Category : * Christian Life / Church Life

Another prayer for the day from Harold Riley

O Lord Jesus Christ, who on this day didst wash thy disciples’ feet, leaving us an example of humble service: Grant that our souls may be washed from all defilement, and that we fail not to serve thee in the least of thy brethren; who livest and reignest for ever and ever.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from Prayers for the Christian Year

O Lord Jesus Christ, enthroned in the majesty of heaven, who, when thou camest forth from God, didst make thyself as one that serveth: We adore thee because thou didst lay aside the garment of thy glory, and gird thyself with lowest humility, and minister to thy disciples, washing their feet. Teach us to know what thou hast done and to follow thine example; deliver us from pride, jealousy and ambition, and make us ready to be subject one to another, and with lowliness to serve one another for thy sake, O Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Bible Readings

And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the passover?” And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the passover with my disciples?’ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover.

And when it was evening he came with the twelve. And as they were at table eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be sorrowful, and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” He said to them, “It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. For the Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

–Mark 14:12-25

Posted in Holy Week, Theology: Scripture

Another Prayer for Today from the American Prayerbook

Assist us mercifully with thy help, O Lord God of our salvation, that we may enter with joy upon the meditation of those mighty acts whereby thou hast given us life and immortality; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

(Washington Post) Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate who changed the way we think about thinking, dies at 90

Daniel Kahneman, an Israeli American psychologist and best-selling author whose Nobel Prize-winning research upended economics — as well as fields ranging from sports to public health — by demonstrating the extent to which people abandon logic and leap to conclusions, died March 27. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by his stepdaughter Deborah Treisman, fiction editor at the New Yorker. She did not say where or how he died.

Dr. Kahneman’s research was best known for debunking the notion of “homo economicus,” the “economic man” who since the epoch of Adam Smith was considered a rational being who acts out of self-interest. Instead, Dr. Kahneman found, people rely on intellectual shortcuts that often lead to wrongheaded decisions that go against their own best interest.

These misguided decisions occur because humans “are much too influenced by recent events,” Dr. Kahneman once said. “They are much too quick to jump to conclusions under some conditions and, under other conditions, they are much too slow to change.”

Read it all.

Posted in * Economics, Politics, Anthropology, Books, Death / Burial / Funerals, Education, History, Israel, Psychology, Sports, Theology

A Prayer for the day from A. McCheane

O Lord, who didst spend this day in quiet retreat at Bethany, in preparation for thy coming passion: Help us ever to live mindful of our end; that when thou shalt call us to pass through the valley of the shadow of death, we may fear no evil, for thou art with us, who didst die that we might live with thee for ever.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

(Church Times) Millions given to help revitalise Kent churches

Parishes in Margate, in Canterbury diocese, rated as one of the most deprived areas in the country, are among the recipients of the latest tranche of Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment (SMMI) funding.

In total, the diocese has been awarded £3.2 million for a five-year programme of church-planting, or setting up new congregations and revitalisation, it was announced on Friday.

SMMI is a new funding stream through which the Archbishops’ Council allocates funding to dioceses…. It replaces Strategic Development Funding (SDF), Strategic Capacity Funding, and Strategic Transformation Funding. It includes a £340-million Diocesan Investment Programme for the current triennium (2023-25), comprising a £100-million of Lowest Income Communities Funding…, and a remaining £240 million fund for which all dioceses can bid. Bids must be in line with the priorities of the overarching Vision and Strategy priorities for the 2020s.

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England, Evangelism and Church Growth, Parish Ministry, Stewardship

Kendall Harmon’s 2024 Palm Sunday Sermon: Do we See what is Really Happening right in front of us on this day (Mark 11:1-11)?

