For Thérèse, obedience did not mean abandoning what she understood to be God’s call.
Anne Chester is a licensed clinical social worker (counselor) and writer based in Southlake, Texas, with a passion for integrating faith and mental health. She is a member of St. Laurence Anglican Church and a student at St. Paul’s House of Formation. Often writing under the pen name The Present Parishioner, she explores how grace, belonging, formation, and faithful institutions foster healing, integrity, and resilient hope.
Silence Beyond Expectation: A Reflection on Psalm 131
“Mom, Mom, Mom.” I hear this mantra often. Balancing family life and a career is challenging, and sometimes I just want silence. Not any silence, but a silence that requires absolutely no follow-up. A few years ago, I signed up for a silent retreat. I approached the retreat like a spiritual vacation: a little rest,…
St. Monica: The Mother Behind St. Augustine
St. Augustine, the priest, bishop, and arguably most influential theologian outside the Bible, is well known for his conversion story. His Confessions remain widely read and quoted today. But we would not know St. Augustine as we do without St. Monica, his mother, and her own life of Christian formation. A Mother Formed in Faith…
Hymn Guide: Great Is Thy Faithfulness
With Lamentations 3:22–23 in mind, Thomas Chisholm wrote “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” after declining health forced him to leave the pastoral vocation he loved. He knew disappointment; he knew God’s faithfulness.
Bless Me, for I Have Sinned
What I was really asking God for was relief, happiness, help, healing, strength, and understanding.
Called to Be a Parishioner
The beauty of Anglicanism is that whether or not we are called to Holy Orders or some other significant role, we are called to be a parishioner first.
O, The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus: Carried By His Current
Before I understood theology, I understood this: the love of Christ was not something I had to reach for. It was something I was already being held within. We do not learn the love of Christ by mastering it, but by receiving it.
Formed in Faithfulness: Joseph and Ecclesial Reordering
Over the years, I have encountered Joseph in many articles, books, and sermons. We often remembered Joseph as the boy with the beautiful coat, favored by his father, resented by his brothers, and carried along by youthful certainty. We often tell his story as one of suffering, perseverance, and eventual vindication. Yet we do not…
The Bread of Life: Healing and The Eucharist
The risen Christ showed his scars—healed and transformed—to his disciples. The Eucharist joins us to that same reality. Not to minimize suffering or explain it away, but to acknowledge it. The table knows that we often need care before we consciously recognize it.
Reconciliation: The Grace Of Not Explaining Yourself
One of the most remarkable things in the bulletin at St. Laurence Anglican Church is the Saturday worship schedule, which reads: When I first came to St. Laurence, this line caught me off guard—both unfamiliar and quietly unsettling. Over time, it has come to feel like an invitation to restoration, calling me back into belonging….
Mercy in the Midst: Courage to Stay in an Imperfect Church
As both a therapist and a parishioner, I have watched many weary believers seek refuge in liturgical traditions—drawn by beauty, order, and a sense of rootedness after years of spiritual fatigue within politicized or performance-driven church cultures. I have seen institutions rise to moments of grace and stumble into failure. The difference often lies not…
