If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is there, does it make a sound? If your answer is, “obviously, yes.” stop reading now. Go out and have a coffee. Talk to a friend. Read a book. Or go for a walk. Because the rest of this post will mean nothing to you. If,
We are therefore God is Read More »
We are going through the four marks of the church: one, holy, catholic, apostolic. In this post we are looking at the third mark: catholic. Sometimes we use a word and it changes meaning completely. Even to being used as the complete opposite of what was originally intended. There’s an old prayer: Prevent us, O
I believe in catholic church Read More »
Habit 1 – Focus on God Church is for God. For spirituality. For meditation. For prayer. For liturgy. This should be self evident. Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις, καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him. Matthew 4:10 προσκυνέω proskyneō worship God If people want the experience of a café,
Seven Habits of Highly Effective Churches 1 Read More »
Let’s be clear about what Anglicans in NZ (the Anglican Church of Or) have agreed to: the Revised Common Lectionary [General Synod Te Hinota Whanui (GSTHW) 1998; confirmed GSTHW 2000]. Let’s be clear and honest about what we have not agreed to: we have not agreed to use For All the Saints (FAS – second
Disobey the NZ Lectionary Read More »
The Bible is not a book. It’s an anthology. It binds together translations of ancient manuscripts from different authors, with many/most of the manuscripts individually having a complex development. And all covering, say, the period of a millenium. There’s not even agreement what to bind in this anthology and what not to bind in it.
The Bible – fourth person in the Trinity? Read More »
We are going through the four marks of the church: one, holy, catholic, apostolic. In this post we are looking at the second mark: holy. Being holy can sound saccharine, artificially sweet. Saints, holy people, can appear plaster-cast statues that have no resemblance to real people, stained glass windows that you wouldn’t really want to
I believe in holy church Read More »
I recently shared an image of the Crowning which resulted in some fascinating discussion. Some object to nudity. Others suggested it is blasphemous. A good question arose: Where is the line? Where does “challenging” become “objectionable”? And “blasphemous”? I have worshiped in Sydney Anglican churches which regard an empty cross as idolatry. Their line lies
icon, idol, or blasphemy? Read More »
I serve in a province in which it is all but impossible to agree on what it is that we have actually agreed on. Clergy vow and sign that we will only lead liturgy that we have agreed to, but the rules and regulations are such a patchwork of new patches on old cloths that
Catholicity and creativity Read More »
