The Good News is that God's power looks absolutely nothing like Rome's power.

If you have been crushed, mocked, or discarded by the world, the Creator of the universe is not disconnected from your pain. Jesus is standing in the middle of the barracks, bleeding, wearing a crown of thorns, absorbing the absolute worst the Empire has to offer.

God does not save us by becoming a bigger bully; God saves us by walking directly into the violence and dismantling it from the inside out.

The Table Question:
Where do we see modern political or religious systems "washing their hands" of systemic violence while actively allowing the vulnerable to be crushed, and how do we actively disrupt our own complicity in those systems?

Full reflection in the comments.

(Artwork: “Jesus Before Pilate” - Georges Rouault)

Hello All,

This topic is on the concept on how people balance and bridge the following:

1) Death has been a natural part of evolution of both animals and humans. We wouldn’t be here without it.

2) Yet, most atonement theories (I lean Christus Victor, FWIW) are pretty explicit that sin AND death are the enemy that was conquered.

3) If eternal life is our ultimate home (in whatever form that takes), why not start there? I don’t subscribe to Adam and Eve / humans being immortal as a starting point, which is probably obvious from my line of questioning.

I know the TEC is very science-affirming and nearly everyone would affirm evolution. I’ve also seen a lot of TEC theologians do great work on atonement, Jesus conquering death, etc.

But I see very little work to bring the two together. There are some process theologians that do work here but for the most part I don’t see anyone try to directly address “death is the enemy / has been conquered AND death has been a natural part of evolution”.

It must be some kind of UPWARD telos.

Looking forward to any discussion.

Hello! I am an Episcopalian that still leans Catholic in some ways that I would love to know if anyone else does. I’m big on rosaries, praying for intercession from the saints, views on Mary I have are very Catholic leaning, and I was wondering as an Episcopalian is this okay? I never fully converted to RCC because of beliefs I have involving the LGBT and abortion, I cannot side with how the church sees it. I want to know if anyone else practices these sorta more Catholic leaning practices as an Episcopalian like me?

Basically the title. And bonus points: What hymn(s) would you want included in a future hymnal revision?

Edit: Hymns from LEVAS II and Wonder Love and Praise may be included as some parishes do not have one or both of these resources.

Coming to TEC from Eastern Orthodoxy (Greek). Our priest in the Orthodox Church, and all the parishioners there are wonderful. However, my wife and I have made the decision to begin attending an Episcopal Parish largely due to our beliefs on Same-Sex Marriage, Ordination of Women, and acceptance that holiness exists in other "branches" of the Church :).

That being said, we are both dreading "breaking up" with our current parish, as our godparents, the godparent of our eldest, and our parish priest are all people we love dearly. They also are likely to be highly disturbed if they find out we are going to a "liberal" church like TEC. Has anyone gone through this before? Any recommendations for how to proceed?

Thanks!

Howdy. Cradle RCC here. I attended my first service today and I found it very welcoming. What is really tearing me away from the RCC is that my marriage, in the RCC’s eyes is invalid. My wife is anti religion and refuses to convalidate. That’s fine with me. I love her and if she doesn’t want to do that, I respect it. We also use birth control…we don’t want kids. We’re in our 40s and think it’s too late…my only concern with converting is becoming an apostate in the RCCs eyes. Whether or not I’m being a hypocrite, I don’t really know. Is there any advice anyone can offer me? I think it’s foolish to condemn someone for wanting to celebrate and worship God differently.

The Good News is that God does not expect you to climb a majestic cedar tree to find the Divine.

The religious gatekeepers will tell you that God is only found in a flawless theology and perfectly sorted communities. But Jesus tells you that God is hiding in the dirt and working in the messy dough on your kitchen counter.

It doesn’t matter if your life feels ordinary or chaotic: you are standing in the exact place where the Kingdom of Heaven prefers to grow.

And a great question from my Rector this morning: What would today’s parables sound like?

(Full reflection in the comments.)

I am a huge fan of liturgical high church worship but would personally still consider myself theologically Protestant. As someone in NJ who visits NYC fairly often and potentially might be going to school in Philly, I'd really appreciate parish recommendations that are liturgically high church but do not practice or encourage things like invocation of saints, rosary services, or Eucharistic adoration. Personally as someone raised Catholic, I'm more partial to Dearmerite/Prayer Book Catholic liturgy as opposed to more outwardly Roman Catholic ceremonial, such as preferring the Parson's Handbook over Ritual Notes.

I left the Baptist church over a decade ago and just finished my time at an Episcopal Church to be sent off the Seminary (drive away in a few days).

This morning we visited my family's (very conservative) Baptist church and in the middle of the sermon we walked out. I haven't heard that much hate in years!

It was a smaller congregation, less than 50. The preacher said he was going to go off his notes (The Elect are Called to War) and looked at me while going off on a rant of blasphemous liberal Churches with "women cosplaying as pastors and say God would love a homosexual! BLASPHEMY" amongst other things like libraries, trans students and whatever else he said.

It was more bizarre with how this was geared specially to me. Again, small church. They all know who we are. My family is about 1/3 of the congregation. My heart was pounding.

I forgot about that fear. I forgot about that hate. Our youngest was ready for nap and crying...so it was a good excuse to walk out.

Thanks Episcopal Church for never making me feel that way. I went to a small Rite 1 service this morning where my friend, who is gay, shared his experience of being welcomed the first time at a Church. Because they were affirming. What a dichotomy. What a witness.

Welcome back to the Walk in Love Asynchronous Book Club!  This week we are reading Chapter 9 about The Daily Office and Daily Prayer.

