Canon Docent of St. Mark's

That is my unofficial role and title which I have given myself. I am not a canon, but I do feel like a docent much of the time. The reason is that St. Mark's is something of a tourist attraction and pilgrimage spot here in Vero Beach. The architecture in Florida - and especially here in Vero - is very "beachy" and "airy"... much of it is in the Spanish style. So when people drive down the boulevard and all of a sudden see this huge stone tower, and gothic arches, they invariably swing by so they can "see inside". Even if they have seen a million gorgeous churches in their lifetime, they always want to see this one. I'll bet I have given close to 100 tours of the church since being here! I have it down to a science: tell them about the doors; the floor tile; the stained glass; the plans to get other appointments, such as Stations; the chapel; the "Elizabethan" language of the liturgy; the plans for the rest of the property, etc. It is actually quite fun, and a good way to break up the day. Most tours last no more than 10 minutes. I obviously give more during the winter season when there are more people here in town. It is funny because years ago an old man I befriended at a retirement community told me once that he thought I would be a good docent. And now here I am....

This just goes to show what a nice building can do to attract visitors - especially in a small town. Continuing Anglicans often have a chip on their shoulder about people who worship "brick and morter", i.e. who care more about worshiping in a fancy old building with a paid choir rather than the Catholic faith. I would be lying if I said I never had that chip on my shoulder before. But the fact is that a beautiful physical plant, along with nice music and liturgy, and stunning decor, does a lot to get people in the door. God is also, quite obviously, deserving of the best that we have to offer.

Rogation Days

I find the Rogation Days to be very meaningful and more important than ever these days, especially in light of the shortage of food around the world. During the Rogation Days (rogare - to ask) we ask God to "pour forth His blessing upon the land and to give us fruitful seasons" (Collect for the Rogation Days, BCP p.261). There is a good prayer for the Rogations Days on BCP p. 39 as well which asks God's blessing upon agricultural workers, and also for us - that we would eat our own bread and essentially be happy with what we have. Of course it is customary and especially important during Rogationtide to recite the Litany (BCP p. 54) which, among other things, asks for God to bless the earth.

Any food shortage or famine may perhaps be viewed as God's judgment and curse upon the land. (Jer. 14:1-9) With the way that this world has be wholeheartedly turning its back on God over the last few decades is it is any surprise that there is more famine, death, and natural disaster than ever before? If we do not turn back to God, and "forswear our foolish ways" what will become of us?

"The earth is the Lord's and all that therein is." (Ps. 24) That means us, the earth, everything. Because the earth is the Lord's we can pray that He would bless it, which is what we do in Rogationtide. But will He do so if we do not repent of our sins and turn to the Lord, who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness?

The Rewards of Being a Priest

One of the most exciting things about being a priest is watching people's faith come alive, and seeing people who come to church with very little in the way of Christian discipleship and discipline begin to grow and bear the fruit of the Spirit. There are people who never owned a bible, and then when we give them one, they begin to study it, and absorb it, and have lots of questions. There are others who though previously didn't have much of a prayer life learn how to pray and what to pray for. There are people who previously compartmentalized there faith who are coming to see that the Lordship of Jesus Christ is over every aspect of life. There are lifelong churchmen who are very faithful and have seemingly seen it all, but yet are filled with wonder and awe when they learn some new aspect of the Holy Eucharist that they had never thought of before. There are people who through the power of Jesus Christ overcome addictions and other destructive behaviors and begin to live a life of godliness and devotion to our risen Lord. It is so exciting to be in the midst of all of this, and to be used of God to help bring some of this about. Being a spiritual father to part of Christ's flock, and helping them grow in knowledge and love of Jesus, praying for them and with them, and teaching them is so unbelievably satisfying and rewarding.

Knowing your product

All of this stuff in the news about the polygamist sect in Texas has increased the general level of interest in Mormon religion and history. As a priest it is important to know something - even if it's very basic - about other religions, as well as other topics (such as philosophy). But with everything else a priest has to stay current with, and know, and do, it is simply impossible to become an expert in everything. There just isn't enough time in the day. One could spend a lifetime studying just one other religion!

It is important to know something about other religions, such as their history and how they began, and some of the basic differences between them and the catholic religion, but ultimately, as I learned in sales, it is better know your own product inside out, and be able to explain it, then to know some other product super well. You don't get "sales" when you bash someone else's product, or attack intricate details of their process (i.e. theology). "Sales" - in this case, convincing people of the truth of the catholic faith - come when you know, believe in, and can explain it well.

The Universe is Expanding

In my Tuesday morning class at church we are looking at 20 arguments for the existence of God. While studying the Kalam argument the question was raised as to how we should understand the word "universe". The questioner mentioned something about the universe expanding, and additional universes physicists have speculated about that he read somewhere, and so on. Quite interesting. I think that despite any new discoveries about new universes, dimensions, and so on, we still have to understand universe in its original sense as meaning all of created reality.

But the main thing the question got me thinking about was this funny clip from the Woody Allen movie "Annie Hall."

More Preaching Reflections

Ministers and other people from Christian traditions that do not use pre-appointed lectionary readings often think that the use of lectionaries greatly limits the topics that can be preached on. This would especially seem to be the case with the 1928 BCP eucharististic lectionary, which runs on a one-year cycle. The modern solution, of course, was to adopt a three-year lectionary, to give the preacher more options and bring more of the bible into the liturgy. Some continuing parishes use the three-year lectionary, but most still use the old one. Either way, if the readings are pre-appointed, it can seem somewhat limiting on the surface. So what do you do? You have to get creative.

I find it very easy to do "topical" sermons based on the lectionary. A few weeks back we had the John 9 as our Gospel, so I chose to preach on the concept of "light" and how Christ is the light of the world. Two weeks ago, when the Gospel was about the doubting St. Thomas I preached on "inner peace". ("Peace be with you.") So I don't know what other priests do, but I will often pull out one word or verse and build off of that. I always try to relate the concept to the liturgy of the Church and the Eucharist, showing, for example, how many times we use "peace" in the liturgy. One thing that sermons should always do is point to redemption in Jesus Christ, and especially in the Holy Eucharist (I learned that from a Dominican sister in seminary). Related to that, I find that one can never mention the Holy Name too much in a sermon. His very name is immeasurably powerful and needs to be spoken aloud. Topical sermons can also be done based on the theme of the Sunday (e.g. "Good Shepherd" Sunday), or where we are in the Church year and what the feast day is. But the point is that with a little bit of creativity it is possible to speak on any number of topics and themes based on pre-appointed lectionary readings. Other times, of course, it is appropriate to try to exegete the entire passage and discuss the broad theme of the entire reading. I do not want to deny the importance of that, but it can become rather limiting after a while.

Clergy Wives

I think there should be a feast day on the kalendar, or a prayer intention on diocesan prayer cycles, for clergy wives. Just as it is a difficult vocation to be a priest, so it is to be married to one. These wonderful women give up a lot for their husbands to become priests. In many cases they give up living near family and friends; they give up certain creature comforts because the salary and benefits of a priest are often lacking (especially in the continuum); and they very often abandon their own career and personal aspirations - all so their husband can be a priest. Then besides all of that, they are expected to take an active role in the life of the parish. I was lucky that my wife knew she was marrying a man who was going to become a priest, because for many men the priesthood is a career change, and not something that the woman planned on dealing with when they first got married. Those women in particular deserve special praise for their patience, understanding, and devotion to God and their husbands. Thank God for clergy wives. Pray for clergy wives.

Things to Avoid in Sermons Part 1

1) Politics
2 ) Politics
3) GRE Words

Comments on Commentaries

In my sermon preparation I find most contemporary commentaries to be almost absolutely useless, and I rarely use them. I actually have very few in my library. This surprises some people, but there are other priests who feel the same way (such as my spiritual director - who is a very experienced priest). The thing that makes so many contemporary commentaries bad for sermon prep is that the information they contain is entirely too academic. It is as though they are written for other biblical scholars and not for pastors who are trying to expound on God's word for the feeding of God's people. The worst commentaries of all in my opinion are the Anchor Bible commentaries. They contain all sorts of minute information about Greek morphology, the types of sandals that ancient near eastern peasants wore, and such, but they offer very little insight into the spiritual meaning of the text. And besides that they are very expensive. They are certainly interesting (sort of in the way a Discovery Channel program is interesting), but altogether useless most of the time for sermon preparation. I used to think that the Sacra Pagina series was okay, but I am finding it to be more and more useless for the same reasons.

