Empty lot: cursed soil burned black by the raging fires of summer sun, parched as a dead man’s lips. Yet winter rains bring thick skin of green, the moist breath of grasses, the fluttering heartbeat of insect wings, and their echoing hymn: Nothing dead must stay that way. Morning light brings night’s decay.
“I am so happy! I am so happy!” –dying words of Gerard Manley Hopkins Youth brought him joy in seeing moles and stains On mottled creatures, splotched with shades of dun. He thrilled at freckled beasts, all made by One Above earth’s shadowed flesh–a Light who reigns And spreads a streaked abundance far from lanes…
“Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest (St. Matthew 9:37-38).” I. Post-Christian or Pre-Christian? The United States of America is changing. The country is rapidly moving from a post-war…
Orthodox Anglican Identity: The Quest for Unity in a Diverse Religious Tradition. By Charles Erlandson. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020. 204 pp. $47 (hardcover); $26 (paperback) When I first heard about Charles Erlandson’s Orthodox Anglican Identity, I assumed that the purpose of the book would be to define the precise limits of orthodox Anglicanism,…
Rediscovering the Anglican treasure of auricular confession with the Oxford Movement I. Introduction When one hears the phrase “the Tracts,” the mind moves right away to the famous Tracts of the Times written by the men of the Oxford Movement, but Anglican evangelicals penned their own series of tracts. In these evangelical tracts, one…
Presiding from the North Side of the Table The 1662 Prayer Book prescribes that the priest preside from the north side of the table. Though it was the universal Anglican practice from the Restoration until the mid-nineteenth century, north side presidency is little known among Anglicans today.[1] Considering its general obscurity, I will explore the…
You warm me from the inside out And fill me to the brim. You charm me with your Scottish clout, With your amber color dim. Now stoke the fire and pack your pipe, Fill your glasses well. Your drink is not of common…
This piece is taken from “To My Younger Brethren: Chapters on Pastoral Life and Work” written in 1902 by Handley Moule, at the time the Bishop of Durham. Moule was one of the leaders of the “Evangelical” party alongside J.C. Ryle, what today we might call “Old Low Church,” although by the standards of modern…
Published in partnership with The Davenant Institute. My first encounter with Lancelot Andrewes was by accident. I admit (somewhat reluctantly) that I was actually on the trail of a Puritan and instead I happened upon the “stella praedicantium” (the star of preachers), as a contemporary once called him. It was in the lady chapel of…
Of all the old festivals, however, that of Christmas awakens the strongest and most heartfelt associations. There is a tone of solemn and sacred feeling that blends with our conviviality, and lifts the spirit to a state of hallowed and elevated enjoyment. The services of the church about this season are extremely tender and inspiring….