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.

Working for Peace

Last night I watched Hotel Rwanda. It is a very moving and disturbing film that documents the true life experience of a hotel manager in Kigali who used his influence and hotel to save over 1200 people from certain death. I recommend that everyone see this film at least once.

I remember when those massacres happened eleven years ago, and can recall how shocked I was that something like that could happen today. It shows the great evil that human beings are capable of - despite our education and technology. And once again, I was confronted with the indifference of the west. How could we let something like that happen? Over 1 million people died in just a few months during those massacres.

God created us with a free will, and endowed us with reason and intelligence. How do we use this? Because of the fall, and orginal sin, part of the human condition is to constantly struggle with abusing our freedom and reason - using it for supposed "self aggrandizement". But St. Paul tells us that in Christ we are "new creations". Indeed we need God's grace in Jesus Christ to purify us, and rescue and elevate our nature to what it was intended to be. This message needs to be brought to all the world so that such great evil will never happen again.

Continuing Wedding

I'm getting married in the fall. To be honest, I sometimes thought that I would never meet the woman of my dreams and get married. My faith is very important to me, and equally important is the classical Anglican expression of the catholic faith. And obviously, emotional and physical attraction are also very important when looking for love.

Well, traditional Anglican parishes - at least the ones I have attended - for the most part are not exactly crawling with gorgeous and intelligent young women, so it is hard to meet women at them. Once in a while there was a visitor, or someone who came at Christmas and Easter, but I wanted to meet someone who was in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, not just a "nominal" Christian. So eventually I just sort of "gave up" looking and resigned myself to living by my principles and accepting what God apparently had for me. Accepting God's will for my life was actually very freeing. I was able to get a lot of great work done, and grow much more comfortable with myself.

But lo an behold, I happened to go to a Christmas party last year, and there I met my future wife. We hit it off, started e-mailing, and then started dating. She began coming to mass with me, and has not missed a Sunday since. She comes from a somewhat liberal Mennonite background - liberal enough to dress normally and date outside the Amish/Mennonite fold, but still conservative enough to be against abortion, and pro-traditional marriage, and such. Now she has adopted Anglicanism wholeheartedly. She crosses herself, bows at the cross, genuflects, prays the rosary and talks about Mary a lot, goes to Stations and Benediction, and even says Evening Prayer with me once in a while.... it is wonderful! She'll be confirmed, Lord willing, this fall or spring. She fits right in at church, and likes the small, close-knit atmosphere of our parish and our diocese. She is real Anglican trooper - a top notch gal, and the love of my life! We're getting married this fall with the 1928 BCP and American Missal. The mass setting will be the "Mass for Three Voices" by William Byrd.

I thank the Lord that I have found someone out there to share this part of my life - the very core of my life - with. I have to admit, I had my doubts at times. The traditional Anglican world is not for everyone... it is too beautiful, too mysterious, too contemplative. But the Lord blessed me, and did not leave me hanging. He sent me someone who also found that world beautiful. The night we met, I told her, and all of the other women I met at the party, all about me, and about my Anglicanism, thinking that if she or they were not interested in me that would be fine, and that I wouldn't want to meet someone who didn't care about the Lord anyway. And I was right about 99% of them. But she was the one who e-mailed me, so I took notice. Then on our first date, after eating and hanging our for a while, I just started talking to her about the Blessed Mother, and how devotion to her has been spiritually refreshing and helpful to me. She did not run, but rather was so affirmative, and into what I was saying. Now we talk about how Mary played a role in our romance. And now we are getting married at St. Mary's Church!

Anyway, sorry to get all sentimental. I just wanted to offer up praise and thanksgiving to God, and also give hope to those who think one could never find his or her true love while attending a small, continuing Anglican parish with a (formerly) crappy organ. There is always hope with God.

Get a Spiritual Director

I recommend that all Anglicans interested in growing in deeper knowledge and love of God, and in holiness, seek out a spiritual director. A spiritual director may or may not be the same person as your confessor, but often they are the same. The spiritual director acts as sort of a 'coach' in the Christian life. He is someone who can help you develop and maintain a Rule of Life (Thornton), and he is someone to bounce ideas, hopes, and frustrations off of. It is not meant to be counseling in the psychological or emotional sense, though there may be some overlap once in a while.