This is one of the areas where older commentaries (50+ years or more) are so much better than the new ones. They actually presuppose the scriptures to be the word of God that have something spiritual to say to us, and they attempt to offer insight into the religious meaning of the text. For my sermon preparation I actually find theological texts to be the most useful non-biblical tool, especially when preparing theme-based or topical sermons. So I use
some of the (few) older commentaries that own, the Bible itself, and theological texts the most when preparing sermons. And judging by the good reaction my sermons get I think I am doing the right thing.

Humans are Not Animals

The NY Times has a story on how all "animals", even bugs, cheat on their 'spouses' and 'pay for sex'. In other words, hey... every other animal cheats so why shouldn't humans? I like what Fulton Sheen said once in one of his broadcasts: "Humans are not pigs." I would add to that: humans are not bugs, or apes, or anything like that. We are made in the image and likeness of God, and are endowed with reason. Reason enables us to know right and wrong. Our wills must be brought into accordance with nature... not nature brought into accordance with our wills.

I honestly feel as though we are living in the twilight of civilization. God help us all.

The Bible and the Future: N.T. Wright Lecture

N.T. Wright recently spoke at my alma mater, St. Mary's Seminary & University, in Baltimore. His topic was "The Bible and the Future". Of course I was not there, but I heard it was good. The cool thing is that you may order a CD or DVD of his talk! The link to do so is on the opening page of the St. Mary's website. I am going to get one.

Wright spoke at St. Mary's when I was a student there, and he actually taught my Paul class one day! I got to ask him a question about natural theology and Romans 1 for a paper I was working on. Very exciting. At that time he had not yet been consecrated a bishop.

The Bishop's Daughter

David Virtue reported on the recent New Yorker article about the Rt. Rev. Paul Moore, former Episcopal Bishop of New York. The original article from the New Yorker, written by one of Moore's daughters, is definitely worth reading, and should be read in order to see the man from a broader perspective. Virtue does raise an interesting point in his article, though, about sexual ethics in light of the article. He says in essence that the real problem facing the church today is not approval of homosexual behavior, but rather accepting pan-sexualism... having an "anything goes" attitude towards sex. I think he is on to something.

The debate that has raged in the Church as of late must be quite troubling to homosexuals - especially those who are honestly trying to seek God's will in their life and deal with their feelings and problems in a Christian way. Maybe they feel hated by the Church and alienated from God. Maybe this rhetoric makes them feel like they have caused all of the problems in the church (even though they haven't). As Virtue says, the real problem is the pan-sexual agenda that has engulfed our culture and the Church. Why doesn't the Church protest the sleeping around/one night stand culture shoved in our faces during prime time TV? Maybe because it is men and women - so that makes it okay. But isn't fornication a sin? Hmmmm. Oh, and why are adulterers, and organizations that romanticize cheating dealt more kindly with by the Church, while homosexuals are thrown to the lions? Hmmm. If you ask me, it is really unfair to those men and women. The Church should condemn all sexual behavior that does not conform to the teaching of scripture and tradition. She should not "pick and choose", or focus only on one group of people. We need to remember that homosexuals are people too, made in the image of God, and who, like the rest of us need redemption and salvation in the name of Jesus Christ. It is definitely something that I, as a pastor, have to keep in mind as I minister since I do not have a choice who I get to minister to.

Sermons

One of the most important things I have learned about preparing and delivering sermons since I've been ordained is that 80% of the sermon is delivery. There are brilliant and godly men who have many important, timely, and provocative thing to say when they preach, but fail miserably at communicating them because they mumble, are monotone, or just plain dull. If you do not believe me just watch EWTN. Conversely, there are men who have very little of substance to say, yet they take what little they have and package it very nicely so people will not only listen and get excited about what they are saying... they will come back to hear more! If you do not believe me, just watch Joel Osteen or TBN. Whenever I have a sermon that I feel is a little weak (which happens to all preachers from time to time) I work extra hard at honing the delivery, and almost without fail I get a better response from those sermons than I do from the ones that I think have better content! Good delivery is key, and I don't think we honor God's Word when we take delivery lightly. Of course it goes without saying that content is supremely important as well. In the end, good content and good delivery go together.

Stick to the Basics

I am slowly learning that I should never presume that parishioners will know some doctrine, or aspect of Church teaching, that I know (and take for granted that I know). Case in point, in my Tuesday morning class we are studying angels. I thought that it would be topic that people knew everything about, and knew all the biblical passages, and traditional theology of angels, and so on, but to my surprise many did not. There were many misconceptions that the participants had (not all of them, mind you). So on our first session we were able to clarify, among other things, that angels are not humans who have passed on; and that demons and devils were created by God because they were angels (which along with everything else was created by God). That is stuff that I thought everyone just "knew". Boy was I wrong! And I am sure more questions will arise as we delve into angels and Thomism in a few weeks. There already was a question as to why it matters in Thomistic philosophy that each angel is its own race (now that is something that I would be surprised if everyone knew off the bat). Anyway, it's a good lesson for me. It is always good and worthwhile to stick to the basics; to teach, and reteach, and reteach again.

Happy Lent

A blessed Lent to everyone. I am going to be doing some special Lenten reading - a book called "All For the Love of God: A Holy Cross Omnibus". It was published in 1956 by the Order of the Holy Cross, and was a selection of the Episcopal Book Club. It has all sorts of short essays written by members of the order on topics such as the incarnation; the Mother of God; angels; what "catholic" means; the eucharist, etc. The essays were taken from various issues of the Holy Cross Magazine going back to 1906. I am sure it will be very edifying and enlightening in many ways. I have had it for years, but never read it. (I do pride myself on the fact that will eventually get around to reading all of my books!) This was one of many classic out-of-print anglo-catholic books that I acquired by chance in seminary. Someone donated a ton of them to the seminary library, which didn't want them, so they sold them for $1 each, and yours truly was there to snap them up!

How long does it take to become an Anglican?

A wise priest colleague remarked to me once that it takes ten years for a convert to become an Anglican: that is, to be truly formed by the liturgy and ethos of the classical Book of Common Prayer and the English spiritual tradition. Having been on this journey myself for so long now I definitely agree with that. Anglican formation is a very long and slow process. It involves a complete reorientation of ones general thinking, theological method, and spirituality. It is so slow, in fact, that half the time one doesn't even know it is happening! Once one is formed in the tradition, though, he could hardly imagine being anything else, and such a strong and solid base has been established that the spiritual life beings to really blossom. By far the critical error people make is thinking they know something of Anglicanism after just a few services, or a few years of membership in an Anglican parish, but after brief time, in frustration, they leave. It takes so much longer than that to really explore and experience our tradition.

On a related note, I wonder if it is even possible for anyone to get a truly Anglican formation in the Episcopal Church anymore, since that body has abandoned on a local and institutional level the classical Anglican tradition and rule of life. Because of that, I tend (perhaps wrongly) to be very leery of people who come to us from TEC proudly boasting that they are "life long episcopalians". I wonder what, if anything, they have learned about English spirituality in TEC - even if it is "conservative" parish. Lord knows they know nothing about BCP in many cases, and they certainly have not read even popular Anglican writers like C.S. Lewis, much less the classical divines, such as Jewel, Taylor, Thorndike, etc.

Our formation process is slow, and I think sometimes people get impatient with it. But things that grow slowly grow strong. And I think having strongly formed Christians is much better than having great numbers of poorly formed souls, which is, sadly, what many other churches focus on these days.

Back in the Black

Due to popular demand, I think I am going to resume this blog. I will keep my art blog for talk about my art, and this blog for talk and discussion about the wonderful world of continuing Anglicanism.

A Day of Prayer

January 28^th, 2008 will mark the 30^th anniversary of the birth of the Continuing Anglican Movement with the Denver Consecrations.

As a way to commemorate this monumental event, the Society of St Michael will be conducting Prayer without Ceasing; with a special intention for unity among our Continuing Anglican bodies. Our members will pray before the Blessed Sacrament every hour of the day.

