The Scriptural BCP: Reclaiming the textual tradition with technology
Christians love text. Inheriting the enthusiasm of their Jewish forebears for the written word, Christians have left a blazing trail of text in their wake at every turn: sermons, commentaries, philosophical treatises, and liturgical documentation all have their part in the library. Text is powerful because it comes with triple strengths. Text endures; writing our…
Church Planting in Covidtide: Moral Courage and Sacramental Witness, Part I
As the disruption of Covidtide begins to wane and possibly end, the Church must now reorient itself from survival back to the Great Commission. However, some churches have been hurt more than others. A nationwide study of offertory collections by The Pillar showed that giving was down dramatically during Lent and Easter in 2020, but…
Aquinas in Anglican Thought
Thomas Aquinas—known for centuries within the Roman Catholic Church as the “Angelic Doctor” and the “Universal Doctor,” among other titles—has received increased attention from Protestants in recent years. Some have explored the value of his thought as a whole,[1] while others have constructively engaged him as part of a larger treatment of a particular topic.[2]…
Secular Stories Part 1: MacIntyre’s ‘Suggestion’ and Emotivism
A few weeks ago I proposed to guide our readers, Virgil like, through an examination of several “secular stories,” with the hope that we might arrive at a new perspective from which to assess our rather confusing social/political moment as faithful Christians. I ended my introduction to this series with an outline of the major…
On the Origins of the Deaconess
The ancient order of deaconesses seems to be making a comeback of sorts in the Reformed Episcopal Church. In his presiding episcopal report a few weeks ago, the Most. Rev. Ray Sutton mentioned the continued interest in this order by women of the subjurisdiction. Moreover, the Anglican Province of America and other bodies feature a…
Woman, Tree, Rain
At the corner of Church and Fair, in rain she pauses, cool in the invisible and rainless room below her umbrella… The low, wide Japanese tree’s elegant. Its salmon maple leaves are rained to red, Its splay of spindles slicked to jet by rain… Its bonfire burns the rain, and all the world Seems thirsty-eyed…
An Homily of Repentance and of True Reconciliation Unto God Part II
An Homily of Repentance and of True Reconciliation Unto God Part II Hitherto have ye heard, wellbeloved, how needful and necessary the doctrine of repentance is, and how earnestly it is, throughout all the Scriptures of God, urged and set forth both by the ancient Prophets, by our Saviour Jesu Christ, and his Apostles; and…
Book Review: “A Catechism (1604 Redux)”
A Catechism: 1604 Redux. Edited by Fr. Ben Jefferies. Nashotah, WI: Nashotah House Press, 2021. 55 pp. $10.00 (cloth). Fr. Ben Jefferies’ recent work, A Catechism: 1604 Redux, is a happy addition to the recent scurry among academics for Anglican Ressourcement. I was delighted when I was asked to review it for you all here….
Rocks and Stones
For what is lumpen ore no more Cold forged and grey upon The darkened smithy floor Now Irradescent is the heart Of one that loves, and yet No longer has to play a part For whom there be but one port, One harbour, one perfect creation Who from lifeless clay was wrought. One light at…
Tract XI – On The Church (Part I)
I have come, in my Tracts, to a discussion of the Church.[1] Having first talked about the Anglican interpretation of Scripture (Tract 9), as well as how the Bible and the Church relate (Tract 10), we may now proceed to use the Scriptures as our foundation for elaborating on Anglican theology and spirituality in every…