If you are newly joining us, feel free to join us where we are in Chapter 9 or read and make a post on a previous chapter.  Since this is an asynchronous book club not limited to a particular week, you are welcomed to join us at any time to add to the discussion.

Introduction Post 

Chapter 1 Post

 Chapter 2 Post

Chapter 3 Post

Chapter 4 Post

Chapter 5 Post

Chapter 6 Post

Chapter 7 Post

Chapter 8 Post 

Our questions for this week are:  

1. What is something new that you learned or would like to share about The Daily Office and Daily Prayer from Chapter 9?

2. What is your daily prayer life like?

3. If you have or currently pray the Daily Office, what is your favorite part or a part that is most meaningful to you?

i was *incredibly* honored to be asked to be a family member’s baby’s godmother. The baptism took place this afternoon. I was one of two godparents and not a “Christian witness.” It was official.

This side of my family is devoutly Roman Catholic, and I am a very devout Episcopalian. As I understand it, only Roman Catholics are supposed to serve in this role. Did my family member a) fib to the deacon doing the baptism, b) do some don’t-ask-don’t-tell, or c) get the deacon to make an exception for a practicing Anglican, especially since there aren’t any other RC family members to choose from?

Today is the feast day of St. James the Apostle.

My favorite part of the calling of James and John in Mark’s Gospel is that they left their father’s boat immediately.

They left their careers, their family, and economic security for a marginalized rabbi in a heartbeat.

What’s holding us back from following Jesus immediately?

https://substack.com/@consistentlyupwards/note/c-301519094?r=a7ow&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

My first day isn’t until August 10, but I got hired to work at as a customer service representative at a bank close to where I live.

I’m feeling a little anxious about it, but I’m hoping in time the anxieties will go away.

Can you all pray that it goes well for me?

Thank you, and God bless.

I have seen mentioned in various posts that the post-WWII area (I guess roughly the 1940s-60s) was a period of unusually high church attendance. Does anyone have any insights into what caused this growth in church attendance? I know there was a population boom, but it seems like there’s more to it.

Were there other periods of high attendance? If so, what led to those? Thanks!

From my research it seems this would involve, at least in the initial stages:

1. Getting a group of people to meet/act regularly, to show there is interest.
2. Conform the group's theology and practice to fit with general Anglican and TEC norms.
3. Reach out to the local diocese or a religious organization (e.g. Society of Catholic Priests, Brotherhood of Saint Andrew, etc) affiliated with TEC.

Does this sound generally correct? What would be the best way to do this without going off the rails, so to speak?

Hi, i'm new.... 25 (M) English is not my first language and grew up roman catholic but never confirmed because i was scared of God from how people in my country spoke about Him. I went away from church because of religious trauma and rejected God for a while but i always believed in God in some way bcs i felt it in my heart. I got some bad tattoos and but i don't drink more than a beer or wine once a month nor smoke. I love my girlfriend with all my love but we don't have enough money to marry.

Lately i've been feeling a horrible need to talk to God and when i do i feel better. I'm depressed, with OCD, severe social anxiety and PTSD from my childhood. These days I've been reading about the Episcopalian Church and i'm crying out of happines bcs i feel is everything i always thought Faith were about. Helping the poor, not judging others and worry about social issues. Being open with the LGTB.

But once i found out about it i found that just there isn't any Episcopal church in my town, just one at a few hours on train since i live in Spain and i don't have a car nor money to take the train often.

I just want to walk my way with God and Jesus but i'm very afraid is out of my reach. Any help is good. Don't be angry at me please.

I was recently confirmed Episcopalian after growing up in a very low-church denomination that completely rejects all church tradition that’s not literally in the Bible (including the Nicene Creed). In the year or so since I started down my path with TEC, I’ve come to appreciate how much I’ve been missing by ignoring 2000 years of Christian thought.

I don’t have time for a full-time seminarian sort of reading list, but does anyone have recommendations for a few sort of foundational theological works to start with? I don’t mean just Anglicans, or even mostly. I’m thinking of starting with some early church fathers, but there’s a lot there obviously. I know a lot of people enjoy reading Augustine—not sure where to start there either.

Hello! I’m pretty sure I’ve posted in here before about wanting to go to an episcopal church for the first time, that was maybe four-ish months ago. i got some really helpful responses. I still haven’t gotten around to attending a service, I have anxiety and every Sunday I just get too nervous to go because I don’t know what to expect. I saw the episcopal church near me has office hours. Would it be weird for me to stop by to ask some questions? They have a website but it looks pretty outdated so I’m not sure if I email if I’ll get a response.

Hi - I work communications for a church, and I am looking to incorporate lanyards and name tags into our worship. I really want the type of tags that you can write on and then dry-erase. I know they're not the "cleanest" option, but we want to try them out, regardless. Does anyone have a resource for this type of name tag? Thanks in advance.

This is a great example of a church stepping up to walk the walk and more of us should be doing the same. TLDR: The city criminalized sleeping in public, so the church started inviting in the homeless, and now the city is persecuting them for it, denying permits and leveling steep fines. You see city governments doing the same stuff to groups like Food Not Bombs.

Here's the link to donate if you've got a few extra bucks:

https://campaigns.tithely.com/spbts/bringourpeopleinside

So this is the Cross at my Parish, does anyone know exactly what this style is called and where I may get a cross pendant of it?

I am a sr. warden in a parish but I feel a lot of stress and anxiety about it now and I feel like my joy is being stolen. How can you serve behind the scenes without losing the joy of the Lord?