The Society of St Michael (SSM) is a Fraternity of Anglican Clergy, organized as a Society of apostolic life. The SSM’s special charism is dedication to the Catholic faith and practice in its Anglican tradition. The Society of St Michael exists for mutual support, encouragement, and fellowship, and witness to Anglican tradition in its Catholic fullness.

Be it resolved:

That we, the Council of the Society of St Michael, on behalf of the entire membership of the Society of St Michael, with members representing multiple jurisdictions, fully support the unity of Christ’s Church and strongly urge our Continuing Anglican communities diligently to work together for unity, in the spirit of the Affirmation of St Louis and with deep respect for our common heritage.

Be it resolved:

That we the Society of St Michael pray that all Primates, Metropolitans, Bishops and Leaders of Continuing Anglican communities will show the way to greater unity, that we may be one, as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ intends.

Be it resolved:

That we the Society of St Michael humbly beseech St Michael the Archangel and Our Lady of Walsingham to pray and intercede for us to Almighty God, for the restoration of Catholic Unity, that we may walk together bonded by our Catholic faith and share our Anglican tradition in Christ’s One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Be it resolved:

That we the Society of St Michael pray without ceasing for unity.

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst say unto thine Apostles, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: Regard not our sins, but the faith of thy Church, and grant unto it that peace and unity, which is agreeable to thy will; who livest and reignest with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

Dated:

The Feast of the Confession of Saint Peter

in the Octave of Christian Unity

January 18th, 2008

http://www.societyofstmichael.org/unity.htm

New Location

Dear Friends,

I have decided to phase out The Continuing Anglican Churchman once and for all, and focus more on art and Christian spirituality in general (on my new blog) rather than focus on the rarefied world of continuing and traditional Anglicanism. There weren't any continuing Anglican blogs when I began this, so I wanted to fill that void. But now there are a number of CA blogs out there - most of them much more interesting to read than this one!

So, I am still around, still a continuing Anglican priest ministering to people, and I will still be commenting on other blogs. I am not going anywhere. :-)

Fr. J. Gordon Anderson, SSM

"I Will Go Unto the Altar of God"

The Classics of Western Spirituality series of books has one on the great Anglican divine, Jeremy Taylor. One of the articles by him that it contains is called "The Reverence Due to the Altar". In this article, Taylor argues that because the altar is a place where God is specially present (more present than in other places, he says) it is deserving of special reverence. He draws parallels from various biblical stories, such as Jacob at Bethel, Moses and the tabernacle, various Psalms, and more. Places where God is specially present are holy, and are "therefore proper for Divine adoration." The altar, as a symbol of calvary, and the place where the the eucharistic sacrifice takes place, is therefore holy, and deserving of reverence. I was taught that you always "reverence" (i.e. bow) to the altar (genuflecting if the Blessed Sacrament is reserved there).

(On a slightly different topic, I don't know why the people who compile these books by old Anglican divines always keep the archaic/old English spellings of words [e.g. ""unlesse", "bee", "internall", etc.). Are they trying to be cool? If so, it is not working. It doesn't add anything to the text, and just makes it harder to read.)

+Florenza et.al. Bolt APCK for ACA

I guess everyone saw this coming. The thirst for unity in the continuum is real, hence all of the "cooperatives" taking place recently (FACA, ACC with UEC, etc.). The trouble with much of this stuff, from my perspective anyway, is that it's all 30 years too late.

Good Liturgy DVDs

I just received two DVDs from Church of the Resurrection (NYC). One is the Guild of All Souls annual requiem mass, and the other is the golden jubilee of the consecration of the church. My former spiritual director, the Rev'd Charles McClean, SSC, serves as sub-deacon at the requiem. The masses are well done, and the music is splendid. I did notice, though, that there is no MC at either of the masses. Maybe they ran out of copes?

Besides being fun to watch, and spiritually uplifting, these DVDs, along with the missal and Ritual Notes, would be good for training priests who do get to see or celebrate a solemn high mass very much. Reading through the missal and RN can be kind of confusing at first, so it is good to have something to watch that puts it all together (again, if your parish doesn't do these masses much). If you want to buy these, or other DVDs, just go to the parish website and download the form. I'm sure it will help the church raise money to continue and expand their ministry.

2007 DEUS Synod - News and Reflections

I just returned from our 2007 diocesan synod. It was hosted by the Central and Eastern NC Deanery, and held at the beautiful St. Michael's Church in Charlotte, NC. You may view pictures here and here (note the gorgeous stained glass window showing the coronation of the BVM). The diocese has an official press release which I forgot to pick up.

Overall, I would describe the synod as being very spiritually refreshing. I definitely sensed the movement of the Holy Ghost. Part of that, no doubt, was due to the fact that the synod was held at a church (a place of prayer and worship) rather than at a hotel (a place to crash). The presence of Christ in the tabernacle of the altar radiated out the whole week. I thought that the preaching during the week was spectacular. Really, I have not heard such good preaching in a long time. It was also wonderful to have sung mattins (in addition to daily mass). I became Anglican in a parish that had that (with a choir of men and boys), so I love hearing and singing the old Anglican chants. I am very proud to be a member of the APA, and serve with such fine men. The Lord is definitely blessing us in terms of growth and expansion of ministry. The laity are very involved in the church, and there is a wonderful feeling of teamwork and unity amongst us all. It was a very, very positive week.

The weeks events opened on the 9th with a meeting of the Board of Examining Chaplains (the men who examine candidates for Holy Orders). There are some 26 people in various stages of ministry preparation. This includes postulants, transitional deacons, and deaconesses. Members of the board noted the high quality of people offering themselves for full time ministry, especially the men preparing for Holy Orders. They are all in accredited seminaries, or have already been through an accredited seminary and are doing additional work as directed by the board. The APA requires candidates for Holy Orders to have a master's degree in theology. The board added one member to its numbers, my former rector, the Rev'd Raymond Unterburger (Joppa, MD). The board met again on the 10th, as it takes lots of time to meet and examine people. The finance and standing committees met on the 10th as well.

On the 11th, we had Morning Prayer and Litany, which was followed by breakfast and the clergy conference. At the clergy conference the bishop welcomed 10 new clergy to the diocese. Some were transfers from ECUSA, some from other jurisdictions, and the rest were newly ordained in the last year. Each of us said a few words about who we were and what was going on in our lives and ministries. It was interesting to me to find out that some of our clergyman (who've been in the APA a number of years now) are former Roman, Antiochean, and Russian priests. Guests to the synod were recognized and included: Bp Boyce (from the APA's western diocese); Bp. Hicks (REC bishop co-adjutor from the mid-atlantic) and the Very Rev'd Fr. Rodney Longmire (REC priest, and headmaster of an APA school in VA); Bp. Council Nedd (EMC suffragan); Bp. Langberg (ACA bishop of the north east); and Fr. Foos and two students from St. Andrew's Academy (APA) in California. At the clergy meeting the Very Rev'd Douglas King introduced Web-Ex technology, which the diocese will use for meetings, virtual seminary, and clergy continuing education classes. The Very Rev'd Mark Clavier spoke about the Anglican Institute of Lay Ministry, which he oversees and is based out of All Saints', Arden, NC. And the Venerable Erich Zwingert, SSC, commented on how the APA will soon be publishing the 1928 BCP. The first run will be a 4"x6" personal edition in leather. Additional sizes will come later. He also said that the APA is also going to be publishing a supplement to the 1940 Hymnal that will contain additional hymns and other authorized liturgical music for parish use. The diocesan altar guild also met during this time.

The synod itself officially opened at 1:00 p.m. on the 11th. A check for over 40k from the diocese and the Linda Armstrong Foundation was given for an eye care clinic in the APA's Diocese of Andrha Pradesh, India. After the usual business (approval of the previous year's minutes, official recognition of guests, etc.), the bishop gave his report. Between him and the suffragan they had 41 visitations, 7 new church meetings, 119 confirmations, 9 ordinations, 5 ecumenical meetings, and more. He gave a report on FACA and success of it in terms of new member churches. (Note: the bishop kind of flies through his report, so it is hard to write down everything quickly enough... and correctly. He had many other meetings, but I couldn't get them down fast enough. Next time it would be nice if his report and statistics were included in a separate handout in our packets.) The suffragan bishop, Peter Brewer, handed in his resignation according to the canons (due to age), but was asked to stay on. The bishop appointed the Rev'd Erich Zwingert, SSC archdeacon. The diocesan treasurer, psychologist, and chancellor were all reappointed. Bp. Grundorf offered his thanks for all of the support he received over the past year after the death of his wife and mother. The synod eucharist was held that evening at 4:30 p.m. The liturgy was a solemn high votive mass of the Holy Ghost. It was followed by a BBQ dinner and a live bluegrass band. Later in the evening, Bishop Langberg of the ACA got up with an electric guitar and apparently rocked the house (I had already retired). Watch out Ted Nugent.

