Category : Church History

John Calvin on Silence and Psalm 62 for Ash Wednesday

But in order to arrive at its full meaning, we must suppose that David felt an inward struggle and opposition, which he found it necessary to check. Satan had raised a tumult in his affections, and wrought a degree of impatience in his mind, which he now curbs; and he expresses his resolution to be silent. The word implies a meek and submissive endurance of the cross. It expresses the opposite of that heat of spirit which would put us into a posture of resistance to God. The silence intended is, in short, that composed submission of the believer, in the exercise of which he acquiesces in the promises of God, gives place to his word, bows to his sovereignty, and suppresses every inward murmur of dissatisfaction.

–From his commentary on the Psalms

Posted in Church History, Lent, Theology: Scripture

Dietrich Bonhoeffer for Ash Wednesday

“Confess your faults one to another” (Jas. 5:16). He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final break-through to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. This pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. so we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!

But it is the grace of the Gospel, which is so hard for the pious to understand, that it confronts us with the truth and says: You are a sinner, a great, desperate sinner; now come as the sinner that you are, to God who loves you. He wants you as you are; He does not want anything from you, a sacrifice, a work; He wants you alone. “My son, give me thine heart” (Prov. 23:26). God has come to you to save the sinner. Be glad! This message is liberation through truth. You can hide nothing from God. The mask you wear before men will do you no good before Him. He wants to see you as you are, He wants to be gracious to you. You do not have to on lying to yourself and your brothers, as if you were without sin; you can dare to be a sinner. Thank God for that; He loves the sinner but He hates sin.

–-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Posted in Anthropology, Church History, Ecclesiology, Theology: Scripture

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Paul Cuffee

Almighty God, who dost empower evangelists and preachers: Help us to proclaim thy Word with power, like thy servant Paul Cuffee, that more might come to a deeper life in thee; in the Name of thy Son Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

For Their Feast Day–(CH) John and Charles Wesley

John and Charles Wesley are among the most notable evangelists who ever lived. As young men, they formed a party which came to be derisively called Methodists, because they methodically set about fulfilling the commands of scripture. In due course they learned that works cannot save, and discovered salvation by faith in Christ. Afterward, they carried that message to all England in sermon and in song. John Wesley is credited with staving off a bloody revolution in England such as occurred in France.

Although the brothers did not set out to establish a church, the Wesleyans and the Methodists are their offspring.

Both preached, both wrote hymns. But John is more noted for his sermons and Charles for his hymns. Here we present two hymns by Charles and a sermon by John.

Read it all.

Posted in Church History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Methodist, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics

A Prayer for the Feast Day of John and Charles Wesley

Lord God, who didst inspire thy servants John and Charles Wesley with burning zeal for the sanctification of souls, and didst endow them with eloquence in speech and song: Kindle in thy Church, we beseech thee, such fervor, that those whose faith has cooled may be warmed, and those who have not known thy Christ may turn to him and be saved; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Church History, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Methodist, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint David of Wales

Almighty God, who didst call thy servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of thy mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the gospel of Christ, we may with him receive the crown of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

Posted in --Wales, Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Anna Julia Haywood Cooper

Almighty God, who didst inspire thy servant Anna Julia Haywood Cooper with the love of learning and the skill of teaching: Enlighten us more and more through the discipline of learning, and deepen our commitment to the education of all thy children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

For His Feast Day–“Love (III)” by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back 
                           Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack 
                           From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
                           If I lacked any thing.

A guest, I answered, worthy to be here:
                           Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
                           I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
                           Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame
                           Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
                           My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste m
meat:
                           So I did sit and eat.

Posted in Anthropology, Christology, Church History, Pastoral Theology, Poetry & Literature, Soteriology

A Prayer for the Feast Day of George Herbert

Our God and King, who didst call thy servant George Herbert from the pursuit of worldly honors to be a pastor of souls, a poet, and a priest in thy temple: Give unto us the grace, we beseech thee, joyfully to perform the tasks thou givest us to do, knowing that nothing is menial or common that is done for thy sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Posted in Church History, Poetry & Literature, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Photini (the Woman at the Well in John 4)

O Almighty God, whose most blessed Son didst reveal to the Samaritan woman that He is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the World; grant us to drink of the well that springeth up to everlasting life that we may worship Thee in spirit and in truth through thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of John Roberts

