We're coming up on Holy Week. Churches will be rolling out their Easter musicals. Because people don't go to church on Good Friday like they used to, churches will also put the Passion narrative on Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday...what's that all about? It is, strictly speaking, the celebration of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, beginning …
Dumping at Last the "Contract on the Episcopalians"
The ACNA has released their "Texts for Common Prayer." It's something I've mentioned from time to time over the years. But it's obvious; if the ANCA plans to be a real church and a real Anglican province, they need to have a real prayer book. The danger has always been that liturgists who were clumsy, …
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Tom Belt and the God Unlimited Singers: The Agape Factory
GIA M/S-142 (1971) God Unlimited's earliest works were a hard act to follow. A group that, in some ways, set the pace for Episcopal/Catholic folk music sounds more "mainstream" than creative in this work. Part of that was the inclusion of a set of "Mass ordinaries" (use of the term "Mass" wasn't quite according to …
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A Letter from the Rector
I was looking through some papers and found a letter from an Episcopal rector with this: I did enjoy your letter and it just makes me that much more distressed that you left the Episcopal Church. Somehow, with your mind and keen feelings, we should have been able to hang on to you. We sorely …
Some Thoughts on Bossuet's History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches
One of the things that some of the major Anglican blogs will throw out from time to time is the question of what their readers/commenters are reading on the side when they're not keeping up with the latest Anglican debacle (like the recent Primates' Meeting.)Â Through the Christmas holidays, while waiting for some long runs …
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My Thoughts on the Anglican Primates' Meeting
It's just about over, and the Primates meeting in Canterbury have made their official statement, such as it is. Here are some observations: I've always felt that it was unrealistic to expect the current Archbishop of Canterbury to allow TEC and ACoC to get the boot. In that context what happened, i.e., TEC being put …
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Anglicanism Without Canterbury
The Most Rev. Eliud Wabukala, Kenya's Anglican primate, lays it out: It has been suggested that the way forward is for the Anglican Communion to abandon the idea that there should be mutual recognition between the provinces and that it should instead find its unity simply in a common relationship with the Archbishop of Canterbury. …
The Anglican Communion and the English Breakfast
Oliver Pritchett's piece on dumping brunch and bringing back the English breakfast has me thinking of many things English, American and otherwise. That's especially true with the upcoming Anglican Primates' meeting and Justin Welby's last throw at getting everyone to play nice. In particular, this statement from the Curmudgeon piqued my interest: And it can …
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Should a Woman Lead the Church?
That's a question that's as old as Anglicanism itself, as Bossuet pointed out a long time ago in his History of the Variations of the Protestant Churches, VII, 45-47: Accordingly, it thence came to pass, that Henry VIII gave the bishops power to visit their diocese with this preface: "That all jurisdiction, as well ecclesiastical …
The Ottoman Tales VIII: Christians, Keep Your Promises
This continues a series inspired (somewhat) by Noel Barber’s The Sultans. The previous instalment is here. The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans was a process written in blood, as was their inclusion in the Sultan's realm. The Romanian count who is known as Dracula fought to keep up the independence of his …
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Positive Infinity 