Category : Liturgy, Music, Worship

Pittsburgh TEC Bishop Reflects on Changes to Pennsylvania Marriage Laws

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, --Civil Unions & Partnerships, Anthropology, Episcopal Church (TEC), Ethics / Moral Theology, Law & Legal Issues, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Marriage & Family, Parish Ministry, Politics in General, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion), State Government, Theology, Theology: Scripture

(BBC Magazine) Berlin House of One: The first church-mosque-synagogue?

Berlin thinks it is making religious history as Muslims, Jews and Christians join hands to build a place where they can all worship. The House of One, as it is being called, will be a synagogue, a church and a mosque under one roof.

An architecture competition has been held and the winner chosen. The striking design is for a brick building with a tall, square central tower. Off the courtyard below will be the houses of worship for the three faiths – the synagogue, the church and the mosque. It is to occupy a prominent site – Petriplatz – in the heart of Berlin.

The location is highly significant, according to one of the three religious leaders involved, Rabbi Tovia Ben Chorin. “From my Jewish point of view the city where Jewish suffering was planned is now the city where a centre is being built by the three monotheistic religions which shaped European culture,” he told the BBC.

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, * Religion News & Commentary, Architecture, Europe, Germany, Inter-Faith Relations, Islam, Judaism, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Other Churches, Other Faiths, Religion & Culture

(B. Gateway Blog) The Book of Common Prayer Remains a Force: An Interview with Alan Jacobs

Why was the Book of Common Prayer needed; wasn’t the Bible sufficient?

Dr. Jacobs: One of Cranmer’s chief concerns was to teach people the Bible. The Book of Common Prayer was accompanied by a Book of Homilies, the very first one of which is called “A Fruitful Exhortation to The Reading and Knowledge of Holy Scripture.” It begins like this:

“To a Christian man there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledge of holy Scripture, forasmuch as in it is contained God’s true word, setting forth his glory, and also man’s duty. And there is no truth nor doctrine necessary for our justification and everlasting salvation, but that is (or may be) drawn out of that fountain and well of truth.”

So you really can’t have a higher view of the authority and sufficiency of Scripture than Cranmer did.

Read it all.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, --Book of Common Prayer, Anglican Provinces, Books, Church History, Church of England (CoE), History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Theology

(TEC) Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music provides information on Indaba-style gathering

The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SLCM) of The Episcopal Church recently held a two-and-a-half-day Indaba-style conversation on same-sex marriage June 3-5 at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kansas City, MO.

The conversation included leaders from across the Anglican Communion, ecumenical partners, and lay and clergy representatives from Episcopal dioceses where civil same-sex marriage is legal.

“The overwhelming feel of the entire gathering was one of openness, love, trust, and joy,” said Kathleen Moore, Diocese of Vermont. “Over the course of just three days, many participants who hailed from different states, countries, and denominations shared the profound closeness they now feel toward one another, and an intent to remain in touch.”

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, Episcopal Church (TEC), Liturgy, Music, Worship, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion)

(Orlando Sentinel) Worshippers with disabilities search for acceptance

Lindsay Graham grew up in the same church attended by her parents and grandparents, and she expected the same would be true for her children. That changed when her son, J.D., was diagnosed with autism at age 2.

There were outbursts and tantrums, calls in the middle of the church service from the Sunday school teacher that J.D. was being disruptive. There were disapproving looks from other members of the congregation. Even if they didn’t say it, Graham knew what they were thinking: Can’t you keep your child under control?

“I felt very ostracized because he was always misbehaving. We just didn’t fit that perfect family mold,” said Graham, 33.

It was time to find another church, one equipped to handle children with disabilities. They ended up at First Baptist Orlando, which has a special needs ministry for children.

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, Children, Health & Medicine, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Marriage & Family, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Care, Pastoral Theology, Psychology, Theology

(CC) Benjamin Dueholm–Why I kiss my stole

As I vested for worship on a recent Sunday, a parishioner noticed me kissing my stole before I put it on. “I like that you do that,” she said, to my brief and unexpected embarrassment. I’ve made this small gesture every time I’ve vested since my ordination, but no one had ever prompted me to reflect on it before.

Augustine says that habit unresisted becomes compulsion. This maxim rings true with my experience of bad habits, but I’d never thought of it in terms of pious ones. My parishioner’s comment made me realize that kissing my stole has long since sunk from a distinct act into a habit””and may now be a compulsion.

“I guess it reminds me,” I told her…..

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Church History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Theology

(CNN) Inside Manhattan's most hipster-y megachurch

While some churches are struggling to attract younger members, 20 and 30-something-year-olds are waiting in long lines to get into Hillsong’s services….