The next day we had Morning Prayer and Holy Communion. These were followed by breakout continuing education sessions, which included: Anglican liturgical music; charitable trust and remainder giving; mission planting; advertising and marketing; and parish bookkeeping and finances. Each session was lead by someone very experienced and qualified in their field, so I think we all really learned a lot. The music session was especially successful, and attracted a lot of people. I hope we do that one again. After lunch, we had more breakout sessions. At 3:00 the synod reconvened, and the various deans gave reports from the deaneries. The diocesan mission, summer camp, and Christian education committees also gave reports during this time. We have a number of new missions and pre-missions that are starting up all over the place, which is very good news for the kingdom of God (and bad news for Satan). Choral Evensong followed later in the afternoon. In the evening we had a fantastic banquet with gobs of good food and drink. The next day synod continued with a few select parish reports . At 11:00 the synod ended and we all went home.

Again, it was a very spiritually refreshing event. It is so nice to be part of a growing church that is full of dedicated people, both lay and clergy, who desire to preach the gospel, administer the sacraments, and worship the living God in spirit and truth according to the catholic and Anglican tradition.

DEUS Synod Next Week

Next week I will be away at our diocesan synod in Charlotte, NC. Please pray that the synod goes well, and that the name of Jesus is lifted up. There is nothing major on the agenda as far as I know, though we are trying a slightly newer format that includes workshops and breakout sessions. I will give reports from the synod.

Church Unity Schemes - Sign of a Greater Sickness?

Hot on the heals of the UEC and ACC communion agreement comes a letter from the ACC's archbishop calling for greater cooperation with the UEC and the other St. Louis movement body, the APCK. Unity movements like this are a positive step in the right direction towards greater unity, cooperation, and understanding among Anglicans. They are especially good for the clergy because it gives them greater opportunities to serve. Unity movements and concordats can invigorate the church and give it a real shot in the arm, which is what I saw back in Maryland with the REC and APA churches in that area. Unfortunately this group does not want anything to do with us (or with FACA) because they see our Covenant Union with Nigeria as uncatholic, and our inter-communion with the REC as problematic. While our modus operandi could be compared to the way the United States engages countries like China, while theirs could be compared to the way North Korea or Iran engages the west.

The unspoken side to many of these unity schemes though is that they seem to be done in large part merely for survival. Sadly, our churches (the continuing churches) are really not very large or influential, and they are that way because we are not, by and large, evangelists, and because we have inherited historical American Anglicanism's idea that maintaining the institutions of the church is the most critical aspect of churchmanship (the book "Growth and Decline in the Episcopal Church" shows this quite clearly). My former diocese in another jurisdiction has fewer parishes in it than they did several years ago. Other dioceses in this same jurisdiction seem to have faced similar stagnation and/or decline. The same could be said, if we are honest, about most of the rest of us too. Have we really grown much over the years?

Do we evangelize and plant new churches, or do our dioceses grow by "trading parishes". In most of our jurisdictions it seems that there are parishes that were once in another jurisdiction, and so on. My old parish went from UEC to ACC to ACA. So while on the surface it may look like a lot of great things are happening with our various jurisdictions in terms of unity, or while it may look like we are growing because St. Swithun's parish just joined us from some other jurisdiction, on a deeper level are we really growing and reaching people? Or are we just in a fight for survival, and is this our last chance to be relevant and contribute anything to the conversation? Does the "shot in the arm" wear off after a while and do we return to the staus quo? I think that as long we pray for and tout unity and/or cooperation, and if God gives it to us, He then expects us to then go and do something with that - namely, fulfill the Great Commission.

Is there sex in heaven? (A Book Recommendation)

Okay, now that I have your attention, I want to recommend a great book by philosopher Peter Kreeft called "Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven But Never Dreamed of Asking" This book is a very deep, but very accessible text on the Christian philosophy and theology of heaven. He addresses the whole topic from a moderately Thomistic perspective, but also has numerous references to plays, music, art, literature, etc., and what they teach us about heaven. He is quite the fan of C.S. Lewis, as he quotes him throughout. He also ties in the ideas and writings from a whole range of other philosophers such as Aristotle, Heidegger, Kant, and Dooyeweerd (calm down, Greg). "Is there sex in heaven" is one of the questions that he addresses. I found his chapter on "Where is heaven" to be most enlightening, especially his discussion of how the spiritual contains the spatial, not visa versa. The book would make an excellent parish book study, or companion to a study on the four last things (which is how we used it). But honestly, it went so well the little bit that we did use it that I think next year we will do a study of the whole book.

Links Update

I have slowly been updating my links on the side bar. It is still a work in progress, so be patient. Basically I have removed links to defunct/derelict blogs. I have also removed links to bigoted organizations that, out of jealousy, fear, resentment, or something along those lines do not want to have anything to do with continuing Anglicans anymore, and who want to make communion with the arch-heretic of Canterbury and all of his lady cleric and actively homosexual friends the essence of being "Anglican" (I won't mention any names, but the initials of one such organization are SSC). That's all fine and well... I'd rather be a catholic than that type of "Anglican".

Elegy to Baltimore 1 and 2

I was asked to post a picture of "Elegy to Baltimore 2", the painting I did that hangs in my office. It is a picture of an old Redemptorist church, convent, and school in east Baltimore, near to where I used to live. This painting is from 2004. So here it is. It is still for sale, if anyone would like to buy it. (just e-mail me, or leave a note in the comments box)

And here is a picture of the companion piece, "Elegy to Baltimore 1", which is an image of an old church near Patterson Park in Baltimore. This piece, from 2003, is already sold.

(Please note that these images are copyright J. Gordon Anderson, and may not be reproduced or stored without my express written consent.)

My Office

One of the best parts about being curate at St. Mark's is having my own awesome office. Here are pictures. In the first photo is one of my oil paintings - a picture of an historic Redemptorist church from one of my old neighborhoods in Baltimore.

Hard to Build, Easy to Destroy

Many people point to the troubles in the Anglican world as a sign of the inherent weakness of its theological underpinnings, or, even worse, as a sign that it is not a true branch of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. How have things gotten to where they are today in a mere 40 or so years? I have also heard people subject the Roman Church to the same criticism. After Vatican II, the convents and monasteries emptied; a great many priests dropped out of the priesthood; and proponents of controversial teachings were emboldened. Apparently this cataclysmic change hit Paul VI pretty hard. One man (a priest), after pointing this out to me, suggested that this sudden collapse indicated that there was just a "thin veneer" of order and piety in the Roman communion, and that underneath it was all rotten and messed up (same criticism about Anglicanism).

But really these two examples don't prove or disprove anything with regard to the integrity of an institution like the Anglican Communion or the Roman Catholic Church. All it proves is that it is much easier to instantly destroy something than to carefully build something up over many centuries. Chartes Cathedral could be destroyed instantly by some explosive device with the flip of a switch, but that doesn't mean that its foundations are lacking, or that it has no integrity. The same goes for a marriage, family, friendship, country, etc.; they all can be instantly destroyed by one reckless act as well.

Sin and rebellion against God is ultimately mindlessness and laziness. Even more, it is self-deception. We think that by destroying something in a moment of iconoclastic zeal that we are doing something good; we presume to have an Olympian view of life, and so we will "know" how our actions will turn out, and the "renewal" that they will bring. But when they do bring about what we have expected, only something horribly worse than ever, we not only have to fear the Frankenstein we have created, but we also must lament the Rome that we have lost by burning it to the ground.

Exrtamural Anglicans

I heartily recommend this article posted by Fr. Jones over on Philorthodox. It echos one of my own posts from a couple months back about how Anglicanism goes beyond "being in communion with the ABC".

