The debates are over, and the election approaches. American Christians have more than enough information to discern their presidential choice, even if discernment is ongoing and that choice has not yet been made. We’re not impoverished for information; we suffer from a poverty of stillness in a sea of contentious noise. We’re responsible for the…
Jack joined Anglican Compass as a writer in February 2014. He is a native of Knoxville, TN, and serves as rector of Apostles Anglican Church in his hometown. Before serving at Apostles, Jack served Methodist churches in Knoxville and Gateshead, England. In England, Jack discovered his love for the Anglican tradition that would later become his spiritual home. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 2008 on his 30th birthday. Jack is married to Emily, and they have two young children. Jack received a B.A. in History from Samford University and a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School.
The Anglican Pastor’s Guide to Email Sanity
Here’s a statement I’ve never heard from anyone serving in ministry: “I love email!” Pastors commit their lives to serve God and his church for numerous reasons. Some love preaching the Gospel; some love offering pastoral care in nursing homes, hospitals, or prisons; others walk alongside students through teenage and college years. No matter the…
Preaching Like a TED Talk?
Sir Ken Robinson is a first-class speaker. I’ll never forget the first time I heard and watched his enthralling TED talk on the systemic flaws of education in our time. I listened to Robinson’s TED talk in the animated adaptation by the brilliant folk at RSA Animate. Robinson describes how the modes and methods of…
Praying Good Friday Over My Family
“There’s no excuse for not praying for your wife and children every single day.” I’ll never forget this exhortation my spiritual director gave me several years ago. I already knew the importance of praying for my family, but I needed someone to awaken my heart to this crucial calling of prayer as a father. Ever…
Compline To Complete the Day
The Lord Almighty grant us a peaceful night and a perfect end. Amen. 2019 Book of Common Prayer, Compline, p. 57 Thus begins Compline, the final service of the Daily Office. We ask for the grace and peace of God during the long night hours ahead. We ask for “a perfect end.” Then follows a…
Some Movember Spirituality
What does it mean to be a man in this culture? In my freshman year of college, the year when young men grow a beard perhaps for the first time in their lives, I had to face the obvious–my beard was weak. God just didn’t give me the chops to grow strong chops. There’s a…
The Ache of All Saints’ Day
I cannot remember the last All Saints’ Sunday I sat in the pew instead of the chancel. However, this All Saints’ Day, I wasn’t collared and vested, leading the liturgy in the parish I serve. I sat in a pew in another parish because I’m taking a sabbatical this autumn. Where does an Anglican priest…
Receiving Love in Loss
On Trinity Sunday this year, I did not have the strength to lead worship. I needed to be present with my wife and children to grieve and rest. This May brought unexpected heartbreak, a shock we were not prepared following the anticipation of new life we had entering the spring. This past March I came to Apostles on…
A Long Obedience In A Lenten Direction
A week before Ash Wednesday this year, I was preaching at a Christian high school to students who were learning about the season of Lent. I find excitement in sharing the basics of spiritual seasons like Lent with people who are learning about the Christian calendar for the first time. Lenten Basics As I teach…
The Gospel of Ashes: A Priest’s Reflection
I’m standing behind the altar, preparing to wash my forefinger covered in ashes. Every year on a Wednesday in the late winter or early spring, I make this short walk from the floor of the nave to the credence table where I’ll dip my thumb and index finger in a soapy rinse. It’s one of…
