Nearly every Sunday, as confirmands are presented, I ask the rector, “Have they been adequately
prepared?” Now, I’ve been a parish priest. I’ve worked with people. I know just how fraught with
opportunities to fall short the goal of things like confirmation classes can be. “Adequately
prepared” is something of a moving target. But the Prayer Book presses on. “Dearly beloved,” I’m
required to say, “it’s essential that those who wish to be confirmed or received in this church
publicly confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior, become his disciples, know and affirm the
Nicene Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments, and have received instruction in
the Holy scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in the catechism of the church.”
I always imagine the clergy saying, “Well, I mean, yeah, they finished our eight-week new
members class.” But my deep concern is that we live in an increasingly complicated world where
living out the Christian faith has become a challenge and is often also challenged by those around
us.

My question is, are we preparing people to bear witness to the faith when it, the faith, and its
moral vision are constantly challenged? Can we say that the people in our churches are being
given the tools necessary to give an answer for the hope that they have?

From the youngest age to our oldest members, we must be in the business of teaching the Creed,
the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Holy scriptures, and the Catechism of the Church.
That we might be prepared to resist our great adversary who is always on the prowl seeking whom
he may devour. I’ll add briefly here that our ACNA catechism, To Be a Christian, is an excellent
resource. If you haven’t already, I urge you to look into it, and especially into the cottage industry
that’s grown up around it, about how to use it for instruction for all ages.

There is a wealth of material available to teach our great Catholicism. My first passion, which
births vision, is a serious commitment to Christian education.

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#SouthCarolina #Anglican Bishop Chip Edgar's Diocesan Convention address https://t.co/UHSdYyTXnn #parishministry #lowcountrylife #faith #charlestonsc #religion #anglicannews pic.twitter.com/zwZ6dhFztU

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 19, 2025

“All right, so let me say a word about the setting because it’s absolutely crucial for our purposes. At the beginning of chapter 20, it reads this way, And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord, you God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You cannot understand any of the ten commandments unless you understand this as the preface and the premise of the entire passage. Whose we are and therefore who God is, and who we are, and who we were, and what God did. God first, God at the start, God as the fundamental reality, the only non-contingent being from whom all contingent reality and being and matter comes to exist. The only reason we’re here is because God allows us to be here. The only reason that there’s something rather than nothing is because God allowed it to be.”

“The only reason there is a nation of Israel is because God came down and heard their cry, and constituted them, and brought them out. So they are God’s people. They are redeemed out of a house of slavery, and they’re going into the Promised Land, and all these things, whatever else they are, are in the context of this covenant relationship, and that saving act, and the reality that He is our God, and we are His people. Now, as if that all isn’t enough, and that’s a ton, one more thing. And that is the specific setting of this passage in the book of Exodus itself. And I just want to remind you, because when we read in chapter 20, and God spake these words, my question is simply this. In what context, in the flow of the book, are these words actually said? It’s a crucial question.”

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The Ten Commandments, 1516 #cranach #lucascranach pic.twitter.com/WCVDG4prk0

— Lucas Cranach the Elder (@ArtistCranach) March 1, 2021

“We have a lot of data to go to a permanent Standard Time,” Burman said. “So hopefully (Daylight Saving) will, in the next few years, get eliminated.”

There are biological reasons the time change is harmful, said Dr. Jigme Sethi, physician-executive for Sleep Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. The body has an internal clock that governs many functions and runs on a 24.2-hour cycle, the circadian rhythm of activity and rest. There is also a solar clock that pays attention to light and darkness and helps set the internal clock, Sethi said. When those are properly aligned, the body functions normally.

But with Daylight Saving, there is more darkness in the morning, when the body is trying to wake, and more daylight into the evening, when rest and then sleep should be coming on, Sethi said.

This can lead to immediate consequences. The number of fatal accidents increases by 6 percent the weekday after, and those accidents are more likely in the morning, according to a 2020 study. An analysis of criminal sentences handed down on the Monday after the time change found sleep-deprived judges gave out prison terms that were 5 percent longer than those on the preceding or following Mondays, one study found.

Medical errors also seem to rise soon after the time change, Sethi said.

But there are also long-term consequences, particularly for children, Burman said.

Read it all.

Daylight Saving Time is more diabolical than losing an hour of sleep, experts say https://t.co/m41qUbirkX

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) March 7, 2025

Hearing from @DrGRMcDermott at St. Luke’s #Anglican Theology Conference speak on sexual difference and how we cannot know image of God without knowing both sexes. Our bodies and relationship point to deeper reality about union with God. pic.twitter.com/nVGL7H5FmE

— Jeff Walton (@jeffreyhwalton) February 27, 2025

You may listen directly here:

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Archbishop Ben Kwashi, Bishop of Jos, General secretary of Gafcon:

Our priorities-

The primacy of scripture
The power of salvation to transform lives
The priority of evangelism and mission pic.twitter.com/0CU803Fxvi

— Gafcon (@GafconGBE) April 17, 2023

“Where does Jesus want to take us in the adventure of discipleship? Where does Jesus want to take us in the adventure of discipleship?

