Last month, Gerald McDermott interviewed the Rev. Ben Jefferies, the secretary of the Liturgy and Common Worship Task Force, regarding the 2019 Book of Common Prayer. In the wake of this interview, a massive debate has raged across the Anglican side of social media about whether or not, as Fr. Jefferies has claimed, the 2019…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
efore one may talk about the controversies over ceremonies and rites, one must first discuss the point of ritual. That is, what is its end. All who have even the slightest liturgical education are well aware of the primitive doctrine of lex orandi, lex credendi. For those who are new to the discussion, this little…
Lord, save me from this rushing mighty wind That beats me beyond belief — buffets, blows The breath from me till I can’t walk, can hardly stand, just Stumble. Its confounding force opposes my progress, slows My steps, outdoes my poise – Checks, chokes me, hurts, thwarts, throws dust In my eyes, Defies my tries…
Metaphors of dragons to understand Christ’s humanity and divinity Compares to awareness of right hand Truth tied up in the Blessed Trinity Dragon could be destroying villages All the while human Junius lecturesHe’s oblivious to the destruction.We put God in a box with diligence And “natures don’t do stuff” he conjectures Emily draws the Yale…
“the reality of grace is vastly richer and far more powerful than the force of those flames. It is so strong that even when our capacity to narrate the good-news story of grace is destroyed (as it often is in situations of violence), the reality to which it witnesses, the unending love of God, remains…