Almighty God, who didst raise up thy servant John Roberts to be a witness among the Shoshone and Arapahoe peoples: May we, inspired by his example and prayers, invite all people to the riches of thy grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint Matthias

O Almighty God, who into the place of Judas didst choose thy faithful servant Matthias to be of the number of the Twelve: Grant that thy Church, being delivered from false apostles, may always be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Eric Liddell

God whose strength bears us up as on mighty wings: We rejoice in remembering thy athlete and missionary, Eric Liddell, to whom thou didst bestow courage and resolution in contest and in captivity; and we pray that we also may run with endurance the race that is set before us and persevere in patient witness, until we wear that crown of victory won for us by Jesus our Savior; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in --Scotland, China, Church History, Missions, Spirituality/Prayer, Sports

A Prayer for the Feast Day of John Henry Newman

God of all wisdom, we offer thanks for John Henry Newman, whose eloquence bore witness that thy Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic, and who didst make of his own life a pilgrimage towards thy truth. Grant that, inspired by his words and example, we may ever follow thy kindly light till we rest in thy bosom, with your dear Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, where heart speaks to heart eternally; for thou livest and reignest, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Frederick Douglass

Almighty God, we bless thy Name for the witness of Frederick Douglass, whose impassioned and reasonable speech moved the hearts of people to a deeper obedience to Christ: Strengthen us also to speak on behalf of those in captivity and tribulation, continuing in the Word of Jesus Christ our Liberator; who with thee and the Holy Spirit dwelleth in glory everlasting. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

Martin Luther on his Feast Day–‘Let no man think that once he has received faith, he can presently be converted into a faultless creature’

The Apostle Paul manifests his apostolic care for the Galatians. Sometimes he entreats them, then again he reproaches them, in accordance with his own advice to Timothy: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort.” In the midst of his discourse on Christian righteousness Paul breaks off, and turns to address the Galatians. “O foolish Galatians,” he cries. “I have brought you the true Gospel, and you received it with eagerness and gratitude. Now all of a sudden you drop the Gospel. What has got into you?” Paul reproves the Galatians rather sharply when he calls them “fools, bewitched, and disobedient.” Whether he is indignant or sorry, I cannot say. He may be both. It is the duty of a Christian pastor to reprove the people committed to his charge. Of course, his anger must not flow from malice, but from affection and a real zeal for Christ. There is no question that Paul is disappointed. It hurts him to think that his Galatians showed so little stability. We can hear him say: “I am sorry to hear of your troubles, and disappointed in you for the disgraceful part you played.” I say rather much on this point to save Paul from the charge that he railed upon the churches, contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. A certain distance and coolness can be noted in the title with which the Apostle addresses the Galatians. He does not now address them as his brethren, as he usually does. He addresses them as Galatians in order to remind them of their national trait to be foolish. We have here an example of bad traits that often cling to individual Christians and entire congregations. Grace does not suddenly transform a Christian into a new and perfect creature. Dregs of the old and natural corruption remain. The Spirit of God cannot at once overcome human deficiency. Sanctification takes time. Although the Galatians had been enlightened by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of faith, something of their national trait of foolishness plus their original depravity clung to them. Let no man think that once he has received faith, he can presently be converted into a faultless creature. The leavings of old vices will stick to him, be he ever so good a Christian.

–Luther, Commentary on Galatians, Chapter 3

Posted in Church History, Theology: Scripture

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Martin Luther

O God, our refuge and our strength, who didst raise up thy servant Martin Luther to reform and renew thy Church in the light of thy word: Defend and purify the Church in our own day and grant that, through faith, we may boldly proclaim the riches of thy grace, which thou hast made known in Jesus Christ our Savior, who, with thee and the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

Bishop Festo Kivengere’s account of the Martyrdom of Ugandan Archbishop Janani Luwum

In Uganda, during the eight years in the 1970’s when Idi Amin and his men slaughtered probably half a million Ugandans, “We live today and are gone tomorrow” was the common phrase.

We learned that living in danger, when the Lord Jesus is the focus of your life, can be liberating. For one thing, you are no longer imprisoned by your own security, because there is none. So the important security that people sought was to be anchored in God.