Every word in that question is carefully chosen. I want to focus in on that little word, adventure. Most of us don’t think of discipleship and following Jesus as an adventure, but the Bible does.

There is a great moment in Jeremiah early on in the story. Jeremiah has been called, and the Lord has known him since he was in his mother’s womb. But things have gotten started, and there have been ups and downs, and Jeremiah feels like there’s been more downs than ups. And he’s getting tired. So he prays to the Lord, and he basically says, This is getting too hard. What do you think you’re doing? Can you make it a little easier? And the Lord responds in this way, chapter 12, verse 5. If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan, (where there may be things like lions roaming around)?

“Eugene Peterson wrote a whole book on that verse and that theme. Its title is Run with the Horses, the quest for life at its best. That is the way that discipleship has been understood in the tradition that’s handed down to us. An incredible adventure, a breathtaking life of excitement and thrills, an unpredictability, a life which is full of deep purpose and faith.

Oh, it sounds like our Lord even. The glory of God, Irenaeus once said, is a human being fully alive. Well, if you want to know what God wants for humanity, look at Jesus, he’s fully alive, all the time. He’s giving life, he’s living life, he’s being life, he’s life incarnate. That’s what God wants for us.

Jesus says it this way in John 10, verse 10. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. You all with me so far? Okay, so here’s the question. How do we do that? How do we get that kind of life? How do you live a life that is an adventure of discipleship? All right, well, I appreciate you asking a question. Turn to Luke chapter 5 and this magnificent story of the miraculous catch of fish…

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where will your adventures take you today?

Richmond Park

James Kliffen pic.twitter.com/KbSmZp3QxB

— The Royal Parks (@theroyalparks) February 11, 2025

They are often called “dual diagnosis patients:” those who are in need of both mental health services and substance abuse treatment. Getting them better treatment and offering more treatment through Medicaid could help to reduce South Carolina’s high rate of opioid overdoses, officials said.

Nationally, about 35 percent of mental health patients have a dual diagnosis for substance use but under South Carolina Medicaid, it is less than 1 percent of patients. Officials say it is clearly underdiagnosed and may be due to a problem drug treatment centers have in being able to bill Medicaid for some services. The state got a $7.2 million federal grant to implement a new model that makes integrated care easier and SC Medicaid is also pursuing more than $5 million in next year’s budget to increase reimbursements.

Interim Director Eunice Medina of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicaid in South Carolina, made the need clear in her budget presentation Jan. 22. Speaking to members of the House Ways and Means Healthcare Subcommittee, she pointed to some grim statistics: South Carolina had the 10th worst opioid overdose rate in 2022 and those deaths had risen six percent from the previous year.

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More substance use treatment and mental health care through Medicaid could lower deaths https://t.co/hUD1lMpElt

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) February 3, 2025

Bishop Allison’s Book Recognized in 100 Classics The Right Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison’s most recent book, Trust in an Age of Arrogance, was recently recognized by Dr. Robert Yost, Emeritus Vice President of Academic Affairs at Charlotte Christian College and Theological Seminary, in his new book 100 Christian Classics – A Literary Bucket List for the Thoughtful Christ-Follower. Dr. Yost says, “I can guarantee that you will not be the same after reading it. You may, indeed, finish it on your knees.”

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"I started this book in an arm chair and finished it on my knees. Here is a rich treasury of insights and observations from a life well lived and thought, one that adds up to a profound and moving testimony to the wonder of the gospel and God's grace." –Os Guinness #books… pic.twitter.com/HkhnDyj7Rh

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) February 4, 2025

(Received via email-KSH).

To the Rectors and Vicars of the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina,

The Lord’s Table is not ours. It is a gift given to the Church, instituted by Christ himself as a means of grace, a participation in his body and blood, and a foretaste of the Heavenly Banquet of Revelation 19. Changing its form is no light matter; what we do reflects what we believe about God and his Church.

In centuries past, the Church—universally—shared this sacred meal in a way that reflected its unity and holiness. Wine, as ordained by Christ, was drunk, as ordained by Christ, from a common cup, signifying one sacrifice for one body. This was not mere tradition, but a theological proclamation: that we, though many, are one Body, and that his blood cleanses and sustains us all.

