An Homily of the Right Use of the Church or Temple of God and of the Reverence Due Unto the Same The First Part Where there appeareth at these days a great slackness and negligence of a great sort of people in resorting to the church, there to serve God their Heavenly Father according to…
The “Books of Homilies” hold a special place within Anglicanism. They are enshrined in Article XXXV of the 39 Articles as, “The Second Book of Homilies, the several titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholesome Doctrine, and necessary for these times, as doth the former Book of Homilies,…
One could say that the argument over the Via Media is its own via media, cutting through two camps in the Anglican Communion. Although there have been various ways of interpreting the term, more recently its interpretation has divided two groups of Anglicans—those who insist on the Reformed character of Anglicanism and those who see…
he following was originally written for a course entitled “Prayer and Sanctity” as part of my M. Div. work at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. We were asked to examine the life and writings of a saint in our tradition and to consider the following: “ the official life (vita, synaxarion); legendary material; liturgical hymnography;…
She was my strangest friend. She saw the dead on the day they died. They stopped by her house on the way to the Jordan. Sometimes she saw a globe of light emerge from her body—bright like a miniature globe lightning. God talked to her, joshing in a voice like her own. I always wondered…
In a recent Mere Orthodoxy piece titled “Why Is Anglicanism a Gateway to Catholicism?”, M.H. Turner raises some important questions about why Anglicans swim the Tiber. For my part, I found Turner’s proposed answers wanting. Paul Owen responded with a solid historical defense of Anglo-Catholicism, but he left Turner’s questions about the motive of modern…
Read the original piece here, and Fr. Ben’s response here. Dear Fr. Ben, Thank you for your letter. I always appreciate your willingness to jump into the fray of ACNA discussion, something I wish we had a great deal more of. I should add that I think you have produced a winsome altar book, and…
So far, it’s been nearly 7 weeks of quarantine and social distancing. I have not attended church since March 8th. Lent felt strange and dry and even Easter has continued to feel off. This time has been one of unemployment, restiveness and an odd sense of stillness and waiting, as if life has been put…
The Anglican Church is a strange beast. Like any church she has a history she cannot shake, one that includes murky beginnings, fraught worldly loyalties, and spiritually dubious leadership. Yet, this history is one rooted equally in courageous witness, ingenious political compromise, and remarkable cultural and spiritual achievements. Among these is the space and nourishment…
The Rogation Days will arrive as my small vegetable garden begins to look nice. I’ll be digging around in my raised beds, feeling like Wendell Berry may be modestly pleased with me and wondering if he knows about the Rogation Days (because I imagine he would approve). A few years back, since it was not…
