New Monstrance

Our parish was recently given a monstrance, cope, and humeral veil by a devout couple. The rector showed it to me the other day, and I was blown away. It is huge and magnificent! I hope to be able to post a picture of it sometime soon. I have never seen a monstrance this nice in any continuing church. What a tremendous gift. The couple came to every Benediction that we had last year (we used to use a ciborium). I think the guy was raised Roman Catholic, so he really likes the devotion. His wife, who was raised Lutheran and never experienced it, has grown to love it as well. They are both regular communicants and devout churchmen.

In my opinion, interest in eucharistic devotion is a sign of a healthy, eucharist-focused parish. For example, in the Roman Catholic Church here in Baltimore, the parishes that have regular eucharistic devotions (not all of them have it) are much healthier than those who do not have them. I think the same can be said of many Anglican parishes I have seen. When eucharistic devotion is done correctly it augments Holy Communion and draws people out to receive the Precious Body and Blood ("I, when I am lifted up will draw all men to myself.").

This has been a blessed year for our small country church: new organ, new monstrance, new members, new postulants, new clergy.... everything new! Except the faith - that's not new. It is the same old unchanging Christian faith, rooted in Scripture and Tradition, and the same time-tested, living liturgy. And all of that is just fine with us! Thanks be to God!

Mainline Protestant Volunteer Organizations

I am on the mailing list for an organization from one of the mainline churches that takes kids just out of college and puts them together in houses 0f 4-10 around the country for one year, and has them volunteer at various institutions. The point of this organization is to "explore spirituality while working for social justice, living in intentional community, and simplifying their lifestyles." I'm on their mailing list because I know some people involved in the group, and went to a few meetings with them a few years back.

Social justice - properly understood - is a very real part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Lord challenged the conventions and assumptions of the religious establishment of His day, and He helped people physically and materially. The early Church did the same things, as know from reading the New Testament. The Incarnation is the basis of social ministry and social justice.

The problem I have with groups like this, though, is that they seem to be entirely focused upon meeting the temporal needs of people, but not their spiritual needs. One would expect a "Christian" organization to address both sides of the issue. Sadly, these groups do not; for they are based more on Marxism than the Sacred Scriptures and the teaching of the Church. Classical Marxism is an entirely materialistic system, where there is nothing transcendent, and most, if not all, of life is reduced to an economic struggle. These groups do not believe that man has any spiritual need. And if they do, it is just that: a vague sort of spiritual need - not a need for union with the Holy Trinity through Jesus Christ. Not a need for salvation from sin and alientation from God and others. Indeed, they do not even mention Jesus in any of their literature! How sad. It is especially sad when one considers that this group is named for one of the greatest reformers of the Church - a man who was especially concerned that people know and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One person from this group writes in the latest newsletter: "When we view our year of service only as 'my good deed for others' or 'the way I am going to help people', then we do the people we work with a disservice because we have stopped viewing them as people and have begun seeing them as objects of charity. The beauty of service is then lost because you are no longer relating person to person as equals, but rather as one with power and one without."

Did you catch that last little bit that smacks of Nietzche and Marx? Since when is helping someone doing them a disservice or disrespecting them? What she says is true if everything is material, and there is nothing transcendant, and man is no different from anything else in creation. But as Christians we do not believe that everything is material, and we believe that man is made in God's image, and placed in a position of lordship over the creation. The beauty of service in the Christian tradition is that in serving others we are serving Jesus Christ. If we serve Jesus Christ, does that do Him a disservice? Of course not! We are being obedient to Him and worshipping Him in that act. The same thing is true when we serve others in His name.

The liberal mainline groups have completely undercut their social ministries by stripping them of their biblical and theological foundations. I hope that some day soon orthodox Anglicans can establish a social ministry group similar to these that is based on orthodox Christianity, and that addresses all of the needs of people: the social and spiritual.

Altar from Church

Here is picture of the altar at our little country church. There's no missal or mass candles because it is set up for Evening Prayer. We're supposed to be getting a new tabernacle at some point - actually I think some people from the parish are going to make one. The painting around the altar was done by a guy from the church who specializes in this style of English decorative church painting. It was painstakingly done entirely by hand (no stencils). He has also done extensive painting at another area continuing church. He is involved in the tabernacle project, too, incidently.