You may listen directly here
or you may download it on spotify there.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * By Kendall, * South Carolina, Christology, History, Holy Week, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Preaching / Homiletics, Sermons & Teachings, Theology, Theology: Scripture

A Prayer for the day from the American Prayer Book

Lord God, whose blessed Son, our Saviour, gave his back to the smiters, and hid not his face from shame: Grant us grace to take joyfully the sufferings of the present time, in full assurance of the glory that shall be revealed; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

The Next Bishop of Burnley will be the Rev. Dr Joe Kennedy

A priest who has broad experience of both chaplaincy and teaching, as well as in the ministering and leading of others to help God’s church to grow, has been chosen as the next Suffragan Bishop of Burnley.

Edinburgh-born Rev. Dr Joseph Kennedy, 55, is currently Vicar of Oxton St Saviour in the Diocese of Chester.

He was educated at Edinburgh University (Mathematics and Theology) and then Oxford University where he trained for ordination; later beginning his ministry in Oxford Diocese.

The Bishop-designate is married to Emily who is Head of External Financial Reporting for Oxfam and they have two children: David, 13 and Mary, 7.

Read it all.

Posted in Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry

(First Things) Carl R. Trueman–We have to Face our Anthropological Crisis Squarely in the Face

I had not read Thielicke for many years until I recently discovered a book of his that I had never heard of: Nihilism: Its Origin and Nature, with a Christian Answer. This work is stunning, for it identifies the problem at the center of our contemporary culture: a collapse in the cultural consensus about what it means to be human. The book’s context is the anthropological challenges posed by Nazism and Marxism in the twentieth century, but its argument offers insights for today.

At the heart of the problems of his day Thielicke saw the rejection of two basic principles: the idea that human beings had an end, a telos; and the notion that limits were good. In short, what it meant to be human was up for grabs. In practice, this made human beings anything that their will could achieve, given the technological possibilities available in any given time or place. And that was a key component of nihilism.

We have witnessed amazing technological advances since the 1940s. The transformation of humanity from a given, limited, teleological essence to a potency whose limits and ends are merely technical problems to be overcome is now complete (at least in the cultural imagination). Ironically, human technical brilliance has served to make human beings into nothing of any great significance. We are the only creatures on the planet who are intelligent and intentional enough to have abolished ourselves.

Read it all.

Posted in Anthropology, Church History, Germany, History, Philosophy, Secularism, Theology

Still Another Prayer for the day from the American BCP

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

Another Prayer for the day from A. McCheane

O Lord, who by thy word didst cause the barren fig tree to wither from the roots: Suffer us not by our fruitlessness to incur thy condemnation; but grant us grace to repent and obey thee while yet there is time; for thy mercy’s sake.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

(CT) Ruth Jackson–Why Every Day This Week Is Holy

As a child, my twin and I would often stage elaborate bake-offs during the school holidays. One year, I made an Easter cake with three chocolate crosses and a crown of thorns. I drowned these elements in large pools of jammy blood.

Sure, it was gratuitously gruesome—and I’m not surprised my sister’s saccharine fluffy chick cupcakes were the favored choice. But from an early age, I have shirked the propensity to avoid the grittiness of Easter. To me, its bloodiness is the very reason the Cross brings so much hope.

Many Christians around the world will celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend to commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Some 2,000 years ago, crowds of Jews laid out palm branches on public streets to welcome their “Messiah”—the conquering king who they believed would overthrow the Roman government and liberate them from its hostile occupation.

While many oppressed people today still desperately need this kind of physical deliverance, Jesus’ journey did not end there. Instead, his road to Jerusalem culminated in the Cross, which brought an entirely different kind of liberation.

Read it all.