Gimmie a break....

Tony Blair, who supposedly wants to enter the Roman Church (and become a deacon!?), apparantly got some sort of "dressing down" by the pope about all of the hyper-liberal legislation he's proposed and supported over the years. Honestly, I don't know why people like this even want to become Roman Catholic. It makes no sense to me. I once used to date a pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-"the whole nine yards", woman who, despite being vigorously FOR such gibberish, wanted to convert from Quakerism to Catholicism! And just like this, it made no sense (and I told her so). She also went into the whole "evil, imperialistic Crusaders" mumbo jumbo when we were visiting the Franciscan Monastery once in Washington D.C. "Uh, and you want to become catholic?" Needless to say that relationship didn't last long. Living a reasoned and ideologically consistent life seems to be becoming more and more rare anymore.

A "Faux" Tattered and Worn Bible

This past weekend my wife and I were at Wal-Mart looking for some beach hats when I came across some "pre-tattered" baseball caps that had "Crush", "Luck Charms", and other pop-culture food labels on them. Of course they have made jeans like this for years now. It's all so phoney.

Later that evening, we were Ross, the discount clothing and "junk" store, when I came across some books. So I start looking through them, and low and behold I find a "pre-worn" Bible published by Thomas Nelson. I tried to find a profile of it on their site, but couldn't, but there is a picture of it on the main Bible page; look closely and you will see how it has an "aged" look. It is a perfectly smooth, glossy, hardcover Bible with a slick graphic printed on the front, depicting worn edges and brittle leather.

Is that what Christianity is coming to? We can't even read your own Bibles enough so they develop wear and tear normally? We want the "look" of piety without all of the blood, sweat, and tears that goes with it? Sometimes I am amazed that God doesn't just strike us all down here and now. Okay, I need to go hurl now.

Obama on the Beliefs of Conservative Christians

Barak Obama says that the religious right is wrong in assuming that "conservative" Christians care only about gay marriage, abortion, school prayer, and intelligent design. He is right! I, for one, care a lot about universal healthcare (or doing something about healthcare). That is going to be one of the biggest issues for me in the upcoming election season. My wife and I can barely afford to insure ourselves... and they just upped our rates even more!

Ecumenical News

I never wrote anything about the intercommunion agreemment signed between the ACC and UEC. Obviously it is a long overdue step in the right direction towards traditional Anglican unity. The curious thing is that the UEC has some sort of communion agreement with the APA. Fr. Jones wrote about this on his blog, which I am sure many of you read. Today, though, I just read on VOL about APCK bishop Florenza declaring that a state of genuine unity and full communion exists between his diocese and the ACA. No telling how the rest of the APCK bishops will react to this, but this too, obviously, is a good thing. These stories, and the success of FACA, give us even more reason to be hopeful about the future, and to be excited about being an Anglican, even in the midst of all of the crap going on in the mainline communion.

I think that once we "official" continuing churches unite, or band together in the federation, we willl be able to exert more influence and muscle on the Anglican scene in the U.S. and the world, particularly in the area of the ordination of women. With us, and the help of FiFNa, we may finally be able to put the kabosh on this notion that ordaining women is a constituent element of Anglicanism, and that it is "here to stay".

Faith and Grace

Baptism is on the forefront of my mind, lately. We have a baptism coming up on Sunday here at St. Mark's - I'll be preaching, and the rector will be doing the pouring. And then, a few months ago, I did my very first baptism - twin boys! My spiritual director said that it is a rare treat to have twins be your first baptism. Now, my cousin up in Atlanta is looking to have his newborn son baptized, and I am trying to help them figure out how to get an RC sponsor (they are catholics). So baptism is on the brain.

All of this got me thinking about the relation between grace and faith, and how quite often they are set in opposition to each other. Sometimes we Anglicans want to stress so much the efficacy of the sacraments, and the power of God's grace, that we sometimes downplay the role of faith. By contrast, many Evangelical Protestants do the opposite. They are so scared of "sacerdotalism" and "hocus pocus" that, at least on a popular level, the sacraments are completely downplayed, and are free to be abstained from for various reasons (I have seen such people do this with both Baptism and the Lord's Supper). But the two - grace and faith - go together. "For by grace are ye saved through faith." (Ephesians 2:8). The sacraments communicate divine grace, which helps bring about faith. In baptism the parents and sponsors profess faith on behalf of the child, who later profess that faith on their own. Dr. Peter Toon has written some good articles on the subject of faith and baptism lately.

Anyway, I think that in our preaching and ministry we would do well to always stress both of these great truthes: grace and faith. For as much as Our Lord spoke of faith, and as much as the BCP speaks of having faith in Christ's blood (e.g. BCP p.81), you'd think we all do it more. And to be honest, I think the Church would be a lot better off today if we started talking about faith again.

RIP Ruth Graham

Billy Graham's wife died yesterday around 5:00 p.m. I offer mmy prayers for her and the family. Lately I have been watching classic Billy Graham crusades from the 50's on TBN (sometimes TBN slips up and actually has some good programming on it... same with EWTN). It is really amazing watching him and listening to him from when he was in his prime. He is such a great speaker, and I really like his "moves" at the pulpit. I often compare him to Fulton Sheen, whose reruns I also watch, and while they are both great speakers, they have very different styles. Graham is much more serious, but less intellectual. Sheen tells lots of jokes, and gets rather heady.

One of the things that is so lacking in the church today is dynamic speakers and preachers... people who are really good communicators. And one does not have to shout and jump around to be a "good speaker" (sometimes that sort of stuff is only a distraction). When I think back to various preachers who I've thought were really good, and who had effective ministries, they were always themselves from the pulpit - they didn't put on airs - but they had a really good, sincere message. One of the best I have ever heard was actually a Roman Catholic named Fr. William Au (from Baltimore). He wasn't flashy, but was very intellectual and sincere. The old assumption that Roman priests can't/don't preach is utterly false, by the way. They have some great preachers.

I think for the church to prosper she really needs great speakers and communicators. And I hope and pray that God raises up new Billy Grahams and Fulton Sheens for the next generation.

Will they ever learn?

Now it looks like there will be yet another bishop/jurisdiction out there for disaffected Episcopalians to join. Canon Bill Atwood is to be consecrated bishop by the Archbishop of Kenya. You can read all about it here. The article is interesting because Mr. Virtue doesn't seem too hyped about it. In fact, there is a rather condescending tone to it, if you ask me. But maybe that's just my read.

I just wonder what these people hope to accomplish by making all of these bishops and "new structures". Haven't they learned anything from we continuing Anglicans? Alas, no. Continuing Anglicans have been so disregarded and laughed at (by and large) over the years that no one ever seems to think they can learn something from us, or that our perspective and input is valuable and important. Well now it's our turn to laugh. Go ahead, make more bishops and "structures"... it won't solve the underlying issues. It will only complicate things further. Until these groups see the connection between ordaining women and homosexuality, and until they give up this idol of being in or related to the apostate "Anglican Communion", nothing will be solved.

Random Comments

I'll be preaching and jamming out at the homeless ministry in just a little bit, so I am getting my materials together, and going over a few last minute things. For the music set I think I will be doing a couple of Hank Williams songs and the Jerry Garcia Band version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". For an encore I might do " This Little Light of Mine". I am praying that the Lord will help me get a band together down here so we can do more ambitious material for the music portion. Music really helps reach people.

One of the nice things about ministering at this place is that I can do topical sermons. I like to keep it very practical, and preach on subjects that both the homeless and those who are not homeless (e.g. the people that work at the ministry) can relate to. Today the topic is going to be "anger". Preaching from a lectionary is somewhat limiting in terms of preaching on topics.