I love the icons - they were hand "written" in Greece, I believe, and were specially ordered through the Icon and Book Service in Washington, DC. One is of the Theotokos, and the other is of Christ the Pantocrator. We also have a similarly made icon of St. Alban, our patron saint, above the credence table.

What would I like to change that would be easy to change? Well, it would be nice to have three steps on the altar, though I don't know how easy it is to raise an altar - especially when there's a painting on the wall behind it. I would like to rip out the red carpeting. I hate red carpeting in churches - even if it is an American church tradition. A corpus on the on the cross would be nice (Maryland is historically very low church, so it's hard to get by with that sometimes). Six individual candle stands would be nice too. And maybe two more santuary lamps. All in good time, though.

I think it is a very smart looking altar and sanctuary. Simple, yet elegant. It fits our setting and worship. The painted reredos really makes the whole thing pop out. It is literally "the work of the people" - everyone from the church chipped in in some way to make it what it is today. And it shows what can be done with a simple building, a couple of cans of paint, and some TLC.

Unity Meeting

The Virtue Online has an interesting article on a recent meeting of orthodox Anglicans that included representatives from several continuing churches, as FiFNa and AMiA. It is well worth reading. The organizer was Bp. Hewitt, of the Diocese of the Holy Cross, was at the APA/REC unity synod this past spring. The article made it seem like a very positive event. Indeed it seems like much progress towards unity has been made over the past couple years. I notice a big difference between the way things are now as compared to when I was in seminary only a few short years ago. That is good news. No doubt the various situations within ECUSA, the CofE, and other Anglican provinces has helped encourge more serious talk of unity. And much of this talk is actaully becoming action, like with the APA/REC merger, and fairly recent joint services of the ACC, ACA, and APCK. It is easy to have talks, but getting those talks to result in action is the real trick.

We orthodox Anglicans must unite for mission and ministry. The liberals unite based on their main beliefs - which is usually a belief in nothing; so we should unite based on our shared beliefs: the creeds, episcopate, sacraments, and BCP. There is a spiritual vacuum to be filled, and there are souls to be saved! What are we doing about it?

The liberal churches are dying. Their congregations are shrinking, and their money is going to support their every expanding bueracracies. They are becoming like the former communist states: huge governments with no people behind them because no one believes in them anymore. Their money, and precious, property goes simply to support themselves. In the end, they become like a huge monster that is eating itself alive... consuming its own vile flesh... until eventually it is no more. And out of these ashes, orthodox Christianity, with its message of salvation in Jesus Christ, will emerge triumphant, because "...the gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church." The time for us to act is now. May God bless us as we seek to minister to this dying world in the name of His blessed son, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Ordination

Here is a picture from my ordination to the deaconate back in September. Two of us were ordained: me and a gentleman named Chris. The liturgy was holy and dignified - a solemn high mass. We used the fourth communion service from the 1940 hymnal, which is my favorite. The Litany for Ordinations was masterfully chanted by the subdeacon, and we sung great hymns like "I Bind Unto Myself Today" and "Come Down, O Love Divine". The cathderal has a great pipe organ, organist, and choir, so the music for the liturgy was top-notch. Bishop Grundorf preached a marvelous and inspiring sermon. At the last minute, I was asked to chant the Gospel. No problem, but I had never done that before. Luckily the Master of Ceremonies, along with my rector, showed me how to do it. They asked Chris and myself to help adminster the chalice at the Holy Communion. I think I was getting carried away in euphoria, as I almost ran out of the Precious Blood (I always give the people too much). Bp. Grundorf gently reminded me not to be overly generous with it! Many diocesan clergy were there (maybe 20?), along with loads of laymen. Afterwards there was a reception.

So I suppose it was a fairly typical deaconate ordination. My prayer is that God will use my life and ministry to spread the reconcilling love of Jesus Christ with others, and to touch peoples' lives for His honor and glory. I pray that I approach my life and ministry with the same seriousness and joy that characterized the ordination service.

Picture of Me and My Wife

This is Valerie and me at my ordination to the deaconate. For the longest time I could not figure out how to upload images to the blog. Now it just works for some reason, and I have no idea how or why. Ahhh, the mysteries of life and technology! Years ago, I worked for one the nation's largest IT consulting firms for several years.... now I know why I am not working in computers anymore!

