All posts filed under: Anglican

The Supper of the Lamb and Lent-Pandemic Cooking — The North American Anglican

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Here is my latest post for the North American Anglican. Have you read the Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon? It’s been just the right book for me to be rereading lately…. Finding myself cooking more than ever and in need of some inspiration, I’ve lately returned to Robert Farrar Capon’s Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection. Written by an Episcopal priest back in 1967, The Supper of the Lamb is both a quirky cookbook and a doxological digression on the nature of reality. Since he describes himself as an “Anglican, or moderately high-church, cook,” readers of this publication may discover a guide to Anglican identity even unto the kitchen (7). Yet regardless of tradition, this book is full of practical and theological insights that are pertinent in these strange days. Now that we are trying to minimize grocery trips, I’ve been reminded of Capon’s distinction between “ferial” and “festal” cooking. While I’ve always seen his thoughts on “ferial” cooking as applicable for Lent, they’re even more practical now during the pandemic. …

More Resources: Prayers in Time of Infectious Disease

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Fr. Matthew Brench over at St. Aelfric’s Customary has put together a wonderful resource for prayer. It’s just the sort of thing that I’ve been looking for. It’s an order of prayer, not to replace Morning and Evening Prayer or the Great Litany, but something extra for us to use in our homes in this time. You can find it here: Prayers in Time of Infectious Disease. “Five groups of prayers (most of which are collects, but let’s not get hung up on nit-picks) are appointed: Preparatory Prayers = more generic prayers to set the tone and capture the spirit of the times For those who are vulnerable, at risk, or sick = specific petitions for various demographics and groups, ultimately praying for the suffering and the needy For those who are responsible for others = specific petitions for those who care for the sick, for the infrastructure and leadership, and even the media, all of whom play they parts for good or for ill during a crisis For peace of mind = these prayers …

Common Prayer in a Time of Fear

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I made a simple printable of relevant collects from the Prayer Book to tape up by my kitchen and bathroom sinks. I thought I would share it here, too, in case any of you would also like it. Download here: Common Prayer in Time of Fear As I’m sure many others have, I’ve been dwelling a lot on Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”   I’ve been encouraged by that word “guard.” The peace of God is not something flimsy, evanescent. It’s stalwart, solid, firm. When we make our requests known to God, His peace guards us “manfully” (to use a word from the Prayer Book). And, I keep thinking of this quotation about prayer that I shared back in the summer (it was quoted in Company of Voices by George Guiver): “Perhaps at this very moment, on other …

Surrounded by the Scriptures — The North American Anglican

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I’ve written many posts about Lent, common prayer, the Coronavirus, etc. in my mind these last few weeks. But, with caring for my little newborn, they haven’t made it past a paragraph or two when I actually go to type them.   I did manage to write my monthly article for the North American Anglican, sending it in the day before I had my baby (I’m guessing this is the only article on that site finished in between contractions?). My article, “Surrounded by the Scriptures,” was posted this morning and in light of all that’s going on in our world, I’m finding what I wrote then to be relevant. Isn’t it stunning how the Scriptures leap up at us in light of contemporary events? How the prayers in the Prayer Book seem written just for this moment? As I write in this article, I’m so grateful for the “intertextuality” of a liturgical life by the Prayer Book. I was a “Preseminary Bible Major” at my evangelical college. While I regret the assumptions about spirituality which caused …

Common Prayer & Parenthood — The North American Anglican

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I’m excited to be a new monthly contributor to the North American Anglican. Here is my first article, summarizing the changes in my understanding of common and private prayer:  From when I was a teenager, silent mornings of Bible study and prayer rooted my spiritual life. This “quiet time” habit served me well—until I became a mother. And then, it was ripped away from me and I resented it. Despite efforts to wake up before my children, their infallible instinct that I was awake, plus the creaks of our old house, made this time alone impossible. When we could manage it, my husband would watch our kids so that I could slip away. But it was never enough to fill me up for the demands of life with a toddler and infant. So, in my soul, I raged against my children. Because they were “bad sleepers,” I practically didn’t have a relationship with God anymore. Of course, I tried to fit prayer and Scripture into the crannies of my day. But, inevitably, it was accidental, …