New President-Rector

The seminary I graduated from has recently elected a new president. There is a great article on the outgoing one, Fr. Bob Leavitt, that you can download from their website. I had Leavitt for a class, and he was a superb teacher. He was a student of Yves Congar and Raul Riceour among others, and he had some funny stories about various scholars (I remember a really good one he once told about the New Testament scholar Ernst Kasemann). He lead St. Mary's with dignity and poise through some rather difficult times. For example, in the middle of the sex abuse scandals he managed to raise gobs of money, endowing several faculty chairs. He also vastly expanded the physical plant, and academic and spiritual offerings of the school, as well as instituing other important changes. But the bad side is that under his tenure enrollment at the nation's first Catholic seminary drastically dropped (from 400+ to under 100). Meanwhile, Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg (which my classmates called "Vacation Bible School" because it was so much easier than Roland Park) has so many students that they had to build a new dorm building. In fairness, I guess enrollment at all of the seminaries dropped after the council, but this was huge. So I don't know how you gauge success in this instance... lots of money but few students, or lots of students but less money. Both students and money are important for academic institutions to prosper. Luckily, before all of these other funds were raised, the seminary was basically propped up by their night school, the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, which was started by the Roman Catholic archdiocese and the Episcopal diocese. What the future holds for St. Mary's is anyone's guess.

From the Idiot File - Rev'd Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping

Get a load of this. And guess where they meet? St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Greenwich Village in NYC. Go figure.

I read Rev. Billy's report on Victoria's Secret, and apparantly he is more concerned about the trees the company destroys in making its catalogs than he is in them showing scantily clad women in provacative poses! So much for promoting virtue. Good thing the catalog doesn't have pictures of nude trees in erotic poses.... then Rev. Billy would really be mad!

A composer that YOU should know about...

For my birthday the other day my lovely wife got me a CD by Morten Lauridsen. Lauridsen (pictured to the left) is the most performed living America choral composer. He has been called the only American composer who is a "mystic". He composes lots of sacred works, but also some secular works. For example, on this CD (O Magnum Mysterium), he sets a number of poems by Rilke to music.

I like his work because it is melodic and accessible, but not contrived, or a simple "rehashing" of Christian music from times past. Incidently, that's the same reason I like Arvo Part (though Lauridsen's music is brighter than Part's). His compositions are subtle and understated, but very powerful. He also seems cool because he worked as a Forest Service firefighter for a long time! All great artists have to put in their time doing something else before (or "if ever") they are recognized.
Anyway, I recommend his work to everyone.

The Descent from the Cross - Random Reflections

I just finished painting an "icon" of the Descent from the Cross, based on an image from the Novgorod school. This school of iconography is noted for its use of brilliant colors, even in more somber icons like this one. Now I find myself going back to oil painting, and I am working on one of the crucifixion (a semi-original composition). The colors are dark and earthy, almost like the Rembrandt painting to the left.

It has been fascinating to me to compare these two themes: the crucifixion and the descent from the cross. For me, it is the descent which is the sadder of the two. There is a certain finality present in the descent that is not there in the crucifixion. In the crucifixi0n Jesus is dying. In the descent, He is dead. In the crucifixion, Jesus is still there with some of His disciples, but in the descent, the disciples and His Blessed Mother are all alone. Maybe it also has something to do with the bastardization of the image of the crucifixion... you see it everywhere in popular culture, jewelry, etc. And when you see something that much you almost become numb to it. Not so with the descent. When was the last time we saw someone with a beautiful little "descent from the cross" necklace?

Facilities for Youth Ministry

If anyone out there reading this is planning on building a parish hall for their church, please, please, please consider building something that can double as a gym for the kids of the parish. My parents' church has a lovely, large parish hall (complete with a kitchen) that doubles as a gym. It is made of cinderblock and has really high ceilings and impact resistant windows. It is also carpeted, and even has a basketball key in the carpet (there is a hoop that can be lowered). Whenever they have a fancy dinner, or speaker, the place looks great. But is also is a great asset for the youth ministry, and is used regularly throughout the week for youth activities. Facilities like this help attracts kids and their families to the church, which is the ark of salvation. It is hard to start a youth ministry if there is no room for the kids to have as their own, or gym for them to play in.

We really need to make our facilities kid-friendly if we want to attract young families to the church. I hear more and more about people going to X church, "Because they have good programs for the kids." Not that we need to bcome an alternative to the Boy Scouts, but we do, I think, need to be a little bit more kid-friendly than we are. Having facilities for them is a good way to do that.

More Priesthood Reflections

This is nothing profound, but recently I've been thinking that the two things I like best about being a full time priest are visiting sick people and teaching bible/topical study classes. There is always some surprise, or some unexpected thing that happens, or remark that is made, that makes such encounters really interesting. And it's fascinating, when visiting the sick, to find out about their lives, and everything they have been through and experienced (especially the old ones). I find myself so completely engrossed in their life stories and experiences when I visit them that I often stay a lot longer than I had planned (it's generally best to keep sick visits short, but if they want to talk I'll stay as long as they wish).

I guess I mention this because I used to have the idea (before ordination) that the coolest thing about what a priest did was saying mass, preaching, and doing some other sacramental things. And that stuff is indeed cool. But it is amazing how, when you actually begin a full time priestly ministry, you sometimes find the other responsibilities of the ministry to be more mysterious and fulfilling than some of those other things.

Converts to Rome

I recommend this excellent essay that examines some of the reasons why men and women join the Roman Catholic Church. More important, it highlights some of the many logical fallacies associated with their reasons for leaving Protestantism behind. In the end, citing numerous converts' writings, he talks about Rome being more of an emotional pull. People get swept away with the apparent grandeur and history of Rome, in addition to the theology. I can see that - people make big intellectual decisions based on personal reasons (at least according to Aristotle). But I must confess that it mystifies me when I see this happening today with the state of the Roman liturgy and church. My old spiritual director from my Roman Catholic days was fond of saying, "The Catholic Church is beautiful." And whenever I would hear him say that I'd say to myself, "Correction; the Catholic Church was beautiful." And then there is the famous quote from Paul Claudel where he said regarding the mass at Notre Dame in Paris, "It was the most profound and grandiose poetry, enhanced by the most august gestures ever confided to human beings. I could not sufficiently satiate myself with the spectacle of the mass." Well, I'm sure he could today.

Art as a Teaching Tool

Today in a bible study class at church we were talking about the differences between the docrtine of Purgatory and the doctrine of Paradise. I used a photo of an old bas-relief from a Baltimore church to illustrate what purgatory was about. I think this work of art does that pretty well. It is an incredible work whether you believe in purgatory or not.


I saw one other example of this bas-relief in Baltimore when I worked in church restoration. Has anyone else seen this before?

Chocolate Jesus

I have been meaning to comment on this for sometime. Cosimo Caravello, an artist who works with food as his medium, created a sculpture of Jesus in the "crucfix" form out of chocolate that was to be part of a show called "My Sweet Lord" in NYC. But Bill Donahue, Cardinal Egan, and others managed to strong arm the gallery director into shutting the show down. They apparently objected to Jesus being portrayed in chocolate and in the nude. Chocolate must be evil. And I guess Jesus was not anatomically the same as other men... he must have only appeared to be a man. In real ife, he was probably more like a Ken doll. (St. James the Average rolls his eyes)

This is just another example of how out of touch most Christians are with postmodern art and the art world, and how they subtly affirm long condemned christological heresies (i.e. Docetism). There is nothing wrong with using chocolate as an artistic medium, which is precisely what this artist does as his trademark. What makes using chocolate as a medium bad? Has anyone ever stopped to wonder if wood or stone are acceptable mediums in which to portary Jesus Christ? I mean, we use stone to pave roads, and we burn wood in fires. Doesn't that make those materials profane? Has the Catholic League ever considered the unbelievable kitschy statues made of "resin"- and painted with tacky, pastel colors - that most Catholic bookstores and catalogs promote? Doesn't that cheap, mass-produced stuff demean Jesus Christ? And there is nothign wrong with portraying Jesus (in this manner) anatomically correctly.

The Catholic League, and many (I'm sorry to have to say this) "traditionalist" Christians simply do not understand modern and postmodern art, and the trajectory the art world has taken in the 20th century. And so, they condemn beautiful works of art like this (and it is a very nice looking Christ figure, if you ask me), making themselves look stupid and completely out of touch in the process. Further, they alienate a whole segment of the population (artists)
that they should be trying to reach. Artists like Caravello should be lauded for brininng Christ into the public forum of the art world; not condemned because they are not working with the same materials and in the same era as Poussin.

JP II University

Check this place out. It is a new catholic college that is geared towards preparing students for media, business, and technology careers. These conservative catholic colleges seem to pop up left and right. I guess they have to because the older ones are so wacky anymore.