Wedding Synopsis

Well, my wife and I are back from our honeymoon. We went to Italy. It was lovely, but unseasonably cold, and I got sick part way through. No big deal, though. We still had a nice time. While there I saw Cardinal Bellarmine's birth house (in the city of Montepulciano), so I snapped a photo and sent it off to my old college buddy, Jeffrey Steel, who is doing a doctoral dissertation on him and Lancelot Andrewes (his blog is called Meam Commemorationem).

The wedding liturgy was very lovely. My uncle, an old school anglo-catholic and otherwsie very classy guy, said it was "top shelf." We had the Solemnization of Holy Matrimoney first, and then the mass. We used the classic American Missal. The ordinary of the mass was Byrd's "Mass for Three Voices", sung by a small schola. The entire liturgy was accapella, as the church organ was broken. While it would have been nice to have an organ, it was very special and cool to have the hymns sung in four-part harmony. Not only was it hauntingly beautiful, but it was a tip of the cap to my wife's tradition she grew up in (Mennonite), which does not use instruments in worship. The preacher was my mentor and good friend, a priest in the APA who is also a member of the SSC. He had a fantastic charge that was quite thought-provoking and very theological. The liturgy was executed flawlessly by the rector of my parish, who is very good up at the altar.

About 2/3 of the guests were not Anglican, so only my wife and I, and the altar party, communicated. No one seemed to be put off by that. The non-Anglican's seemed to be intrigued by the kneeling and sublime Elizabethan English of the liturgy. It was an ecumenical wedding in the best of ways: my best man is studying to be an ELCA minister; my rector and a PCA pastor gave me and my wife premarital counseling; and two former classmates from the Roman Catholic seminary I attended - one who will be priested this spring - were in attendance. Also in attendence were many traditional Presbyterian friends, most of my APA home parish, and of course my wife's huge Mennonite family.

It was beautiful, and I give thanks to almighty God for His many blessings. God works slowly and mysteriously at times, but He does work... and when He does - WOW! All I can say is "Thanks be to God!"

Continuing On

I have decided to continue the blog for the time being because there are just too many interesting things to comment on and talk about! Sorry for confusion, and thanks for the votes of confidence.

Pax,
SJA

Blogocide - The End of the Blog

For various reasons, I have decided to end this blog. It has been enjoyable interacting with everyone, and I wish you all the best. I will officially terminate it and send it to "blog heaven" on Friday the 30th. My e-mail address will still be available for sometime should annyone wish to get in touch with me.

All the Best,
SJA

Hearing Confessions

My stand-in spiritual director made the comment last week that, in his opinion, priests who do not make their own confession have no business hearing others' confessions. What think ye of this? In general, I would agree.

From the stand point of experience it makes sense. Would a priest who never avails himself of the sacrament be a good confessor? There is more to the sacrament than absolution. There's counsel and guidence, assigning penances, and more. How is he supposed to know what to do, say, and assign if he never goes to confession himself? True, any catholic priest can hear confessions and absove sinners - even those who do not use the sacrament themselves. But should they? That is the question. I say probably not.

I wonder what many continuing priests do for confessors? Particularly if they are stationed way out in the sticks and do not have other colleagues around. Presumably, it would be good to go to confession with a priest of your own jurisdiction first, an intercommunion partner second, and a conservative and old school episcopalian priest third. Others may disagree with this order. But they should try to go somewhere.

Priests minister to each other in this regard. Thus, their gospel ministry is not only to laypeople and the unchurched, but also to each other. And if priests do not stick together and actively seek to minister to each other in this way, who else will do so?

My Poor Spiritual Director

This guy is great - but he is so burned out. He is retiring from full time parish ministry in a few months after serving as a priest in several ECUSA dioceses over a span of about 30 years. Many times our sessions turn into me listening to him blow off steam complaining about complacent churchmen, backstabbing bishops, and the misery of diocesan politics. He is so ready to retire, and I, for one, am happy for him.