My spiritual director also serves as my confessor. He is an SSC priest who resides here in my fair city. We get together once a month for confession and direction. He has been very helpful to me, and has helped me view my spiritual life more holistically. For instance, he talked about regular exercise as being part of a balanced Rule of Life... something I had never thought of. A few years ago, I went to a legendary, really old Sulpician priest (Fr. Vincent DePaul McMurry) for spiritual direction. He was not my confessor - only my director. He was great too. He would talk about how beautiful the catholic faith is, and we would reflect on that in all sorts of interesting ways.

I have found that you have to really look around for a good spiritual director. It is like finding the perfect "hang out". You have to ask others, and pray that God would send you to the right person. It can be hard at times. And sometimes you strike out a lot before finding the right one. Even Roman Catholics have trouble finding good spiritual directors sometimes. Once you find a good spiritual director, though, go to him regularly with an open mind and heart - even if you consider yourself to be fairly "advanced" spiritually. There is always something new to learn, and greater levels of holiness to attain.

Wedding Madness

This is not a post about my own wedding, which is coming up (but I am sure I will have something up about it sooner or later), but rather about a wedding at the ECUSA 'Cathedral of the Incarnation' (or "The Cathedral of the Reincarnation" as we call here in my town) that I attended the other day. It was bizarre, and made me very happy to be a continuing Anglican.

The lady who did the wedding didn't even follow the '79 BCP Order for Marriage. They used some other crazy text. The couple did their own vows, which were rather sentimental and shallow I thought. There were no hymns or anything... so even though the ceremony was done in the context of the Eucharist, it really did not feel like a community experience. They really cut back on the responses, I suppose because they thought most people wouldn't know them, so maybe that was why we all felt like we were watching a piece of weird performance art. There were no chasubles, no procession of clergy, no altar rail, no nothing. The acolyte, after the Holy Communion, then reserved the reaminder of the Precious Blood in an aumbry!

The whole thing was just very watered down. Of course they admitted everyone to the Holy Eucharist, and there was, as to be expected with Rite II, very little talk of sin and redemption. My fiancee, who is not a theologian by any stretch of the imagination, thought the whole experience was not very worshipful or holy.

At the reception, some "priestess" got up and prayed for the food. She began to quote Scripture in her prayer, but came up with her own, weird translation of the passage in question. She said, "Oh God, you said it was not good for people to be alone, so let us make for them partners to be with...." or something like that. She was quoting (I use that term loosely) from Tobit.

So the whole thing was very strange indeed. The organ music was nice, though. Hard to mess up the "Wedding March".

New Organ!

Praise the Lord! Today our parish is getting a nice new Rogers electronic organ delivered! It will replace our 1949 creep show organ. The Lord enabled us to raise all of the money for the organ in about 5 months... that is 5 months ahead of schedule! Our old organ sounded so BAD. I am convinced that it has driven many potential new members away. Now we just need to get a new organist.

My Emerging Church Experience

This past Sunday I was out of town visiting an old college friend. We visited her current church home, which is an "emerging church" in a large city in Tennessee. I thought I would comment on some of the things I noticed about the service. Warning: this is a long post. (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa)

First, there was no church building. Rather, they met in a large warehouse (owned by a contemporary christian musician). In fact, it looked like this goth/punk club I used to go to in Baltimore called the "Ottobar". The lighting was poor, despite a huge lighting rig that covered the ceiling. They use the room for christian rock concerts on other days, hence the rig, but apparently they do not use the rig for morning worship. There were no pews, only plastic folding chairs. As you came in, you grabbed a chair and sat down - usually with your coffee.... that's right, they serve coffee and bottled water that you are allowed to bring into the main space. There was no art on the walls, and up front, on the platform where the speaker stood, was one of those computer projectors with a million wires coming out from it. They used it to project the music lyrics up on a screen. There was no information bulletin... just a bi-fold piece of paper with a space for sermon notes on one side, and a couple of announcements on the other side. The crowd (about 200 people?) was mostly 20-30 somethings. The oldest people I saw looked to be in their sixties (they were just one couple, mind you). Out of all the people there, I'd say that 10 were 45 or older. Everyone was white.

As for the "liturgy", there was a confession of sin; a "declaration of absolution" (read by young woman in a short miniskirt); and several rock songs led by the house band - one of which was "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation". Then there was a long, rambling sermon lead by the youth pastor, followed by some announcements (that he kept messing up), and then some more rock songs. There was one, maybe two, brief prayers during the service.

