Anglican

I’m pondering the “don’t stir the pot” reaction that reliably happens every time we publish something on women’s ordination—most especially anything in favor of women’s ordination—over at Anglican Compass, where I’m the Managing Editor. (Note: This post is not a subtweet of anyone in particular. It’s just me thinking out loud about a phenomenon that keeps occurring.) Almost every time we post something about women’s ordination, a controversial issue has been whether or not doing so needlessly “stirs the pot,” as in “causes trouble, unrest, dissent.” ...

I’m reading my way through the new (4th) edition of Robert Bly’s classic The Copywriter’s Handbook. On pages 33–36, Bly offers “38 Model Headlines for Your ‘Swipe File.’” Here are some headlines ideas that came to mind, all geared to an Anglican context (due to my work at AnglicanCompass.com). Why are Anglicans so angry? How do I use the Book of Common Prayer? How can I become an Anglican? What do Anglicans believe? Why “Clarity & Charity” is the best way forward for the Church in a pluralistic age Announcing an ancient way to reclaim your days and years for God Don’t become an Anglican! You can now do the Daily Office with just this booklet and a Bible The 5 Anglican books you should own NOW Using the BCP—Once difficult, now easy A feast for the senses: The richness of Anglican worship “I was about to give up on the Church when I was introduced to the Anglican tradition” FREE booklet helps you pray How to avoid the biggest mistakes you can make when visiting an Anglican church The WORST Article in the Thirty-Nine Articles. Hint: It’s NOT what you think! Anglican clergy’s best-kept secret We’re looking for people who want to leave Anglicanism better than they found it It’s never too late to start doing the Daily Office Sick of iChurch and McChurch? Give Anglicanism a try Will your church pass the Word & Sacrament test? 3 reasons why you should NOT become an Anglican Christian Why most people leave the Church—and what you can do about it Crazy as it sounds, the Daily Office could save your marriage 5 reasons why written prayers are better than extemporaneous prayers 7 questions to ask when you visit an Anglican church Now you can create a personalized discipleship plan—for FREE Where’s #27? Read the title for this piece. ...

At this point, this is just a sketch. But I’m wondering how we Anglican Christians ought to be careful to keep our precious “via media” (“middle way”) mentality and methodology separate from what’s known as the “middle ground” fallacy. The “Via Media” According to Donald McKim in the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, the “via media” is (Lat. “the middle way”) Term used to describe the identity of Anglicanism as a middle way between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. It was coined by John Henry Newman (1801–90) during the Oxford movement (337). ...

I became an “egalitarian” in college, before I became an Anglican in seminary. It’s taken some time for me to get used to the different contours of the women’s ordination debate within Anglicanism. Growing up, the debate was all about particular Bible verses and whether or not women could teach and preach. However, in Anglicanism, although those same questions/arguments are present, I hear much more about whether or not women can administer the sacraments as priests. ...

Based upon my work over at Rookie Anglican, I was asked by The Telos Collective to write a blog post about the different ways that people are coming into Anglicanism. What’s drawing them in? You can read my full post over at the Telos Collective blog, but here’s a taste: Anglican Christianity, precisely because of its weirdness, can remind us that, in the words of Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger in Exploring Ecclesiology, “The church is a cultural community. It is Christ’s eschatological kingdom community, itself a culture that engages other cultures from Christ’s kingdom vantage point” (p. 207). ...

Why am I an Anglican Christian? Here are 3 reasons. 1. Anglicanism as a Refuge from Fundamentalism First, for me, Anglicanism has been a refuge from fundamentalism. Now, to be sure, we do have our own fundamentalists within the Anglican Communion! But, compared to some “ingrown enclaves” I’ve experienced in my Christian upbringing, Anglicanism has been a breath of fresh air. It has been an ecclesiological space for healing as I seek to “not throw the (gospel) baby out with the (fundamentalist) bathwater.” ...