Anyway, it seems that if a corrupt bishop or diocese doesn't do try to destroy a godly priest, there is always some layman out there who will try. I've seen and heard of this happening in the continuum too. Certain parishes in certain dioceses have a couple of nasty people in them who are wolves in sheep's clothing. They take over parishes, and chew up and spit out each priest that comes along. Many times their anger is directed towards the priest who is trying to grow the parish, and lead it beyond the status quo.

Don't get me wrong: parishioners should be vigiliant, and involved in the faith and life of their parish. But at the same time they need to be open to what their leaders - whom they themselves have called - suggest they do. They need to let their leader lead. Some parishes are full of people who just want to fight all the time. They want to fight ECUSA, or fight the bishop, or fight the priest, or fight the democrats (or republicans), or fight the homosexuals... in other words, they have nothing positive to offer the world. I am not saying that stands should not be taken on various issues, but only that a confrontational, bickering spirit can easily come to characterize a particular parish (or continuing church denomination), and many times it is just a few people who cause this cancer to grow and spread. What is the result of this? The same as with any cancer - eventual death. And of course, they take a few people with them... battered priests and clergy, lay people, and more.

I don't know what will become of the ECUSA (FiFNa) parish that my spiritual director leads once he retires. It seems to have been teetering on the edge for many years. It still has that sort of fighting, "angry-can" (certainly not anglican) air about it. It may very well die eventually. Who knows? A shame, since it is one of the flagship "historic" anglo-catholic parishes in the country. He has tried, in his 8 or so years there, to change the tenor of the place. But he's only half suceeded. He has fought the good fight. What will the people at the parish do? The choice is theirs.

Mostly Closed Communion

At my wedding (about two weeks away), only me, my bride, the clergy, and servers will be receiving the Holy Communion. There are just too many people coming , about 3/4 of the crowd, who are not confirmed. The policy in my church is that only those who have been confirmed by a bishop in apostolic succession may receive communion. While this is technically not "closed communion" - that would be only allowing confirmed members of the APA and those in official communion with us to receive - it is very close. I think it is a good compromise and the best option available considering how fragmented catholic Christendom is.

The Holy Communion implies a theological unity. It is a sign and symbol of unity. Open communion, in my judgement, belittles the sacrament if taken to an extreme. There is, of course, always the need for "economy", and the Eucharist can indeed help bring about unity. But in general I think it is best to "fence the table" (as Presbyterians like to say) as much as possible, so that Christ is not mocked.

New Oxford Review

This Catholic magazine is published by a bunch of ex-episcopalians who fled to Rome in the early 80's. One of their main contributers is Michael Rose, who has written interesting and thought-provoking books like: Goodbye Good Men, Uglier Than Sin, and more. It is a very conservative magazine. They basically do not want to see what happened to the western parts of the Anglican communion happen to Rome.

I like this magazine because it gives the beleaguered Anglican ammo to use against obnoxious, triumphalist Roman Catholic friends who are forever trying to get you to "convert", and who cannot see the problems within the Roman church. When they do not listen to, or cannot understand, theological arguments as to why you choose to be Anglican - despite the supposed "inherent problems" of Anglicanism, I have found that they will listen to real life stories that show how Rome is stuck with its own problems and and has its own share of weirdos... despite it's tight system of theology that has an answer for everything.

Instant Karma

Listening to a local radio station the other day, I heard the DJ asking for listeners to send support money for Hurricane Katrina relief. His reason as to why we should donate money was to "get good karma"; in other words, if we do something nice for another person, then something nice will happen to us.

While this particular usage of "karma" is very common and relatively harmless, I still do not find it very satisfying intellectually. At best it is a vague sort of sentimentilism. At worse, it is the ethical egoism (i.e. we should be nice to others because it ultimately benefits us) of Ayn Rand resurrected.

The Christian faith has another reason as to why we should help others in times of need: we help others out of love for God. Our helping of others is an offering of worship and praise to God. In addition, it is an act of obedience to our heavenly Father. And finally, we help others out of love for them - as people made in the image of God.

I am happy if anyone wants to send aid to people in need. As far as I am concerned they can do it in the name Dr. Spock and the Starship Enterprise. But in my judgment it is the Christian faith and tradition which offers the most fully satisfying and consistent rationale for acts of charity.

