Among all the Christian traditions, and especially those in the Protestant sphere, Anglicanism stands out for its rich and beautiful language. From the creation of the Book of Common Prayer forward, we have been a tradition of prayer through cadence, rhythm… poetry. This tradition may flow naturally from the emphasis on beauty in the Prayer…
Think on These Things: The Compass Writing Ethos
Amid the often contentious online discourse among Christians, we at Anglican Compass want to strike a different tone.
More Hooker, Less Twitter: What Richard Hooker Can Teach Us about Writing with Meekness and Conviction
One of the greatest privileges of my life was to have served as a pastor to Mrs. Helen. The saintliest of widows, Helen was always gentle in spirit, encouraging, and thoughtful towards others, even as she ever so slightly bristled at the kids running through the aisles of our small church plant in South Texas….
The Power of the Sermon Checklist: Why You Need One, and How to Make Your Own
In his best-selling book The Checklist Manifesto, surgeon Atul Gawande makes the compelling case that the best way to ensure quality is something simple, old-fashioned, and overlooked: the checklist. In fact, he argues, we need the checklist more than ever, because today, information is so abundant and complex, it overwhelms our ability to process. To ensure…
Writing as Ministry
I personally got into new media when I built my first church website in 1997. Using HTML and a dial-up connection, I inserted a ton of hyperlinks and made tables to frame it all up. It had some killer clipart. When blogging came around I tried my hand at that in 2002 through a blog called “Bull…
My Lenten Experience
Note: I wrote this a few years back, reposting it for this year. As always, thanks for reading. My Journey You aren’t supposed to talk about what you are doing for Lent. Don’t “let your right hand know what your left hand is doing” and “don’t be like the Pharisees.” But people often ask me…
What They Don’t Teach You In Seminary, Part 3: Practicing Sabbath
During my seminary years, teaching the theology of Sabbath was not scarce. In Old Testament courses, pastoral theology courses, and chapel services, I heard some excellent theological thinking on the Sabbath. I rarely saw sabbath practiced in community. The distance between thought and practice can become quite a chasm. Good ideas about the Sabbath can…
What They Don’t Teach You in Seminary, Part 2: Personal Repentance
by Jack King ‘There is no theology apart from experience; it is necessary to change, to become a new man.’ –Vladmir Lossky ‘If you are a theologian, you truly pray; if you truly pray you are a theologian.’—Evagrius Ponticus If you visit any seminary website, schools will speak about the importance of spiritual life for…
The Theology of Michael Ramsey for Today
by Jonathan Warren. “People ask me, sometimes, if I am in good heart about being Archbishop … My answer is ‘Yes’ … But the phrase ‘in good heart’, gives me pause, because after all, we are here as a church to represent Christ crucified and the compassion of Christ crucified before the world. And, because…
Michael Ramsey, Conversion, and Christian Reunion
Introducing Michael Ramsey One feature of Anglican church history I am especially interested to highlight in these essays is the role that the Archbishop of Canterbury has played in crafting the temper and character of Anglicanism as a theological and spiritual tradition. For Anglicans, bishops are the chief symbol of Christian unity, and no episcopal…
