"Seven whole days, not one in seven, I will praise thee" -- George Herbert (1633)
We are called to proclaim God’s love not just in our familiar churches — standing just inside our red doors to be nice to visitors — but we are also called to proclaim God’s love on the streets, in the mall, on the beach, in the workplace, on the border, in all the places of greatest need. We are called to be witnesses.
We ordain bishops. It’s time to let die our old habit of referring to the “consecration of bishops.” Our baptismal ecclesiology demands it.
Lent is going to look a little different for each person. I hope you have a holy Lent — however you sojourn. Should your ashes stay or should they go? Well, that depends on what’s in your heart.
We have a catechetical crisis in our church. Vast swaths of our laity and not a few clergy are unable to articulate even the most rudimentary understanding of either baptism or eucharist.
On the feast of the Epiphany, as I look at the proposed churchwide budget for the Episcopal Church, a reflection on whether we are offering Jesus Christ to the world in the way the Gospel suggests we ought to.
Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Can you imagine what our congregations would be like if we kept God’s words in our hearts? If we taught our children about God’s great love for us as revealed in the scriptures? If we publicly proclaimed the scriptures?
If you want your church to really get to know the Bible, it doesn’t need to be financially costly. It just takes a willingness to devote the time and the focus to place the Bible front and center. You’ll see transformation, guaranteed.
To get a congregation reading the scriptures will surely lead to transformation of individual lives and of the church itself. To learn the language of scripture is to find new ways to praise and to thank God, and that helps us live out our purpose, to glorify God.
Continuing a Seven whole days tradition since the Episcopal Church’s 2009 General Convention, we have exclusive, breaking news about the next Blue Book. Before, we alone broke the news of the book’s color. This year, the news is even more exciting.
It’s worth inviting people into this mystical journey of triumph, friendship, tenderness, betrayal, desolation, pain, death, grief, astonishment, and victory. It’s worth it because God is glorified, our faith is enriched, and people are drawn into a deeper relationship with our Lord.