There was no sacrament, no offering, no substantial prayer or prayer time, no responses, no kneeling, very little talk of sin and redemption, and no blessing (though the service ended with a wave and a hearty, "Ya'll have a great day... see ya next week.". The guy who was preaching spent so much time talking about a U2 concert he attended in Ireland that it was hard to focus on the spiritual truthes he was trying to draw out from that experience. On top of that, the people were nnot very friendly. I wouldn't say they were unfriendly, but they certainly did not come up and say hello, or even look at you, much less smile at you. My fiancee said that she thought the place was downright cold.

This experience confirmed my earlier suspicians that there is something seriously wrong with the "emerging church" model. One struggles to even call an experience like this "worship", for virtually nothing was being offered to God. It was wholly and entirely man-centered. The only thing that was being offered to God that I could see - the rock music and singing - was hardly the best that could be offered. And further, the people really didn't seem to take part in the singing at all. About half of them chatted and drank their coffee during the singing, despite the fact that they were very easy songs to sing (I picked up the tunes immediately, though I had only heard the hymn before).

True worship involves offering something to God which is pure and spotless. This is not our own "sincere hearts", or "warm fuzzy feelings", but something else - the Holy Eucharist. True worship is offering to God the spotless, most Holy Pascal Lamb - Jesus Christ. This highest and one true act of worship sanctifies our other acts of worship (singing, prayer, offering, etc.).

There was no chance to worship God with giving of tithes and offerings, despite the fact that that God commands us to give to His work. In an age when people are so irresponsible with their money, and so blatantly materialistic, to deny them the opportunity to give to the work of the Church during its corporate worship is an outrage and a slap in the face to God - who owns everything in the world. (BCP p. 9; and Psalm 24: BCP p. 368)

The worship was gnostic. That is to say, it was entirely cerebral. It was not incarnational and sacramental. The "message" - an imparting of "secret knowledge" of sorts - was the focus of the meeting. Besides there being no art, and no sacrament, and no august movements and/or ritual, the whole experience was just plain ugly. Thus, as an artist, I found the worship highly irrelevant to my life (to use one of that movement's favorite buzzwords).

One of the most troubling aspects was the fact that everyone was young. What about older folks? Is a place like this truly "for all people" when old people are nowhere to be seen? The absensce of the aged, and extremely aged seems to detract from the dogma that the Church is catholic - i.e. for all people in all times and places. (BCP p.291)

So why do people go to churches like this? I think they go to them because there is no commitment involved. There is no work to do on Sunday. You just passively sit there and sip on your coffee like you are watching TV. This type of service appeals to our basest desires. It is "worship of God" (I use that phrase lightly) on our terms as opposed to God's terms. In that sense, it is very similar to liberal Christianity. No doctrine, and God on my terms... Jesus "reconstituted" to fit my interests interests". I think people go because they can slip in and blend in with everyone else - who look, talk, and act just like me - and then they can just leave. It is "no pressure" religion.

Well, it may qualify as 'religion' in some broad sense of the word (even though there is no ritual), but it certainly does not qualify as authentic Christianity. A Christian is a follower of Christ, and followers of Christ suffer as their Lord does (indeed we participate in His suffering through the sacramental life). Followers of Christ worship God in spirit and truth, and accept inconveniences in order to be made more christlike. Most important, Christians offer to God true worship - the Sacrifice of the Mass. God in His grace raises us up to His level, and makes us holy - He makes us divine (theosis). We should not seek to drag God down to our level for the sake of convenience and the latest trends.

Looking for a 1928 Altar Service Book?

These can be really hard to find these days. What I recommend is contacting your local FiFNa parish, or other more traditional ECUSA parish and seeing if they have one they want to give away or sell. In my church restoration business travels I find mountains of those things on the shelves of church libraries. Just today I was in a parish that had about six of them in varying states that were just sitting on a shelf.

Guests at Synod

At the APA/REC synod there were several guests, such as Bp. Hewitt (Diocese of the Holy Cross). He heads up this group called the Anglican Fellowship of the Delaware Valley, which is a cooperative group of orthodox Anglican parishes from various jurisdictions up in Pennsylvannia. Apparently they work together on various initiatoves and ministries. There was Abp. Venebles (Primate of the Southern Cone), and also Bp. Lyons (Bishop of Bolivia) too. Canon Bill Atwood (head of Ekklesia) was there as well.