Continuing Film

Recently I received copies of Talking to Strangers and ARC - two feature length movies by acclaimed independent filmmaker and professor Rob Tregenza. They are part of a trilogy, the third being Inside/Out, which I hope to get sometime soon. Yesterday, my fiance and I viewed Talking to Strangers. It consists of 9 short vignettes on an a would-be artist who encounters all sorts of moral dilemas while passing through the city of Baltimore. It struck me as being similar in style to some of the "moral anxiety" films of Kieslowski. Overall it was extremely well done. The cinematography is especially interesting. This film, along with others he's done, appeared at Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, and all of the other big international film festivals. It also happens to be one of the all-time favorite films of the legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard.

So why do I mention this on a blog about continuing Anglicanism? Because Rob Tregenza is also Fr. Tregenza - a priest in the APA! He is the rector of Mt. Calvary Church in Lothian, MD. His parish is the only place I know of where the Sarum Rite, as it is presented by Percy Dearmer in the Parson's Handbook, is done. Most APA parishes are Latin Rite/Ritual Notes sorts of places. I have been fortunate enough to be able sit down and chat with him about art, culture, theology, and philosophy at length several times. I hope he does some more movies sometime in the near future.

It is nice to see traditional Anglicans contributing so much to the world - not only in the sphere of faith and religion, but also in the arts. This sort of ties into a thought I had in an earlier post: namely, that the Christian religion speaks to all areas of life and thought. When we think about postmodern life and culture in terms of faith in the Risen Christ, why not express that in some visual medium. There are plenty of great thinkers out there who writes books and essays dealing with such things, but what about artists? Tregenza is one of the people doing just that.

Youth Group Woes

Do any of your parishes have a decent youth program? I mean a youth program that kids actually want to come to, and that can compete with the big "non-denominational church" youth programs?

We are trying to establish one at my parish. It is hard because our facilities are very limited, many of the parents do not bring their kids to church regularly, and the youth worker has a fulltime job already. But these are not insurmountable odds. Nothing is impossible with God. With much prayer and some good old fashioned TLC, I think we can get one off the ground and keep it going. We certainly have enough kids to do it, which is a blessing. We've been publicizing it, and have had a couple of small activities thus far. So far things appear to be on the right track. It takes TIME and DEDICATION to develop a good program.... that is the first lesson we are learning.

We have chosen a snazzy name and logo/motto. As for activities, we are trying to do a monthly "off-campus" activity and a weekly meeting that has study, prayer, and fellowship, and which coincides with the adult mid-week eucharist/bible study (that way families can come to church together mid-week). We also invite other area APA/REC parishes to join in the various activities so as to pool resources, work together, and build fellowship. Then, of course, we have a Sunday School class. So, keep the youth at my parish in your prayers. I will keep you all posted on how it goes. if you have any ideas please let me know!

Oh Litany, Where Art Thou?

We have said the Litany at parish maybe twice in the last two years. At the previous continuing parish I attended (which was more "cathedral style" Anglicanism than anglo-catholic) it was said or sang maybe three times a year. At all of the ECUSA parishes I have attended I have only seen the Litany done once.

I think that this is a rather sad state of affairs because the Litany is a big part of our liturgical heritage. In fact, page vii of the 1928 BCP clearly states that the Litany is one of the official and regular services of the church. Other services in the BCP kind of come and go, such as the Penitential Office, but the Litany was there from the beginning. Thus it should not be too easily forgotten.

Since it is not said in most parish churches, many of us are left to say it on our own. Have any of you ever tried to incorporate it into your own daily devotions? Sometimes I will add it to my reading of the Daily Office, but I must confess that saying something that long by myself - responding to myself - does not seem very proper. It was obviously meant for corporate worship.

I think that if the continuing churches want to keep using the 1928 BCP, and if we extol its virtues and profundity in comparison to other liturgies, then we should use more of it than we do. It is possible to get quite a bit of variation out of it if you read the rubrics and use your imagination. One way to do that is to say the Litany in church more frequently.

The Christian Religion

As I have many non-religious friends, I often find myself wondering just what it is about Christianity that I find so compelling. Why do I spend so much time and energy living the Christian life when other people do not? One of the main reasons is that Christianity - orthodox Christianity - offers a complete worldview that is both intellectually and existentially satisfying. It is a completely integrated system of thought and way of life. The faith of the Church profoundly influences every aspect of human existence for all people in all times and ages. Indeed friends and associates who do not share my faith might believe many of the samme things that I do about the moral life, or human existence. But the difference is that in the Christian religion those beliefs are parts of a greater whole, and are rooted in a transcendent norm. I find that very satisfying.