All Saints’ Day: An Unpolished Reflection about Prayer Book Liturgical Living

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Today is All Saints’ Day. What will my family be doing? It’s very simple. This morning, we prayed a shortened version of the Morning Office together (i.e. Lord’s Prayer, Revelation 19:1-16, Te Deum, Apostle’s Creed, Collect for All Saints’). After I write this post, I’m going to pull all of our saints’ picture books out and let my kids pick some to read. Then, tonight, our church has a potluck and a Holy Communion service, where we will sing the classics — “For All The Saints,” “Who Are These Like Stars Appearing?” “The Church’s One Foundation…” And we will partake of the bread and wine as one body, in gratitude that “we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son, which is the blessed company of all faithful people.” Here are some of the things I could have done, but didn’t: We’re not dressing up as saints. I didn’t get any special meals together. I didn’t print out any of those fun All Saints’ printables. But, even though I’m a person who …

If You’re Looking for All Saints’ Ideas….

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All Saints’ Day is coming up on November 1st! I thought it would be helpful to put together a quick post with the resources that we have for the day. Preparing for All Saints’ Last year, I wanted to prepare a little more for All Saints’ — make a bigger deal of explaining why we celebrate this day. So, I wrote a series of daily thoughts to read to my kids in the week beforehand. Here are the topics for each day: What is a saint? (on holiness and wholeness) Lots of Different Saints (on the variety among God’s saints) How to Be a Saint (on The Communion of the Saints and the Beatitudes) Welcoming the Saints (on the question, why do so many saints die for Jesus?) Death and the Saints (on why sometimes it’s not easy to want to be a saint) Dealing with Scary Things and Halloween (self-explanatory) Today is the Day! (on doing small things with great love) If you’re interested, you can download “Welcoming the Saints” here.   Here is …

Celebrating St. Michael and All Angels

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As we finish up the Autumn Ember Days, we turn our attention to Michaelmas. When we started this site,  I wrote a little post musing on the question “Why the Church Year? and reflected, The church year means that we don’t accidentally exclude a truth or event that is important for the life of our souls. I remember my first Michaelmas, realizing that I didn’t remember the last time I had thought about angels. My imagination needed Michaelmas to remind me that the cosmic realms are densely populated, not empty, with beings who serve the Lord and us. Ever since I first experienced Michaelmas, I’ve connected it with the wisdom of the church year. I’m grateful to remember the reality of angels — intentionally weeding out what is kitschy and cutesy in my imagination. And, I hope that celebrating the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels with my children helps them to associate the angelic realm with all that is glorious, noble, and courageous. Here is what we’ll be doing: Michaelmas Booklet A few years back, …

A Window into Helen’s Home

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I’m excited to share with you this next submission to our Meaningful Home series. The series has been inspired by G.K. Chesterton’s advice “It is the main earthly business of a human being to make his home, and the immediate surroundings of his home, as symbolic and significant to his own imagination as he can.” Our friend Helen Moineau is an Anglican missionary in Croatia with her husband and two young children. She writes from the perspective of moving over a dozen times in the last six years. You can find her on Instagram (@helen.wildrose). There’s a battered cardboard box sitting in my closet, where multiple times a year I seem to find myself either packing or unpacking its contents: pieces of our family’s simple prayer corner and home altar. Our family has been in overseas ministry for several years now, and between raising support, traveling, living in multiple countries, plans falling through, and just honest and simple failure at times, we’ve had the odd circumstance of having moved over a dozen times in the past six …

A Window into Libby’s Home

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It’s been so exciting to receive your submissions to our Meaningful Home series. The series has been inspired by G.K. Chesterton’s advice “It is the main earthly business of a human being to make his home, and the immediate surroundings of his home, as symbolic and significant to his own imagination as he can.” Here is another great submission from Libby Ibanez, a homeschooling mom of 4 living liturgically in the heart of Texas. We are a large family of 6 with children ages 2, 6, 8, and 10. We recently moved from a 4 bedroom home in Corpus Christi, Texas to a 3 bedroom apartment in Austin, Texas. The downsizing was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a long time. One thing that mattered to us was a home altar/sacred space. But going from 2400sqft to 1300 was something we didn’t think we could make happen. But, with a bit of creativity (and Pinterest) we did it! I used a small bookshelf and put it in the corner of our apartment …