As we testified to the safe place we had in Jesus, many people who had been pagan, or were on the fringes of Christianity, flocked to the church or to individuals, asking earnestly, “How do you prepare yourself for death?” Churches all over the country were packed both with members and seekers. This was no comfort to President Amin, who was making wild promises to Libya and other Arab nations that Uganda would soon be a Muslim country. (It is actually 80 per cent Christian)….
It became clear to us through the Scriptures that our resistance was to be that of overcoming evil with good. This included refusing to cooperate with anything that dehumanizes people, but we reaffirmed that we can never be involved in using force or weapons.

…we knew, of course, that the accusation against our beloved brother, Archbishop Janani Luwum, that he was hiding weapons for an armed rebellion, was untrue, a frame-up to justify his murder.

The archbishop’s arrest, and the news of his death, was a blow from the Enemy calculated to send us reeling. That was on February 16, 1977. The truth of the matter is that it boomeranged on Idi Amin himself. Through it he lost respect in the world and, as we see it now, it was the beginning of the end for him.

For us, the effect can best be expressed in the words of the little lady who came to arrange flowers, as she walked through the cathedral with several despondent bishops who were preparing for Archbishop Luwum’s Memorial Service. She said, “This is going to put us twenty times forward, isn’t it?” And as a matter of fact, it did.

More than four thousand people walked, unintimidated, past Idi Amin’s guards to pack St. Paul’s Cathedral in Kampala on February 20. They repeatedly sang the “Martyr’s Song,” which had been sung by the young Ugandan martyrs in 1885. Those young lads had only recently come to know the Lord, but they loved Him so much that they could refuse the evil thing demanded of them by King Mwanga. They died in the flames singing, “Oh that I had wings such as angels have, I would fly away and be with the Lord.” They were given wings, and the singing of those thousands at the Memorial Service had wings too.

–Festo Kivengere, Revolutionary Love, Chapter Nine

Posted in Church History, Church of Uganda, Death / Burial / Funerals, Liturgy, Music, Worship

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Janani Luwum

O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.O God, whose Son the Good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep: We give thee thanks for thy faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who after his Savior’s example gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Church of Uganda, Death / Burial / Funerals, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Thomas Bray

O God of compassion, who didst open the eyes of thy servant Thomas Bray to see the needs of the Church in the New World, and didst lead him to found societies to meet those needs: Make the Church in this land diligent at all times to propagate the Gospel among those who have not received it, and to promote the spread of Christian knowledge; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Posted in Church History, Missions, Spirituality/Prayer

(Anglican Way) D. N. Keane–How Viable is the Book of Common Prayer Today?

Trends in liturgical revision since the late eighteenth century have moved away from the simplicity of this approach back toward the medieval model of more movable parts and more options in the discretion of the presiding minister. The proliferation of options, rather than being freeing, paradoxically tends toward choice paralysis. ‘Having choices is actually rare in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer’, as Sam Bray and I wrote in How to Use the Book of Common Prayer. ‘Later prayer books have a huge number of choices, making them complicated to use.’ In Morning and Evening Prayer in the 1662 Prayer Book, ‘the only choices you make are about the sentences and the canticles’ and, in both of those cases, the different ‘options serve the same function in the service.’2

The simple, usable design – the commodiousness of the use, as Cranmer put it – reinforces its profitability or usefulness to the praying Christian. A simple structural pattern recurs throughout the Prayer Book: a scripture is read aloud to the assembly and they respond appropriately, in several key places, like the daily confession of sin, by simply doing just what the scripture read aloud says to do. This pattern carries a clear meta-message about the holy scriptures: that they ought to be heard, that their core message is comprehensible, and that they require humble, grateful, obedient response. By scripting the appropriate response – in this case, the confession of sin – the liturgy inculcates its users in a transformative approach to scripture reading that minimizes the risk that God’s word will be profaned.

If reducing options enhances usability then one might conclude that printing a complete service booklet for each unique service, thereby eliminating from view any options that are not used for that particular occasion, is ideal. Moreover, the booklet eliminates the need to flip to proper collect of the day, the Psalms, or look up the scriptures for the day. From the narrow point of view of usability for a novice user in one particular church service, yes, the booklet is better. But the analysis that leads to that conclusion focuses too narrowly on one particular occasion and one particular kind of user – the novice user. But the Prayer Book is not just a manual for ministers planning Sunday morning worship; it has historically served as the rule of life for all Anglicans. Our aim for novice users is not just to facilitate easy participation in one particular service on one particular Sunday, but to draw them into the Prayer Book, to facilitate their familiarity with the Prayer Book and help them discover its value beyond the Sunday morning church service. Printing complete booklets for every service puts us on a trajectory away from those goals in at least three mutually reinforcing ways.