Posted in Holy Week, Theology

A Prayer for the day from James M Todd

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst cleanse the temple courts, and didst teach, saying, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations: Cleanse thy Church, we beseech thee, of all evil, and so sanctify it by thy saving grace, that in all the world thy people may offer unto thee true and acceptable worship; for thy name’s sake.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

Prayers for the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina This Day

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * South Carolina, Ministry of the Laity, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from the ACNA Prayerbook

Almighty and everlasting God, in your tender love for us you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon himself our nature, and to suffer death upon the Cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and come to share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Posted in Holy Week, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Gregory the Illuminator

Almighty God, who willest to be glorified in thy saints, and didst raise up thy servant Gregory the Illuminator to be a light in the world, and to preach the Gospel to the people of Armenia: Shine, we pray thee, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth thy praise, who hast called us out of darkness into thy marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Posted in Armenia, Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from the German Reformed Church

Almighty and most merciful God, who hast given thy Son to die for our sins and to obtain eternal redemption for us through his own blood: Let the merit of his spotless sacrifice, we beseech thee, purge our consciences from dead works to serve thee, the living God, that we may receive the promise of eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory, world without end.

Posted in Lent, Spirituality/Prayer

(Providence) Antonio Graceffo–Nigeria’s Christian Repression Continues

Gunmen in Nigeria opened the New Year 2024 by killing 14 Christians on their way home from a midnight church service. The attack rocked the country’s Christian community, still reeling from a Christmas Eve massacre that claimed the lives of 130 believers. These attacks are just the latest in a disturbing trend of increasing violence against Christians in Nigeria, which some are calling a genocide.

Since the year 2000, 62,000 Christians have been murdered in Nigeria, prompting President Trump to place Nigeria on its list of violators of religious freedom. Biden removed Nigeria from the list, and last year alone, more than 8,000 Christians were killed.

In a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, between January 2022 and January 2023, 8,400 Christians were abducted, 840 of whom never returned alive from captivity. Many of these abductions have been attributed to the military and the police, some to Islamic Terror Jihadists, while others have been attributed to Fulani militias, who are also accused of having killed 600 captives. Priests and seminarians have been abducted, churches destroyed, Christian communities have been sacked, and millions of Christians and targeted Muslims have been displaced, either becoming internally displaced people (IDPs) or crossing international borders to become refugees.

Read it all.

Posted in Death / Burial / Funerals, Military / Armed Forces, Nigeria, Terrorism, Violence

A Prayer for the Feast Day of James Dekoven

Almighty and everlasting God, the source and perfection of all virtues, who didst inspire thy servant James de Koven to do what is right and to preach what is true: Grant that all ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may afford to thy faithful people, by word and example, the knowledge of thy grace; 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, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from Saint Richard of Chichester

Thanks be to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which thou hast given us, for all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for us. O most merciful Redeemer, Friend and Brother, may we know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, now and for evermore.

Posted in Lent, Spirituality/Prayer

Martin Davie–Geographical Episcopacy – A Further Response To Charlie Bell

The provincial proposal being advocated by CEEC and the Alliance would involve the exercise of geographical episcopacy as it would involve bishops having responsibility for particular geographical areas. I have previously made this point in a theoretical description of what a conservative third province (the ‘Province of Mercia’) might look like.

‘Like the existing provinces of Canterbury and York, the new province would consist of parishes, deaneries, archdeaconries and dioceses. The number of dioceses that would initially be formed would obviously depend on how many parishes opted to join the new province, but one possible pattern would be for there to initially be four dioceses, one in the Southwest, one in the South and Southeast, one in the Midlands and East Anglia, and one in the North. Chaplaincies in Europe would come under the diocese for the South and Southeast.

Each diocese would initially have one bishop and one of these would be the archbishop of the province. There would be no fixed archiepiscopal diocese and the office of archbishop would subsequently be held by the senior bishop of the province.

A parish church in each diocese would be the cathedral. This would contain the bishop’s chair and would be used for diocesan services such as the enthronement of the bishop, ordinations, and the renewal of ordination vows on Maundy Thursday. The diocese would be named after the location of the cathedral and the incumbent would carry the title Dean. There would be no cathedral chapter and when not being used for diocesan services the cathedral would act as a normal parish church.’

As can be clearly seen in this description the geographical nature of episcopacy would be maintained in such a provincial arrangement. Bell’s suggestion that the geographical nature of the episcopate precludes a provincial solution is therefore mistaken.

