on the campus of a Southern Baptist Seminary and got a wonderful foundational education in the Scriptures and Great Books. When I married an Anglican, we started attending Baptist churches but never found ourselves in a place where […]
I don’t know about you, but I’m quite possibly addicted to podcasts.
Right now, NPR’s UpFirst, The Tim Ferriss Show, and The Art of Manliness are some of my favorites. However, it’s been a bit of struggle for me to find great Anglican podcasts. Granted, perhaps that’s due to my own ignorance, but when you search for “Anglican” in most podcast […]
As Anglicans, we use various forms of ancient worship called “liturgical.” This is the major thing that distinguishes us from “low” churches that do not have a traditional liturgy.
Liturgy comes from a Greek word which means “the work of the people.” In this ancient custom of worship, we become as a group of Christians what […]
At the heart of every church tradition is one priority which shapes the identity of the community. This central aspect is the source of its energy and vision, and becomes the first of all other priorities. This aspect determines much, if not all, of its distinctive traits and eventually becomes the touchstone for every other facet of church life. For […]
The most political thing I’ve done this week is baptize children. Seven children actually, including one infant.
I love the image of burial and resurrection with Christ that we witness in our one hundred and fifty gallon stock tank we place at the entrance of the church. It’s one of my favorite celebrations to lead as a priest. It’s a funeral and birth […]
So now, Father, we ask you to bless and sanctify, with your Word and Holy Spirit, these gifts of bread and wine, that we may partake of his most blessed Body and Blood.
What happens to the bread and wine in and through this prayer of epiclesis, when the priest invokes the […]
Our church plant’s first major purchase was a chalice. Why?
The Eucharist is Christianity’s first and ultimate church planting strategy. It’s not just a sentimental moment to recall our Lord’s sacrifice. The Holy Eucharist is the celebration and realization of God reconciling all things through Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:19, Col 1:20). If this is true, then our […]
Is it dangerous, as some claim, to believe that God would mediate his grace to us through his creation? Would God touch us through the hands of another person, or feed us his very presence in bread, or cleanse our souls through water? Will it lead to “magical thinking” or idolatry? Yes, it is dangerous.
There is a great mystery as […]
Recently we were told that the Christian Church in America “hemorrhaging members” and that the church is shrinking. It is true that the number of Americans who claim to be Christian is shrinking. But as usual, Ed Stetzer provides some real clarity in his interpretation of statistics. Turns out that people are not so much “leaving church” as they are “leaving the mainline” and […]