One of my typical friends or associates, may, for example, believe that the death penalty is generally wrong. And while I share that view, I feel like I have a complete, internally sound, system of thought that justifies my belief, whereas my friends often do not. They may have a certain belief in the dignity of humanity, but they have no transcendent norm that underlies that belief. They have no theological, or even philosophical, anthropology. And because they lack such a basic foundation, their views concerning other things of great importance, such as civil government and social work, are often completely at odds and philosophically out of whack with their other beliefs. In other words, they engage in all sorts of contradictory thought...

Take the the Rage Against the Machine concert I saw a few years ago where the guitar player had a Soviet "hammer and sickle" sticker on his guitar, and pictures of Che Guevara in the background.... yet all the songs they sang about had to do with personal "freedom" and "anarchy" (something the communist/Marxist worldview makes subservient to the state)! Everyone was cheering, and moshing, and dancing around celebrating anarchy and denouncing the United States (this was before 9/11 when the surge of patriotism wiped RATM off the map). Yet if they tried to do that in North Korea or China - whose symbols they were waving around - they would all be lined up and shot!

Biblical and traditional Christianity offers a completely integrated worldview that answers all of the questions that come up in life. But it even more than that: it is a personal encounter with the living God - with the creator of the universe. We can come to personally know this God who took on human flesh to save the world and bring us into greater knowledge and love of Himself. And most important, we can be united with Him for all eternity with all of His saints... and this unity begins now! Indeed, I can't see how someone could reject the Christian faith - reject Jesus Christ - and find life satisfying and fulfilling intellectually or otherwise.

Continuing Organists - What to Do?

I must confess that one of the things that worries me about the future of traditional Anglicanism is the ability to find organists to play our services. There is a shortage of organists in general, and the few out there who are well-trained and have some gusto and vision would probably chose to play in a huge downtown parish with a massive pipe organ rather than a small continuing parish that has an electronic organ. That leaves us with the grannies, or perhaps a convert from evangelicalism who would not, on principle, work at a mainline parish.

But then, in all cases, there is the problem of the organist not knowing Anglican music or liturgy. In other words, they have no idea how to make a nice "Choral Evensong" service; they have never heard of Anglican Chant before; and they do not know any mass setting other than Willan's.

Are there any new "Healy Willans" out there among our ranks? Are there any men (or women) who are committed to preserving the tradition of Anglican music and passing it on to the next generation? I think that the parish is the birthplace of organist vocations (just as it is for priestly vocations). Do any of our organists - even if they are lame - take pupils and try to pass on their trade? It seems to me this is something that must be addressed!

Benedicite, omnia opera Domini

Those who read Morning Prayer with any regularity will recognize this canticle. (note: the BCP says Morning and Evening Prayer is to be daily; and because our liturgy is common prayer - meaning for laity and clergy, men and women, old and young alike - every Anglican should make an effort to read Morning and Evening Prayer every day)

It is the long canticle - the one we all probably say the least because of the big rush and hurry we Americans are always in. I must confess that I find myself saying this canticle (which comes from the Apocrypha) the least too. But I do make an effort to say it at least once a week, and everytime I do I am glad I said it! It speaks of all nature and creation praising God. It may be viewed, perhaps, as a primitive Natural Theology: all of creation testifies to God's Lordship, and through nature we can come to know God on a basic level. Nature is our "interface" with God - such as with the elements of Bread and Wine becoming the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

Last night the power went out, and I lay bed for 5 hours sweating... barely able to breathe because of the awful heat and humidity. Then this morning, when I said the Benedicite, I was reminded that the "...winter and summer..." is to bless the Lord, and praise and maginfy Him forever (BCP p.12). Even the oppresive, sweltering heat, which was crushing me and keeping me awake, must bend the knee to Almighty God.

So, if you do not read Morning and Evening Prayer regularly, start doing it. Then, when you do it, don't shy away from the longer canticles. They have much to teach us.