Watch the whole video report.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, America/U.S.A., Liturgy, Music, Worship, Religion & Culture, Urban/City Life and Issues, Young Adults

The recent 'What I want to say now' sermon by the former Bishop of St Albans Christopher Herbert

So what did I not speak out about, which I can do now?

The main issue I failed to address was the question of beauty. Please bear with me, because when I talk about beauty I am not talking about the overly self-conscious and preening opinions of art critics. They write for a very limited audience. The kind of beauty that I want to talk about is much larger and much more profound than that.

When I refer to beauty I am referring to the absolute, ineffable, ultimately inexpressible beauty of the Divine, of God, of the Almighty”¦

There is a delicious and troubling irony here: going to churches throughout Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire as I did, gazing out from our house across to St Albans Abbey as I did, I did not often reflect on the stunning loveliness of our church buildings. I loved them, I worked in them, I preached in them, but I did not stop to consider the relationship between the beauty of those buildings and the beauty of God. Let me not confine myself to Herts and Beds. Think of any of the countless thousands of our churches in these islands: the medieval glass in Fairford, the soaring perpendicular of Patrington in Holderness, the grace of St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol, the racy, provocative carving at Kilpeck in Herefordshire, the strange carvings on the font at Melbury Bubb (what a glorious name for a village in Dorset), and whilst still in Dorset, the windows etched by Lawrence Whistler at Moreton, or more prosaically, the graffiti at Ashwell in Hertfordshire concerning the Plague and a design for old St Paul’s.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, Anglican Provinces, Architecture, Art, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, England / UK, History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Religion & Culture, Theology

Evensong service creates peaceful environment in Calgary Anglican church

Christ Church in Calgary is one of a very few Anglican churches in Western Canada that continues the practice of holding the service of Choral Evensong on a regular basis.

Its final one for this year will be held Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

“Choral Evensong is a quiet, reflective service of sacred choral music with readings from the Bible,” says Margaret Newman, director of music for the church located at 3602 8th St. S.W.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, Anglican Church of Canada, Anglican Provinces, Canada, Church History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture

(CNS) At Amman Mass, pope calls on Christians to promote peace

Celebrating Mass on his first day in the Holy Land, Pope Francis said hope for peace in a region torn by sectarian conflicts comes from faith in God.

“The way of peace is strengthened if we realize that we are all of the same stock and members of one human family, if we never forget that we have the same heavenly father and are all his children, made in his image and likeness,” the pope said May 24 in his homily at Amman’s International Stadium.

“Diversity of ideas and persons should not trigger rejection or prove an obstacle, for variety always enriches,” he told the congregation of some 30,000 people. “We ought, therefore, to show concrete signs of humility, fraternity, forgiveness and reconciliation.

“Peace is not something which can be bought,” the pope said. “It is a gift to be sought patiently and to be crafted through the actions, great and small, of our everyday lives.”

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, * Religion News & Commentary, Globalization, Inter-Faith Relations, Islam, Israel, Jordan, Judaism, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Middle East, Muslim-Christian relations, Other Churches, Other Faiths, Pope Francis, Religion & Culture, Roman Catholic, Spirituality/Prayer, Syria, Violence

The Amazing Rock-Cut Churches of Lalibela

Recently I came upon…[a] photo of worshippers gathered for Mass in Ethiopia…“WHAT?” I thought. “Where is this?!”

And so began my research into the fantastic rock-cut underground churches in Lalibela.

In the twelfth century, King Lalibela, a member of the Zagwe dynasty which had seized the throne of Ethiopia around 1000 A.D., sought support from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. To garner support, he commissioned a series of twelve extraordinary churches in the small town of Roha (now renamed Lalibela). He hoped to create a New Jerusalem, a pilgrimage site for Christians who could not make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * International News & Commentary, Africa, Church History, Ethiopia, Liturgy, Music, Worship

St Paul’s Anglican Church in Monaco gears up for worship in the midst of the Grand Prix

St Paul’s Anglican Church in Monaco is getting geared up for a busy few days. On Sunday 25 May normal services of worship are being curtailed as the roads of the Principality will be taken over by the Grand Prix so worshippers are being encouraged to pray early by attending the 8am service on that day.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, Anglican Provinces, Church of England (CoE), Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Sports, Urban/City Life and Issues

Albert Mohler–Why So Many Churches Hear So Little of the Bible

“It is well and good for the preacher to base his sermon on the Bible, but he better get to something relevant pretty quickly, or we start mentally to check out.” That stunningly clear sentence reflects one of the most amazing, tragic, and lamentable characteristics of contemporary Christianity: an impatience with the Word of God.

The sentence above comes from Mark Galli, senior managing editor of Christianity Today in an essay entitled, “Yawning at the Word.” In just a few hundred words, he captures the tragedy of a church increasingly impatient with and resistant to the reading and preaching of the Bible. We may wince when we read him relate his recent experiences, but we also recognize the ring of truth.