I want to see an Anglican college formed. An accredited college that is Christ-centered, and whose devotional and worship life is built around the Book of Common Prayer, and the traditions of the English christianity. A college that teaches students to think with a christian mind. Are there any Anglican colleges anywhere in the states? Were there ever plans for one?

REC Orders: Not Invalid... just not recognized

I received an e-mail from Archbishop Haverland (ACC) in response to my post a month or so ago, and he clarified that in the Trinitarian article that I was referring to he never actually said REC orders are not valid, just that they should not be recognized. He said that he was merely holding what was decided by a Lambeth conference with regard to the question of REC orders. So, sorry, archbishop, for misrepresenting you (I told him I'd glady post a retraction). The archbishop obviously holds a view similar to the orthodox who neither confirm nor deny the validity of other churches sacraments; rather, they refuse to recognize them, as it would give credibility to heretics and schismatics (Cyprian of Carthage).

The trouble with all of this, and maybe with the field of theology in general, is that it seems like it can never progress beyond these differences. All of this business about, "Well, I follow Cyprian, and you follow Augustine" becomes simply a diversion and an excuse to not make any progress towards unity or resolving the fundamental problem. I am not complaining about the archbishop, mind you. This is a larger problem that we all face, whether it is deciding how Christ is present in the eucharist, or what to do about the Filoque clause, and so on. We go on and on for centuries talking about these things, and discussing and reviving the same questions, and having the same arguments, rarely making any progress. It is disheartening.

To be sure, there are real theological questions - many of great importance - attached to these things I have mentioned. The answer is not to become "atheological". But there is a difference between holding to a view out of sincere conviction, while at the same time really looking into all of the arguments for and against it, and wrestling with the question with an eye to an eventual solution vs. towing some tired old party line. The goal, I think, is a solution to these problems that divide us. And lots of people talk about how we must do that, and how important it is, but very few actually take the steps to make it happen (even if they are just small steps). There have been a few examples of this here and there, such as when the Catholics and the Lutherans signed their joint declaration on justification a few years back. Now we just need a lot more of that. ARCIC was a step in the right direction too.

Liturgical Silence

The classic Anglican book, Liturgy and Worship (SPCK, ed. Clarke and Harris), has a great chapter on liturgical silence, and discusses it in the context Holy Eucharist. Originally the entire eucharistic liturgy was recited audibly, but at a rather early date, in both and west, the most solemn parts of the liturgy began to be said softly or silently. It was meant to evoke a certain sense of awe and mystery in the worshipper. Various church fathers, such as Cyril of Jeruslam, spoke on this topic. The offering of the eucharist was, according to Cyril, the "greatest hour of trembling", so naturally the tone of the liturgy, and how it was said, began to express this.

Anyone who has done even a little bit of public speaking knows that changing your tempo, tone, and volume are very powerful communication tools. That is what all of the great preachers have done (e.g. just watch a classic Billy Graham sermon from the 50's on TV sometime). So naturally one would do that at the liturgy in appropriate ways. It can also be a pedagogical tool. I was trained to say the Words of Institution softly, but I must confess I like the practice of the clergy of the parish I attended in seminary better, where they said those words loudly and with clarity, in order to emphasize, I think, the Real Presence.
The first time I heard him say those words in that way I knew that he believed in the Real Presence.

Related to this is the whole problem of rushing through the liturgy and not saying the silent prayers in the missal because people find the silences "awkward". Personally, I think they need to just get over that. Silence is the most undervalued thing in the world (besides my art). When we sit through those longish pauses in the liturgy, it helps us slow down and really concentrate on what is happening so we can be more involved in the sacred action, and get more out of it. I think that our churches would be even more reverent and holy places if we sought to slow things down a bit and learned to observe and appreciate the periods of silence and quiet in our worship.

More Priesthood Reflections

Today is the date of my first mass a year ago (Low Sunday). I promised some more simple reflections on life as a priest so here goes...

Being a parish priest pulls you in a million different directions. You have to wear a lot of hats: administrator, teacher, counselor, etc. I spend much of my time throughout the day working on rather mundane things (not surprising, really, since life in general is pretty mundane). For example, I keep a running list of things I tell people on Sunday that I am going to do for them the next week ("I'll check that out, and e-mail you about it tomorrow." "I need to call A.B. and see how his recovery is going.", etc.). So I spend much of my mornings - especially Monday - following up on people, working the phones (updating phone numbers as necessary), sending resources to people, and so on. Then there are logistical things to work out regarding services and activities with other clergy and parishioners. There are sick parishioners to visit, and occasional weekday services to lead. And then there is sermon prep time, Bible study prep time, and other things to prepare for (e.g. I am playing guitar at the homeless ministry soon - so I have pick some songs out and rehearse them.). There are bulletins to make, and Sunday School rooms to decorate. In short, there's lots of different stuff to do... and that is just a small part of it! All of that stuff, however, is pretty mundane and ordinary. There is nothing magical about it, and I don't see visions of the Blessed Mother or Our Lord every other day. It's just... ordinary.

I mention that only to say that some aspirants to the priesthood think that being a priest only involves dressing up in fancy clothes, saying mass, and meditating on whether existence precedes essence. Some aspirants have no interest in serving people (i.e. being a pastor), or going to parish social activities (no matter how hokie they may be). Instead they want to be "ivory tower theologians" who wear a collar. They think that being a priest only involves "Sunday morning high mass". But all of that other, less glamorous stuff is really important, and is a vital part of the ministry; indeed, you can't have a succesful minstry without them. Theological study and reflection, and certainly celebrating the Eucharist is important, but priestly ministry is not consist only of those things. Related to this is the idea that because a person is devoted to the Lord, and has a certain interest in theology, he is automatically called to be ordained. That is not necessarily the case.

So, if you want gobs of thrills and constant whirring and excitement, don't become a priest. If you want to read theological treatises all the time, and refuse to answer the phone or follow up with people; and if you don't want to get out there and minister to someone who doesn't even know what "Anglican" is; and if you don't want to be involved in something that is beneath you, like helping take down the tables and clean up after a parish dinner, then don't become a priest. Because a priest, like St. Paul, must be in a certain sense, "...all things to all people." If you want the honor and glory of saying mass, administering other sacraments, and preaching and teaching the word of God, then you must accept and embrace along with that the more mundane things associated with the ministry.

When tragedy strikes, say nothing?

I am preaching this Sunday at St. Mark's and will spend some time talking about the horrible shootings at Virginia Tech. There are a number of continuing church parishes in that part of Virginia, so I hope they will say something about what happened.

Sadly, I have been to a number of continuing churches where nothing is said from the pulpit about a major national or international tragedy. Mass is not even offered for the sufferers or victims! IMHO, clergy are obligated to comment on such events. People want need to know how God and Jesus Christ relates to what has happened. People have questions, and want to see what light their faith sheds on sufffering and loss.

Reach Out and Touch Faith

Jeff Steel has a link to an article by a Catholic priest which I find very exciting. The priest lists eight principles of what he calls "Evangelical Catholicism". It is the first of these principles that I find the most exciting. Here it is:

" The Lord Jesus Christ is the crucified and risen Savior of all mankind, and no human person can fully understand his life or find his dignity and destiny apart from a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. It is not enough to know who Jesus is; we must know Jesus."

There is unfortunately a lot of baggage that goes with the phrase "personal relationship with Jesus Christ". It's too bad, though, because that is a good phrase. It signifies a deep investment and involvment with God the Son. A lot of people think that it cancels out the relationship between the believer and the Church. But I have never thought that. The two actually go together. Like in a family, I have a personal relationship with my father, but I am also part of a larger unit, and have my relationship with my father by being part of this larger unit (the family). It's the same thing here.

I wish more Anglicans had a grasp on what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and what it means to walk with Christ, and to know Him. This is something that our more "evangelical" bretheren can bring to the table. Our parishes would be a lot stronger if peoples' faith became more personal, and if people knew Jesus as they knew their best friend, or their spouse.

It's only dead if you make it dead.

