Geoffrey Kirk was a parish priest in the Church of England and for many years the national secretary of Forward-in-Faith in England. Forward-in-Faith was the principal Church organization opposed to the ordination of women as priests and later as bishops in the Church of England. Forward-in-Faith also worked to obtain compensation for Church of England…
‘America Good-Night’: God, Man, and the Godfather
Some years ago two priests sat in my house. One saw there a collection of movies that included all three of ‘The Godfather’ movies. He laughed and said, ‘I’ve never known an Anglican priest who didn’t own the whole “Godfather” series.’ The first of the series opens with the following words, spoken over a blank,…
Sermon for Saint John’s day
Feast of St. John the Divine, December 27, 2020 In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Today is, according to the Prayer Book, the feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist. This John was one of the twelve apostles, a son of Zebedee and brother to…
More on church visiting, Andrew Lytle, ‘symbols’, and chatty clergy
I have posted the following in the 'comments' section on an earlier post. Here is a link to the original post - https://anglicancatholicliturgyandtheology.wordpress.com/2020/11/02/holiday-church-visiting/ Though the comments are now posted elsewhere, the matters discussed in them are, I think, sufficiently significant, to warrant a separate post. Father Corey French responded to my post on visiting another…
Advent I sermon
Advent I. November 29, 2020. St. Stephen’s, Athens. Romans 13, verse 14 - But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ…. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Our collect and epistle today are built around a series of contrasts or opposites. We hear about ‘works…
Historical-critical Biblical studies: some comments
I hope the reader will forgive a little theological autobiography. It was only rather late in my theological education that I realized that a very great deal of what I had learned about the Bible in college and seminary was almost literally useless. I, like most educated clergymen outside of Fundamentalist circles, was trained in…
Holiday church visiting
I do much church visiting, but mostly in an official capacity. What does not happen very often is that I visit a church as an anonymous worshipper. In the last six or seven years I have when on holidays abroad heard Mass in Roman Catholic churches in France, Portugal, and Ecuador. When English is not…
Collect for Peace, Mattins
O GOD, who art the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we surely trusting in thy defence, may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of…
American Protestantism
Many, or even most, insights about parish growth and parish health are neutral in regard to Church, denomination, or theological orientation. That is, they tend to be true whether the church is traditional or modernist, Protestant or Orthodox or Roman Catholic, small or large, Calvinist or Pentecostalist or Lutheran. Here are a few such neutral…
Politics and Church Growth
To: ____________________ c/o Father __________________________ By: Electronic Transmission Date: 26 September 2020 Father ________________ passed along to me your e-mail to him of 4 September along with the attached article on Grace Community Church in Los Angeles County. Your initial sentence says that [your parish] newsletter ‘points out very clearly why and how the “Church”…
