Evangelicals & AIDS Ministry

Exciting news on Yahoo today about how Saddleback Community Church, a large non-denominational church in California, is starting a huge AIDS awareness and ministry program. I think this is fantastic.

AIDS is a horrible disease that we must strive to find a cure for. We need to pray that God would help us end this horrific disease. Most of the people who suffer from it are poor women and children in Africa. It is not only a "gay" disease. For too long, many of us conservative Christians have ignored minstering to people with this disease, and have not sought to do what we could to educate people about it, lobby congress for money to find a cure for it, and more. We cannot be Christians and ignore this disgusting disease and those who suffer from it. If we purport to care about the sick and diseased in the name of Jesus, then we should do all we can to help those people - even if they have a disease like AIDS, which we, rightly or wrongly, associate entirely with sexual deviancy.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us not only to speak prophetically, but to act prophetically. Here is an example of what I mean from the world of abortion: don't be pro-life, and then do nothing to support your local crisis pregnancy center with financial and other gifts. Don't be a pro-life guy, but then refuse to date a single mother because she has too much "baggage". Don't be pro-life, and then sleep around or have sexual relations outside of marriage. Yes, the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us not only to speak prophetically, but to act prophetically.

"O the doctrines, they are a changin'"

Looks like Rome is planning on abolishing limbo. I wonder what will happen to all of the poor souls there? Limbo is just a "hypothesis", they say. They are right about that. It is not taught in Scripture, but is more the product of scholastic reasoning. They have been planning this for sometime now, as limbo is not even in the new catechism. What they will replace it with, if anything, is a mystery.

I find this interesting and am blogging about it because Anglicans (anglo-catholics especially) are often accused by Romanists of holding beliefs that certain Reformers and/or the Articles of Religion rejected. They seem to think that our whole position as a true branch of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is undermined because our beliefs about a doctrine may have changed, or developed, over time. Or they think that our change of opinion about, say, Benediction, indicates that there is some fundamental problem in our tradition as a whole. This is a very arrogant supposition, though. It assumes that the Roman Catholic Church is the only Church that is allowed to change positions on certain matters of faith and practice over time. Why Rome and no one else? Sounds pretty arbitrary to me.

Reconciling the Jurisdictional Chaos

This is the title of an article that may be downloaded from the Christian Challenge from a recent conference about the Affirmation of St. Louis that a couple of jurisdictions participated in. While there are several articles from this conference that are worth downloading and reading, I thought that this was the best. Fr. Warren Tanghe, SSC (chaplain of All Saints' Convent - Catonsville, MD) exhorts orthodox Anglican parishes in various regions to enter into grassroots partnerships to foment a sort of "bottom-up" organic unity, rather than legislating a top-down merger, as those have been prone to fail in the past. Bp. Paul Hewitt, SSC of the Diocese of the Holy Cross has a response which includes nine suggestions for concrete action. Many of these steps are being taken right now, which is surely positive. It is a good article that is well worth reading, and may give each of us ideas as to what we can do in our part of the country to promote unity amongst orthodox Anglicans.

Jurisdictional chaos is a sad reality within the Church. It is not only continuing Anglicans that have the problem. Roman Catholics have overlapping jurisdiction, as do the Orthodox. And their jurisdictions overlap with each others' and ours! So don't let anyone tell you that it's just us. I think that the problem of multiplying jurisdictions within the continuing movement, though, comes in part from a defective understanding of the sacrament of Holy Orders, which is viewed more so as something that an individual possesses rather than something that belongs to the Church. We have ultimately, I believe, Rome to thank for this. Their ridiculous condemnation of Anglican Orders, as many scholars have pointed out, has made some Anglicans think of orders as something that is limited to a pedigree, while other important items, such as orthodoxy and "communio", are conveniently left out of the equation. If holy orders is limited to a lineage, then any "bishop" can go start his own "apostolic" jurisdiction whenever he feels like it. In the end, such practice actually undermines the historic Catholic position on Holy Orders and Apostolic Succession, and destroys the unity of the Church.

Theological Exams & The Seminary Question

One of the most important parts of my recent ordination was the theological examinations by the board of examining chaplains. My exams were a couple hours long, and we covered all sorts of areas: sacraments; church history; biblical studies; practical theological questions; christology; moral theology - you name it, we discussed it. Each topic was interwoven with others, as they all relate to each other in various ways. They were very similar to my comprehensive exams from seminary, actually. Each diocese has its own board, served by a group of priests who rotate on and off. The board reports to the bishop.

