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The Love of Churches
“He stopped and looked up, recognising the place as a church. The thought quickly came to him that since he was tired he might rest there; so that after a moment he had in turn pushed up the leathern curtain…
We Give Thanks Unto…
As an undergraduate student exploring Anglicanism and the catholic faith, I first came across the work of Eastern Orthodox priest Alexander Schmemann while working on a paper for a class on Acts. My paper attempted to trace catholic Christian liturgies…
What is Dating For?
Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the “Theology of the Body,” changed my perspective on dating and procreation. Prior to that, my experiences of dating in our hypersexualized culture, were marked by unmet expectations. Five years ago, I broke up…
The Secret from the Ground
In childhood’s realm, I found a prize in earth: It was a tiny king and tiny queen Arranged upon a palanquin of gold, My memory insists they’re beautiful, The metal robes, enameled faces, crowns As sparkling-bright as cleft and burnished gems. The soil had changed the iris of an eye, And so the king had…
Ascetic Feats are Not Sainthood
after Jack Gilbert’s ‘The Abnormal is Not Courage’ The Stylites stood on poles for thirty, forty yearsFlagellati scourging themselves with ropes. Bloody and merciless.A magnitude of heroism, of self-denial that allows me no peace.This poem would lessen their feats. QuestionThe piety. Say it’s not beatitude, not at it’s best.They were impossible, and too strife-driven. Too unique.“Whose…
On the Day You Were Baptized: Book Review
It is more than fair to say that Christian catechesis in America has been largely ineffective for at least two generations. This is particularly true for sacramental traditions, many experiencing large rates of attrition to Evangelical traditions or no faith altogether. Thanks to the influx of work about intentional Christian living in a post-Christian world,…
Two Variations on the Theme of Christ’s Bride
“The Church is in Christ as Eve was in Adam. … God made Eve of the rib of Adam. And His Church He formeth out of the very flesh, the very wounded and bleeding side of the Son of man.” — Richard Hooker Creating man from dust, And woman from his side, God…
The Bookcase
For my dead father 1957-2017 Here is artifice: these books, this grain— The knots and notches severed from a pine, The gilded words on every leather spine, The lumber scraped and straightened by your plane. You’d measure twice, cut once, then dull your pain With work and whisky, sharp as turpentine. But here is artifice…
Why I’m No Longer (as) Grumpy About BCP2019
Unless folks have been on an extended vacation from social media, regular readers of The North American Anglican will be aware that the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has finally released their long-awaited Book of Common Prayer (2019) (BCP2019). Since its release it has received both well-deserved praise and well-deserved criticism. Regular readers may…
Response to Jefferies: 1662BCP a norm for ACNA?
On Beeson Divinity School’s Anglican podcast, Gerald McDermott recently interviewed Ben Jefferies, Secretary of the ACNA liturgical committee. McDermott and Jefferies discuss the ACNA’s 2019 Prayer Book. Jefferies’s characterization of the new book leaves me bewildered. A centerpiece of the discussion is the normativity of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Jefferies calls it the…
The Restoration
Sweet Peace’s Prince, who once I did exile A traitor to my soul, has now returned To regal Restoration; to beguile My treachery, He chastised me, but spurned Me not; with kinder loving word He yearned To reconcile. My Parliament adjourned, To yield consented, what excuse have I To let my vices turn my soul…
Call for Poetry Submissions
As the new Poetry Editor at The North American Anglican, I plan to feature about one poem a week and gather the best of these together to publish in a slim volume around Christmas time. If you would like us to consider your poems, please send them to clintoncollister@gmail.com with the phrase “Poetry Submission” in…
I.M. , I.M.
north Louisiana On holy ground these woods reclaim There now remains one standing stone, The others fallen, name by name, A country graveyard overgrown. The marble, lichen-crusted, worn, By weathering time in time displaced, Tilts on a base by storms uptorn, With runner, web, and tendril graced. An angel kneels, with folded wings, While floating…