The Common Cup in the Life of the Church

The well-intended innovations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries began to erode this sacred symbolism. Driven by fears of human frailty—whether the moral frailty addressed by the Temperance Movement or the physical frailty feared in the spread of disease—some departed from the elements and methods instituted by Christ.

The introduction of grape juice (Dr Welch’s Unfermented Wine, 1869) and individual communion cups (churches in Denmark, circa 1910) were pragmatic responses to perceived threats—at the expense of good theology.

Anglicans resisted these changes for principled reasons. The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886/1888 reminds us of the essential elements of our faith, including the sacraments administered “with unfailing use of Christ’s words of institution and of the elements ordained by him.”  Wine drunk from the common cup is not simply a matter of preference; it is a faithful enactment of the sacrament as Christ gave it to us. 

The Reverence Due the Sacrament

In the sacrament, ordinary elements are consecrated—set apart to a holy purpose—to communicate God’s grace to his people. Regardless of how one interprets the mystery of “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” it is a profound truth that the consecrated elements are no longer common bread and wine. They are holy, and they must be handled accordingly.

This reverence extends not only to their reception but also to their disposal. What remains after Communion must not be treated as ordinary waste. It must be consumed, reserved for pastoral use, or reverently returned to the earth (the piscina for example), reflecting the honor due to the sacrament and aligning with the Reformation’s rejection of practices like Eucharistic Adoration (Article XXV).

The use of disposable, individualized communion kits complicates this reverence. It introduces a casualness that obscures the sacred. It fragments the unity of the Body by reducing the shared cup to a collection of individual portions. It is, in short, a compromise that diminishes what the sacrament is meant to proclaim.

A Post-COVID Restoration

The recent pandemic compelled us to make difficult decisions. In the face of uncertainty, many of us adapted practices to ensure the continuation of our Eucharistic life. But as the crisis has passed, we must now return to the practices that most faithfully express the theology of Holy Communion. The sacrament is not ours to adapt due to fear; it is Christ’s gift to his Church, and requires our fidelity.

Even though the COVID crisis is behind us, some still feel hesitant about returning to the shared cup. Let’s not allow misplaced fears to lead us astray. The CDC has confirmed that no disease transmission has ever been traced to the common cup. (Managan L, Sehulster L, Chiarelo L, Simonds D, Jarvis W. Risk of infectious disease transmission from a common communion cup. Am J Infect Contr 1998;26: 538e9.)  In fact, intinction—dipping the bread into the cup—theoretically poses a greater risk for contamination than sharing the cup. More than that, though, our fidelity to Christ’s command to “drink this” is a part of the Eucharistic mystery—we are sharing Christ’s meal as Christ’s body—that should not be avoided.

The Path Forward

I will no longer permit the use of individualized communion kits (the little cup of juice or wine with a wafer on top). And I encourage you to reduce the use of intinction as on par with sharing the common cup. Encourage parishioners to share the common cup as both obedient to the clear teaching of Christ, and, in fact, the more hygienic method of distribution. Multiple stations allow the efficient administration of Communion, but all stations must be visibly tied to the consecration of the elements at the altar.

This transition will require patience and teaching. The common cup is not a trivial matter of tradition; it is a visible sign of our unity in Christ and of his abiding presence with us. The table of the Lord is a place of peace where God’s grace is communicated, and we are united in Christ’s meal as his Body.

The table of the Lord is not ours to reshape but his to give; we approach it with humility, faithfulness, and joy, proclaiming the mystery of Christ’s death until he comes again.

Blessings,

(The Rev. Rev.) Chip Edgar, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of SC

Therefore, rejecting modernist revisions of Orthodoxy, let us draw near to Holy Communion with fear of God and faith, holding fast to the teachings once and for all delivered to all the Saints. pic.twitter.com/Z4JGZH7mtY

— Maksimologija (@maksimologija) January 26, 2025

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#Candlemas is also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ.

The Sienese painter Duccio placed the Presentation at the centre of the predella of the huge altarpiece commissioned for Siena Cathedral in 1311. pic.twitter.com/FcKwEpIJ5k

— The Visual Commentary on Scripture (@TheVCS) February 2, 2025

Let us take them each in their turn. We want to begin with verses 14 and 15. So first of all, the surprise of Jesus’ ministry. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. Luke is at great pains to get us to understand that the same Spirit that led him to be tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days is the same Spirit that is leading him to do this. It’s the same Spirit that came down when the father’s voice said at his baptism, this is my son with whom I’m well pleased. He’s led by the Spirit. This is a depiction of the Spirit led life. And what needs to strike you about this scene is word is getting out about this guy. We can just capitalize on last week’s sermon about that wedding in Cana. Remember that most of the people at the wedding didn’t even really know what was going on at the time. But believe me, that was the best wine anybody ever had. And after that, everybody in Cana of Gallile was talking about him. And they didn’t just talk about him there. 

