I was struck by this image that was shared on my Twitter feed:
It is the Door of Humility in the Basilica of the Nativity. It is only 4 feet high and 2 feet wide. As people enter they have to bow. What a powerful reminder of coming to the Lord in humility.
With a National Emergency called, churches have responded more and more by cancelling Sunday services. There is, of course, an abundance of online options. For someone sacramental, and one who has just simply enjoyed the fellowship of believers on a regular basis, this has hit me hard. Our own church is saying the next service will be Palm Sunday. (We can adjust back, of course.)
Continue reading “Church in the Time of the Coronavirus”I am working my way through Simon Chan’s great book, Liturgical Theology: The Church as a Worshiping Community again. This was a key book years ago when I was in the Assemblies of God. I’ve picked it up now as someone who has joined the Anglican Communion, so I’m reading it with a renewed passion.
Continue reading “Formation through the practice of liturgy” After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. (Rev. 4:1-6)
Continue reading “The focus of worship”Our church (Church of the Apostles in Montrose, Alabama) had a night of word and worship taking us on a journey from creation to the birth of Christ. It was a night of beautiful, heartfelt worship.
Continue reading “O Day of Peace that Dimly Shines”There is a tough balance between “certitude”, which we seem to want in life and in belief, and simply “just believing” without even really trying. It can be the trite saying, “God said, I believe it, that settles it.” It doesn’t wrestle. I’ve longed for something more than this my entire life.
Continue reading “The goal that lies beyond us”One of the things that may confound some folks who wonder about me leaving the Pentecostal denomination I grew up in is how I go to a place that has liturgy. I mean, it “repeats” every Sunday! Where is the moving of the Spirit?
(Of course, no one actually asks me these things. Silence is the code these days.)
Continue reading “One of the beauties of liturgy”Since I’ve moved to the Anglican tradition I’m learning far more about the seasons of the Church year. The past Sundays of Lent I definitely felt something was “missing”.