Read it all.

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, - Anglican: Analysis, Church of England (CoE), CoE Bishops, Ecclesiology, England / UK, Ethics / Moral Theology, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Same-sex blessings, Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion), Stewardship, Theology

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Thomas Ken

Almighty God, who didst give to thy servant Thomas Ken grace and courage to bear witness to the truth before rulers and kings: Give us also thy strength that, following his example, we may constantly defend what is right, boldly reprove what is evil, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from the Scottish Prayerbook

O God, who by the cross and passion of thy Son Jesus Christ didst save and deliver mankind: Grant that by steadfast faith in the merits of that holy sacrifice we may find help and salvation, and may triumph in the power of his victory; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Posted in Lent, Spirituality/Prayer

(Lifeway) Hispanic Protestant Pastors Face Unique Congregational and Community Needs

Pastors of Hispanic Protestant churches in the United States maintain immense gratitude for their role, but many face financial struggles. Their congregations reflect diverse worship styles, but they have a unified desire to reach and serve their communities.

Lifeway Research partnered with numerous denominations and church networks to survey Hispanic Protestant pastors in the United States for a study sponsored by Lifeway Recursos, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. This study follows a Lifeway Research study of U.S. Hispanic Protestant pastors last year focused on the congregations and their evangelistic outreach.

“The response from pastors and leaders about the first study we did last year was overwhelming,” said Giancarlo Montemayor, director of global publishing for Lifeway Recursos. “The goal with this second study is to dig deeper into some of the nuances of the Hispanic church in the U.S., such as worship and outreach. We also wanted to pay close attention to the particular needs of the pastors serving in these communities who often struggle with cultural and political issues that are not present in an English-speaking church.”

Read it all.

Posted in Parish Ministry, Religion & Culture, Sociology

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

Merciful God, who didst call Cuthbert from following the flock to be a shepherd of thy people: Mercifully grant that we also may go without fear to dangerous and remote places, to seek the indifferent and the lost; 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

A Prayer for the day from W. E. Orchard

O God, who by the example of thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ hast taught us the greatness of true humility, and dost call us to watch with him in his passion: Give us grace to serve one another in all lowliness, and to enter into the fellowship of his sufferings; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.

Posted in Lent, Spirituality/Prayer

(Church Times) Church should value its work with toddlers more, says ministry group

The tendency to downplay the value of toddler groups has been challenged in a new booklet that highlights the vital part that they play in preparing children for school.

The booklet, It’s not ‘just’ a parent and toddler group, has been compiled by a number of organisations brought together by Dave King, the strategic director for Gather Movement, an organisation that works with churches seeking to transform communities. The group including Kids Matter, Daniel’s Den, Care for the Family, 1277, 5 Minus, and Love and Joy Ministries.

It encourages those running groups to stop prefacing references to their work with “just” (“I’m just putting out some toys”), and sets out 12 aspects of school-readiness to which the groups can contribute.

Read it all.

Posted in Children, Education, Health & Medicine, Marriage & Family, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Theology, Psychology, Religion & Culture

A Reflection on Saint Joseph the Worker by Tarcisio Giuseppe Stramare for his Feast Day

ZENIT spoke with Father Tarcisio Giuseppe Stramare of the Congregation of Oblates of Saint Joseph, director of the Josephite Movement, about Tuesday’s feast of St. Joseph the Worker….

ZENIT: What does “Gospel of work” mean?

Father Stramare: “Gospel” is the Good News that refers to Jesus, the Savior of humanity. Well, despite the fact that in general we see Jesus as someone who teaches and does miracles, he was so identified with work that in his time he was regarded as “the son of the carpenter,” namely, an artisan himself. Among many possible activities, the Wisdom of God chose for Jesus manual work, entrusted the education of his Son not to the school of the learned but to a humble artisan, namely, St. Joseph.

Read it all.

Posted in Anthropology, Church History, Labor/Labor Unions/Labor Market, Theology