Looks like Rome's chief Latinist may be wrong about B16's "Motu Proprio". But that doesn't necessarily mean he is wrong about Latin being a dead language. As many people know, I attended a Roman Catholic seminary, and let me tell you, they do not study Latin at many U.S. Catholic seminaries, neither do they actively promote it... not because they have anything against it, but because there is only so much time one can be in seminary, and only so many subjects a person has studied. At my school most of my classmates were required to take Spanish, because of the huge pastoral need. They didn't take Latin (which was only offered sporadically), or Greek... and much less Hebrew! There just was not enough time to take all of those extra classes. Nowadays, in addition to the ever-present philosophy requirements (though they too have been streamlined quite a bit), Catholic seminarians have to take several semesters of preaching, catechesis, counseling, professional ethics, social justice, etc. in addition to the Biblical studies, Church history, systematic and fundamental theology, etc. And so, there is only so much time available to take other courses. Eventually you have to graduate, and get out there to minister! So is Latin truly dead? Are they just too busy teaching other desperately needed courses to fit it into the schedule? Time will tell, I guess.

I think that a language like Latin or Greek is dead only if you make it dead. A seminarian can always study those langauges on his own, or take a summer course to at least get him going for private study. And when he graduates it is incumbent upon him to stay with those languages and keep using them and studying them, just as he must continue reading and studying theology, scripture, etc. I study my Latin regularly, and use my Greek everytime I prepare sermons, and I do that on purpose (so I don't forget it). That is how a language stays alive. Even if the leadership at Catholic seminaries does not teach the language for lack of time, they can at least create a favorable and enouraging environment to promote the study of it, and urge seminarians to pursue it on their own. We Anglicans, by the way, should also study Latin, even though we have our own liturgical language. It is the theological language of the western Church, and knowing it even on a small level enriches theolgical study and devotion in manifold ways. But again, there are no Latin police out there to make sure we do that. We must do it on our own, so it stays alive to us, and so we can reap its benefits.

Out with the new and in with the old...

There is a lot of talk out there about the possibility of Benedict XVI granting some sort of universal indult for catholic priests to say the old Tridentine mass. Apparently some people think it could happen at any time. On the other hand, I read an article in NOR by Rome's chief Latinist who said that the whole thing was a farce, and that Latin is deader than ever. So it will be interesting to see what happens.

Even though I am a traditionalist, I do not think it would be wise for B16 to allow this, and here's why. There are lots of practical problems that are going to come about as a result of this. First, who is going to teach all of these men to say the old mass properly? It is a lot harder to do than the Novus Ordo mass, and they must be trained to do it correctly. Second, how are they going to do it in newer churches that are not designed for that sort of service? Third, is it going to create even more of a "church-within-a-church"? That is to say, are the traditionalist/Blue Army types going to become even more estranged from their brothers and sisters in Novus Ordo parishes? Fourth, is it going to create strife and factionalism among the clergy? What if you are a young curate, and, as the saying goes, "The curate is always higher than the rector.", you want to do the old mass, but your boss - the rector - says "No, we do the Novus Ordo here." How is that to be resolved? Fiftth, are other Latin language devotions going to be brought back as well, and how will that impact things? Sixth, will this cause a liberal backlash? Those are just a few questions (there are many more) that I think need to be addressed or planned for ("change management" is the business term). If they do not, I predict that a universal indult will do more harm than good.

I think the Roman Catholic Church should cut its losses and just stick with the new mass, only issue stricter guidelines with regard to vesture, music, lay participation, and so on. They could bring back certain things, such as kneeling for most of mass and communion, in order to make a more holy atmosphere without causing a major disruption in peoples' faith and life. And they simply have to consider the average Joe catholic who grew up with the new mass and thinks it is fine.

The Refashioning of Anglicanism

One of things that I find myself doing a lot here at St. Mark's is explaining to parishioners and our gobs of visitors (St. Mark's is kind of like a tourist destination here in Vero Beach) how we are not in communion with TEC and Canterbury. This usually takes these folk by surprise. They can't seem to imagine (or it never occured to them) how one can be Anglican or Episcopalian without being in TEC, or in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. This I find fascinating. It is like saying that a copy machine cannot be a copy machine unless it is made by the Xerox company. And as I have said before, it is like saying that Ford motor company owns the word "sedan". People wrongly think of the corporate structure of the "official" Anglican Communion and the ABC as being of the essence of Anglicanism.

We read these days that the average Anglican is probably is poor black woman in Africa, and how "Anglican" doesn't equal "rich, white, males" (and hasn't for sometime). Anglicanism is global and multi-cultural. This is certainly true. So likewise, being Anglican no longer only means being in communion with TEC and Canterbury (and hasn't for some time), or being part of their revisionist club. As those bodies have, on an official level, long since fallen into heresy in so many ways, we could not be in communion with them even if they paid us (NB: there are many faithful remnant parishes for the time being within these bodies). Our being seperate from these folk is not about being "schismatic", it is about preserving and continuing the orthodox faith. When the leaders of the Church fail to uphold the vows they made at their consecrations - spceifically about "banishing and driving away from the Church all erroneous and strange doctrine contrary to God's Word" (BCP, p. 555), others of us must act. By failing to uphold their vows, the leaders of TEC, the CofE, and many other provinces of the "official" Anglican Communion, have shown themselves to be the ones who are schismatic. If they want to ordain women and practicing gays, teach universalism, and so on, then so be it - they can do what they want to in their club. But as for us we will take the orthodox faith in its Anglican expression and continue fulfilling the Great Commission.

Anglicanism is, more than ever before, about an idea. It is about a common, reformed catholic theology and liturgy that is centered on the authority of the scriptures as interpreted by the tradition of the undivided Church and our formularies. Being Anglican is about being faithful stewards of the faith once delivered to the saints. In the long run this will prove to be one of our strengths. The obsession that some have about being in communion with the See of Canterbury is nothing but a distraction, and it is like making the ABC a "pope", or an intrinsic part of what it means to be Anglican. I reject that. The Roman Church can't exist without the pope, but we can certainly exist without being in communion with TEC, the ABC, and their associates.

Radio Interview

Back in January I was on the Rhett Palmer Show here in Vero Beach, where I spoke about life as an artist-priest. Here is a link to the interview. Unfortunately the first half, where I talk a lot about art (and expecially Van Gogh, for some reason), is not on there, but the second half, where I talk more about the priesthood, is there.

You will also notice how I defend the Roman Catholic Church during the show... so I don't ever want to hear anything about how I am "anti-catholic", or anything like that!

Approaching One Year

The first anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood is coming up (April 15th), so I thought I would, over the next couple weeks, offer some reflections on my priestly ministry so far.

The one thing that comes to mind immediately, and that I have been thinking about a lot over the past few days, is how God has used just about every single talent and experience I have had in my brief life for His glory in the context of my ministry. I used to be an IT consultant, a middle school teacher, an administrator, a salesman, and a short order cook to name just a few things, and each one of those jobs has in some way prepared me for fulltime parish ministry. I am constantly using the skills and principles learned from those jobs in my day-to-day life as a priest. The same goes for my musical and artistic experience. Who would have known that I would be using many of the songs my old rockabily used to play out at smoky bars in Baltimore City to minister to men and women in nursing homes, homeless ministries, church fellowship events, and more. As for my art degree (trust me, you can do a lot with an art major), I use those skills to create posters and signage for my Sunday School class, I have used it in summer camp settings, selling work to people, as a basis for evangelizism, and more. Every little thing I have done in life has been, in a way, a preparation for priestly ministry. Of course, I did not know that at the time, as many of those jobs were dead end, and because the band wasn't very good, and I didn't sell gobs and gobs of art. At the time, much of that stuff seemed like a waste of time. But hindsight is 20/20. Now I see how God was preparing me for His service. I would never have thought that some of those dead-end jobs and seemingly useless talents would be so useful day in and day out as a priest.

The other side of this is that all Christians - not just priests - should strive to serve God with every inch of his being. If God has given us some talent, or life experience, we should always be asking ourselves, "How can I serve God with this?" We need to be on the lookout for ways we can use that gift or skill to serve God. It may seem like a big waste, but if God has you doing it, then there is a purpose for it. It is to help us grow in holiness and righteousness, and part of that is figuring out how we can use it for God's glory.

For those contemplating going into fulltime Christian ministry - whether lay or ordained - I would encourage you to be patient if you are struggling through some dead-end job, or low time in your life. If you are faithful in these small ways, and patient, you will see how God has been preparing you in little steps here and there for ministry in the name of Jesus Christ.