Now personally, between inquisitor and candidate, I think they - the board - have the harder job. The reason I say that is because they have to interview and question people who have done their theological training at vastly different seminaries... because there is no "continuing church seminary". They might interview someone like me, who went to a liberal Roman Catholic seminary, and then someone who went to a conservative Presbyterian seminary, and then someone who went to an ECUSA seminary, and so on. That requires lots of discernment and very specific questioning on the examiners' part. Would not someone who went to a conservative Presbyterian seminary and someone who went to a liberal UCC seminary answer a question about the sacraments in a very different way? What is the standard of judgment? It has to make questioning very difficult in some areas, and thus the job of examiner difficult at times. Indeed, they need our prayers and encouragement.

Their job would be a lot easier if there were a set of traditional Anglican seminaries around the country with the same standards of education and formation to send men to. That way, everyone would be coming at them from the same background. I hope that one day there will be a couple of places like this to send our men to. Anyone have a couple million bucks to get this thing off the ground?

Covenant of Union

The APA/REC signed a covenant of union with the Anglican Province of Nigeria last week. This is very exciting as it is the first concordat between a so-called "separated" Anglican body and a province of the "official" Anglican Communion (a HUGE province). Here is the link to the documents.

This is exciting to me, not because it gives some sort of "official seal of approval" to the APA/REC (and by extension, some of the other continuing bodies), but because it highlights positive and constructive changes in peoples' perception as to what Anglicanism really is. Anglicanism is no longer about being in some sort of official "club" with fancy buildings and paid choirs. That changed a long time ago. And don't get me wrong: I like fancy buildings and great choirs as much as the next guy. But that is not the core of the Christian faith. Sadly, those nice things often end up becoming idols for people.

At its heart, Anglicanism is about following Jesus Christ alone as Lord and Saviour, and bringing all of our thoughts, passions, and desires under His Lordship and rule. It is about proclaiming the unchanging "faith once delivered" to the saints, and about affirming the authority and inspiration of the sacred scriptures and the tradition which interprets them.

My Very Own American Altar Missal

A friend of mine just gave me an altar version of the American Missal. I will use when, Lord willing, I am ordained to the priesthood. The binding is really beat up, as it is a first edition from 1931. The inside, though, is in great shape! Hopefully it will not cost too much to get it rebound. The Anglican Parishes Association has not carried the American Missal for some time, though I think they own the copywrite for it. I believe it used to be the only place where you could get one. But it obviously sold out some time ago. They still carry the Anglican Missal, but it is so much harder to use than the American, so I have been wanting to find an American. It would be funny if it cost as much or more to get this rebound as it would be to buy a new Anglican Missal and just get used to using that.

Fr. Ray Unterburger with New Monstrance

As promised, here is a picture of the magnificent new monstrance that a kind, older couple generously donated to our parish. The picture really doesn't do it justice - if you can believe it. It is even more amazing in person! Also in the picture is the rector of St. Alban's, Joppa, Fr. Ray Unterburger. This will add a lot to the eucharistic life of the parish.

ACC Elects New Metropolitan

The ACC (Anglican Catholic Church) has elected their Bishop of the South, Mark Haverland, Ph.D, to be their new metropolitan. Brother John-Charles retired due to health reasons, I guess. It will be interesting to see what direction he takes the ACC in over the next few years.

Like most continuing archbishops, he also still serves as the ordinary of his diocese. And to my knowledge he also still pastors a parish - again, like most continuing church bishops. It's got to be a lot of work, and require the wearing of many different hats, but I think it is good to have bishops serve a parish, as bishops are fundamentally the "pastor" of a diocese.

I know that ACC Deacon, A.R. Bayles, of St. James, Cleveland, has made comments on this blog before. Perhaps he could say a few words about this and give his thoughts and impressions if he is somehwere out there. Other ACCers are also welcome to give their thoughts and opinions. We are anxious to hear!

One Year Anniversary

This month is the one year anniversary of this blog. Thanks to everyone out there who reads and comments. I feel that all of the remarks have been charitable and constructive, and that, overall, I think it is a very positive blog. I started it as a way to anonymously talk about being a continuing Anglican... never expecting anyone to actually read it, or make comments. Then somehow, people found it and started reading. So thanks for participating.

Sincerely,
SJA

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.