Following the recent discussion about praying by heart I ended up in a conversation which I think we often encounter in differing forms: “Don’t forget what Jesus says about vain repetition” (ie. Matthew 6:7). To which I reply, yes, in Matthew’s Gospel the Lord’s Prayer is an example of how to pray, like a model
I wrote recently about the danger of using ordination to devalue lay ministry. There has just been an extremely high-profile example of ordination-as-reward. Georg Gänswein is the well-known, photogenic Principal Private Secretary to the Pope. In January the pope episcopally ordained (consecrated) him and made him an archbishop. Often the Vatican makes such people the
Ordination as reward Read More »
Germany’s We are Church movement is calling it a “pay to pray” policy. In Germany the state takes a church membership tax from your pay and passes it on to the church. The Roman Catholic Church in Germany, with the support of the (German-led) Vatican, has decided that if you do not allow this church
sacraments – user pays? Read More »
“THE Morning and Evening Prayer shall be used in the accustomed Place of the Church, Chapel, or Chancel; except it shall be otherwise determined by the Ordinary of the Place.” (BCP 1662 The Order for Morning and Evening Prayer). “All Priests and Deacons are to say daily the Morning and Evening Prayer either privately or
BCP Morning & Evening Prayer Read More »
Yes, you can find God at a concert. God is present there. Yes, God is with those who do not claim faith in God, do not entrust themselves to God. God can work through atheists. And agnostics.…. I was recently at a service of Choral Evensong. The acoustics were such that I could not pick
concert or common prayer? Read More »
The Collect in the Churches of the Reformation (Scm Studies in Worship and Liturgy) Bridget Nichols (Editor) 224 pages I am delighted to have read this book – one of the most recent on contemporary collect scholarship, and with a particular (but not exclusive) focus on churches of the Reformation. Lutheran scholar, Frank Senn, characterises
Collect in Reformation Churches Read More »
This year celebrates the 80th anniversary of the “Bonn Agreement” between the Church of England and Old Catholics (Union of Utrecht): Each Communion recognises the catholicity and independence of the other and maintains its own. Each Communion agrees to admit members of the other Communion to participate in the Sacraments. Full Communion does not require
Anglicans & Old Catholics Read More »
The Book of Common Prayer (1662) says, “And the Priest standing at the north side of the Table shall say the Lord’s Prayer, with the Collect following, the people kneeling.” This is a photo prior to 1960 in Hailes church in Gloucestershire. It clearly illustrates how the altar table was put lengthwise between the choir
standing at the north side Read More »