Read it all.

Posted in --Book of Common Prayer, Church History, History, Language, Liturgy, Music, Worship, Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Theology

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Cyril and his brother Methodius

Almighty and everlasting God, who by the power of the Holy Spirit didst move thy servant Cyril and his brother Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to a hostile and divided people: Overcome, we pray thee, by the love of Christ, all bitterness and contention among us, and make us one united family under the banner of the Prince of Peace; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Church History, Language, Spirituality/Prayer

(PD) Carson Holloway-In Defense of Christian Civilization

Writing in First Things (“Against Christian Civilization,” January 2025), Paul Kingsnorth proclaims an essential truth: the Christian faith must not be instrumentalized, and must not be made into a mere tool used in the defense of any earthly social order. The temptation to this misuse of the faith is particularly powerful, Kingsnorth observes, in times of apparent social decline—such as the present. He is to be commended for exposing some recent manifestations of the error of mere “civilizational Christianity” and for reminding us that Christians must hold their faith as true and good, and not simply as useful.  

Kingsnorth also, however, makes a much more far-reaching argument about the relationship of Christianity to civilization. Here he mixes his key truth with some serious errors which call for correction. Most of his mistakes arise from a persistent spirit of exaggeration and a failure to make the distinctions necessary to do justice to the issues with which he grapples.     

“Our work,” Kingsnorth announces, “is not to ‘defend the west.’ That’s idol worship. Our work is repentance, which means transformation.” Of course, any serious Christian will agree that a sinner’s personal repentance is more important than his defense of any worldly civilization. It does not follow, however, that a call to defend the West is a manifestation of idol worship. Christians may legitimately defend some earthly arrangements—and in some cases may have a duty to defend them—on the understanding that they are good and worth preserving and without mistaking them for the supreme good. A Christian citizen who wishes to preserve the civilization to which he belongs is no more guilty of idolatry than a Christian father who wishes to protect his family from worldly ruin.

Read it all.

Posted in Anthropology, Church History, Ethics / Moral Theology, History, Religion & Culture, Theology

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Absalom Jones

Set us free, O heavenly Father, from every bond of prejudice and fear: that, honoring the steadfast courage of thy servants Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, we may show forth in our lives the reconciling love and true freedom of the children of God, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Charles Freer Andrews

Gracious God, who didst call Charles Freer Andrews to show forth thy salvation to the poor: By thy Holy Spirit inspire in us a tender concern, a passionate justice, and an active love for all people, that there may be one Body and one Spirit in Jesus Christ, our Savior; who with thee and the same Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Fanny Crosby

O God, the blessed assurance of all who trust in thee: We give thanks for thy servant Fanny Crosby, and pray that we, inspired by her words and example, may rejoice to sing ever of thy love, praising our Savior; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint Scholastica

Assist us, O God, to love one another as sisters and brothers, and to balance discipline with love and rules with compassion, according to the example shown by thy servant Scholastica; for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Josephine Margaret Bakhita

O God of Love, thou didst deliver servant Josephine Margaret Bakhita from the bondage of slavery to serve you in true freedom; by her example help us to see those enslaved among us, and work to release them from their chains. In your mercy, give to all survivors healing from their wounds and joy in their liberation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Italy, Spirituality/Prayer, Sudan

A Prayer for the Feast Day of the Martyrs of Japan

O God our Father, who art the source of strength to all thy saints, and who didst bring the holy martyrs of Japan through the suffering of the cross to the joys of life eternal: Grant that we, being encouraged by their example, may hold fast the faith that we profess, even unto death; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Church History, Death / Burial / Funerals, Japan, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Agatha of Sicily

Almighty and everlasting God, who didst strengthen thy martyr Agatha with constancy and courage: Grant us for the love of thee to make no peace with oppression, to fear no adversity, and to have no tolerance for those who wouldst use their power to abuse or exploit; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Posted in Church History, Death / Burial / Funerals, Spirituality/Prayer