There was a long period where many Anglican churches didn’t have communion every Sunday. They would have morning prayer for a few weeks, and then a Holy Communion once a month or so. But a movement called Parish Communion successfully restored the tradition around the world. Today, most (but not all) Anglican churches celebrate Holy…
Classic resources from the founding team of Anglican Compass.
I Don’t Want a Celebration of Life, I Want a Burial Service
When I die, please don’t call my burial service a Celebration of Life. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that people will want to celebrate my life. I don’t want this to replace my Christian burial. No, bury me according to the rites of a Christian. I want to be one more brother in Christ,…
The Sign of the Cross: A Rookie Anglican Guide
Why do Anglicans make the Sign of the Cross? When do they do it? How do they do it? I am often asked: “Why do you cross yourselves?” Often this is followed by “Isn’t that superstitious, like the baseball players who sign themselves before batting? Isn’t it a dead, rote ritual?” Sometimes, people don’t feel…
Anglican Worship: Where Does It Say In the Bible to Do That?
As an Anglican priest, parishioners often ask me where the Bible commands certain Anglican worship practices. The assumption is that we should only do what the Bible expressly commands us to do. The thinking goes: If the Bible doesn’t say to burn candles, then we shouldn’t burn candles. If the Bible doesn’t tell us to…
What Is The Christ Candle?
Each December, we ask for gifts to our TRUE NORTH campaign. Help us point to Jesus through the riches of the Anglican tradition. This year, every gift up to $12,000 will be matched, for a total of $24,000! Our matching fund is put up by David Roseberry at Leaderworks, who both contributes to Anglican Compass and writes on…
Donald Trump is Distracting Me From Myself
For some, it is so easy to get angry at President Donald Trump. He gives them reasons every day via the convenience of Twitter to see him as the problem. For others, the “fake news” mainstream media is a daily focus. For still others, it is the democrats or Hillary or “progressives” or activists. I’m…
The Search for Identity and the Church
The search for identity is the assignment that our society puts upon us from our earliest days. Who am I? What am I? Cultural messages from commercial, activist, governmental, family and other sources seek to shape our identity every day, and yet they usually include the message “you are whatever you want to be.” And…
Are Icons Okay to Use in Prayer and Worship?
A long time ago on a continent far, far away, Christians had several councils to discern whether icons and sacred images could be used to aid worship and prayer. Iconoclasts wanted no images or icons, and Iconophiles wanted to retain them. After a lot of debate and prayer over centuries, it was finally determined that…
Don’t Wait Until You Figure Out Grace and Works Before Doing Both
Try an experiment that I lived for a decade: Get out a legal pad. Write out all of the scripture references from the concordance that refer to salvation by grace. Then write out all the commands to do good works. Try to sort out the difference between ceremonial law and and moral law. Work on drafts…
The Living and the Dead in Christ
You are not an alone. All baptized believers are a part of the People of God – a spiritual family that goes back to the beginning. This helps us know who we are, and shows us that we belong. The Sadducees visit Jesus one day. This was during a time in Jesus’ ministry when it…
Anglicanism is Not Denominational
Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis wrote that the various Christian groups are like rooms in a great hallway. The shared central beliefs of our Faith are the great hallway, but the various communions are the rooms. Each person finds the room that fits them best (baptist, presbyterian, Roman Catholic, etc), but must remember that we are all in the…
I’m not an Anglican During Holy Week
I love being an Anglican Christian. This Communion is my home, these are the people I’m called to serve with, and I’m thankful for the beauty of this tradition. But during Holy Week, I’m not an Anglican. I’m not a Baptist either. Or a Presbyterian. Or a Roman Catholic. Maundy Thursday On Maundy Thursday, my feet…