Galli was told to cut down on the biblical references in his sermon.

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Ministry of the Laity, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Theology, Theology: Scripture

(NYT Upshot) Americans Claim to Attend Church Much More Than They Do

The United States has long been unusually religious for an affluent, industrialized Western nation ”” in survey after survey, Americans report relatively high levels of belief in God, affiliation with religious institutions and participation in worship services.

But counting churchgoers has always been a bit tricky. Some congregations tend to over-report attendance, seeking to demonstrate vitality. Others are more scrupulous, especially in denominations where churches pay assessments based on size. And it’s been evident for years that Americans tend to overstate their own religiosity: There is a persistent gap between the number of people who claim to go to worship services and the number who can actually be counted in pews.

The gap grows more striking as America becomes more secular. In recent years, poll after poll has found more Americans who do not identify with a religious tradition, and many denominations show evidence of decline. And yet, Americans continue to report high levels of belief and participation

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Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, America/U.S.A., Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Sociology

Roman Catholic Bishop of Richmond, Va.: Parishioners should switch to different church

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo has urged Roman Catholics attending a one-of-a-kind Catholic and Episcopal church to worship at a nearby parish because he has not been able to find a “suitable priest” to serve the blended congregation.

It was the latest round of adversity for a church that has battled to maintain its ecumenical mission in the face of flagging support in the Catholic hierarchy.

In a letter read Sunday to members of the Church of the Holy Apostles, DiLorenzo noted that the 36-year-old congregation’s interim Catholic priest is in poor health and has been unable to serve consistently.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Religion News & Commentary, Ecumenical Relations, Episcopal Church (TEC), Liturgy, Music, Worship, Other Churches, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Roman Catholic, Theology

Radio NZ Interviews Archbishop Philip Richardson on the Synod decision

What does “recognise” mean?

Listen to it all (about 4 1/2 minutes). You may read more Philip Richardson there.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, Anglican Provinces, Anthropology, Australia / NZ, Ethics / Moral Theology, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion), Theology, Theology: Scripture

(ABC Aus.) Discovering the treasures of Bathurst's Anglican cathedral

The current-day church sits on the same patch of land as the original cathedral when it was built in 1848.

“Unfortunately in this area, there’s a river bed right down low and the old cathedral didn’t have good enough foundations,” says the co-ordinator of the cathedral’s guides, Lalage Gabb.

“In 1895 they decided to put heating in and they put in a furnace below ground, which dried-out the clay and caused the old cathedral to crack.

“In 1911, the Bishop wanted to replace the cathedral. If the present occupational health and safety laws had been in, the cathedral would’ve been closed because it was dropping bits off it,” she says.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * International News & Commentary, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Provinces, Australia / NZ, Church History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry

Same-sex blessings in S.C. Midlands and Upstate Episcopal congregations to be permitted

The leader of Midlands and Upstate Episcopalians told clergy Thursday he will permit congregations to perform blessings of same-sex couples, a decision reached after two years of intense theological discussions with pastors and parishioners.

The Rt. Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, said no clergy would be required to perform the rite. He said he will support all 61 of his congregations whether they choose to carry out the blessing ritual or not.

Read it all from The State newspaper.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * South Carolina, Anthropology, Episcopal Church (TEC), Ethics / Moral Theology, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion), TEC Bishops, Theology, Theology: Scripture

(Fulcrum) Andrew Goddard–Same-sex marriage, clergy and the canons

If the analysis above is accepted then the situation seems to be as follows. Those clergy who marry someone of the same sex believe they should live in accordance with canon C26 and that they are doing so and that their problem is simply with canon B30. However, the general category of “according to the doctrine of Christ” in C26 has within the canons one very clear specification ”“ the definition of marriage in B30. This is the canon that, in a form of conscientious ecclesial disobedience, they are not only questioning and asking the church to reconsider but actively contradicting by their actions. I think this raises three key questions.

First, can the clergy concerned (and those supportive of them) recognise that given this situation they have a responsibility to seek an urgent change to canon B30?

A clergyperson’s decision to enter a same-sex marriage is, in effect, a demand that canon B30 be amended. The logic of their actions, whether consciously or not, is that they are attempting to bring about a change in that canon’s definition of marriage. At its weakest this would involve removing the claim of dominical authority for the definition of marriage (arguably allowing those who disregard it to put themselves on the same footing as those who disregard other canons). More likely it would entail a new definition or a removal of any definition of marriage.

What is interesting, and of concern, is that despite this being the logical implication of the actions there has, as far as I am aware, been no serious attempt to change the canon by due process and very little sustained theological critique or development of an alternative wording.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, --Civil Unions & Partnerships, Anglican Provinces, Anthropology, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Ethics / Moral Theology, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Marriage & Family, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion), Theology, Theology: Scripture

Did Everyone Happen to Catch what was Actually in the funeral Service for Mark Shand?

Singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, who had flown in from the US especially for the funeral, played an acoustic version of his 1970 hit Wild World.

Family friend Otis Irwin addressed the guests before the second hymn Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.

Renowned photographer Don McCullin, a close friend of Mr Shand’s, read a tribute while Ben Elliot read an extract from Mr Shand’s book Travels on My Elephant.

A choir sang Somewhere from Westside Story before Ayesha Shand made her own tribute.

The final hymn was The Lord of the Dance and the guests exited the church to The Elephant Song from Disney film The Jungle Book.

Read it all from the Telegraph.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, * International News & Commentary, Anglican Provinces, Church of England (CoE), Death / Burial / Funerals, England / UK, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Politics in General, Religion & Culture

Robert Cottrill–Today in 1865–Peace, Troubled Soul sung

This hymn, written by Samuel Ecking, was performed by a 250 member choir on this date at the State House in Springfield, Illinois. The body of assassinated president Abraham Lincoln lay in state, and the song was sung just before the casket was closed and taken to the cemetery.

There is a thoughtful message in the words that applies to all our times of distress and sorrow.

Read the lyrics carefully.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Church History, Liturgy, Music, Worship

Easter Song, 2nd Chapter of Acts

Watch and listen to it all–live from 1987 from the original writers of the song.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Easter, Liturgy, Music, Worship

Music For Easter Morning””Since By Man Came Death from Handel’s Messiah

Take the time to listen to it all from the Oxford Philomusica.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Christology, Church History, Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Easter, Eschatology, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Theology

Music for Holy Saturday: Let all mortal flesh keep silence from Somerville College, Oxford's Choir

Listen to it all. You may find the words below (Note especially the third stanza):
Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood;
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six winged seraph,
Cherubim with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Holy Week, Liturgy, Music, Worship

(RNS) What did Jesus do on Holy Saturday?

“The single argument in its favor seems to be that it has been around so long,” [Wayne] Grudem, a professor at Phoenix Seminary in Arizona, writes in his Systematic Theology, a popular textbook in evangelical colleges. “But an old mistake is still a mistake.”

Grudem, like [John] Piper, has said that he skips the phrase about Jesus’ descent when reciting the Apostles’ Creed.
But the harrowing of hell remains a central tenet of Eastern Orthodox Christians, who place an icon depicting the descent at the front of their churches as Saturday night becomes Easter Sunday. It remains there, venerated and often kissed, for 40 days.

“The icon that represents Easter for us is not the empty cross or tomb,” said Peter Bouteneff, a theology professor at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, N.Y. “It’s Christ’s descent into Hades.”

Read it all.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Christology, Church History, Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Eschatology, Holy Week, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Theology, Theology: Scripture

Kings College Cambridge Chapel Choir: Faure Pie Jesu and Agnus Dei

Listen to it all.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, Christology, Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, England / UK, History, Holy Week, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Music, Theology

Johnny Cash & The Carter Family – Were You There (1960)

Watch and listen to it all.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, America/U.S.A., Christology, Church History, History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Music, Religion & Culture, Theology

J.S. Bach: "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" (Choir of King's College, Cambridge)

Listen to it all.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Holy Week, Liturgy, Music, Worship

(AP) Christians in the Holy Land re-enact crucifixion of Christ on Good Friday

Christians in the Holy Land are commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Good Friday prayers and processions through Jerusalem’s Old City.

Thousands of Christian pilgrims filled the cobblestone alleyways of the Old City on Friday along the Via Dolorosa, Latin for the “Way of Suffering.”

Read it all and enjoy the picture.

Posted in * Christian Life / Church Life, * International News & Commentary, * Religion News & Commentary, Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, Holy Week, Israel, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Middle East, Other Churches, Spirituality/Prayer

The Bishop of Sheffield's sermon at the 2014 Chrism Eucharist

Lift up your hearts
We lift them to the Lord

The focus of my sermon this evening is what it means to say those words and what it is to set those words at the heart of ministry.

Some of us have the immense privilege as priests of summoning a whole community to lift up their hearts in the Eucharist. But others are called no less to invite God’s people to lift up their hearts in different ways: in the ministry of the word and in the prayers, in pastoral care, in evangelism, as we lead worship or work with children or young people. This call and invitation goes right to the heart of our understanding of every kind of ministry. So what does it mean?

The words have a long and wide pedigree. They go back to the earliest descriptions of the Eucharist in the third century. They are present in the rites of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and all the churches of the Reformation as well as our own Church of England. What does it mean to say “Lift up your hearts”?

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Christian Life / Church Life, Anglican Provinces, Church of England (CoE), Church Year / Liturgical Seasons, CoE Bishops, Holy Week, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Theology