They talked about him when they went along the road, and when they visited relatives, and word is getting around. So if we look at Mark chapter 1, Jesus is preaching, Jesus is teaching, Jesus is healing people of demons, Jesus is healing people of physical diseases, and the word is out about this guy, and there’s a real buzz. At the end of Mark chapter 1, talk about capturing the idea, Jesus has done a whole day’s ministry, he’s completely exhausted, the disciples can’t find him, so they go find him. He’s out by himself at a lonely place where he’s praying, and when they get to him, they say this, how’s this for an advertisement? Everyone is looking for you. 

It’s stunning, the level of surprise that we’re meant to have as we get our early depiction of our Lord’s ministry. And please note, look at your text carefully, the repetition of that little word, all. Twice. All the surrounding country, and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all. And even though it isn’t in our reading today, it’s only the next verse down. I’m going to cheat a little bit because it’s also part of Luke’s narrative.

At the end of all this in verse 22, just in case we missed the first two alls, there is yet another all–‘And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.’

“This is an amazing ministry. It’s full of popular interest, intrigue, curiosity, and excitement. This is the way that ministry is supposed to be. To glorify means to honor, to praise. It’s a word that means heaviness, and it means that they can’t fully express the heaviness and the weight of Christ’s character because they’re so amazed and stunned by the level of what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. They have no categories for this guy. It’s fresh, it’s stunning, it’s marvelous, it’s surprising. Everybody with me? So surprising Jesus, who’s done all these surprising things, comes to his own synagogue. Hmm, I wonder what’s going to happen.” 

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Gerbrand van den Eeckhout
Christ Teaching in the Synagogue at Nazareth pic.twitter.com/EhZW8EqAwD

— PubHist (@Pub_Hist) April 30, 2022

Lowcountry residents woke up Jan. 22 to a relatively unfamiliar sight and sound — a healthy blanket of snow and the silence it brought. But that hush quickly changed to the sounds of laughter and the crunch of snow under foot and tire — and, in some cases, makeshift sled — as a region got out and about in the winter wonderland.  

While many across the state frolicked, local officials took a more somber tone, warning people to keep off the roads and that disruptions due to dangerously cold temperatures could continue at least into Jan. 23.

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Sledding, snowball fights and snow angels: #southcarolina coast revels in a rare winter wonderland https://t.co/4IxKY7epHo #winterstorm #weather #snow #lowcountrylife

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 23, 2025

Support ARDF Wildfire Relief Efforts

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The Latest Edition of the #Anglican Diocese of #SouthCarolina Enewsletter https://t.co/rkmkTXtE32 #parishmninistry #communication #faith pic.twitter.com/WNcxbnlLzk

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) January 21, 2025

“First of all, it’s a party. We could just spend the rest of the morning on this. God likes parties. You do know that. Heaven is going to be one big party. Jesus liked parties. Jesus was a party animal. He went to lots of them. He told stories about parties. He was a very fun guy to be with. Who do you think made monkeys? God or Satan? I sometimes say to people and they look at me like I’m funny. But you can’t really look at a monkey for very long without starting to laugh. It’s part of God’s creation. God has a magnificent sense of humor. So did Jesus. He was a fun guy. It’s why he attracted so many crowds so often in so many circumstances. And it’s a very ordinary wedding in a very ordinary town, in the town of Cana, some nine miles north of Nazareth where he grew up. And it’s an environment where his family seems to be familiar.”

You may listen directly here

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For the day that’s in it. Veronese’ wedding at Cana, how many times have we stared at this painting only because it is in the same room as a young Miss Gioconda. pic.twitter.com/GU461bPNqW

— Alan O’Neill (@ApmNeill) January 19, 2025

As blazes raged across Los Angeles, Berkeley County officials were wrapping up a new plan that could help local residents and leaders deal with wildfires.

They might need it soon.

Berkeley is simultaneously one of the fastest-growing and most fire-susceptible counties in the state — a vulnerability that could grow in the near future as climate change spurs more severe droughts and drier conditions.

“Us folks in the wildland business, we’ve been seeing climate change coming for a long time,” said Andy Johnson, the S.C. Forestry Commission’s fire prevention coordinator for the Coastal Plain.

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Berkeley County is one of the fastest-growing areas in SC, and one of the most wildfire-prone https://t.co/5WpzpEkPPv

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) January 13, 2025

“Happy Christmas, that’s what they say in England. I’ve always loved it. Happy Christmas. I have a simple question for you. What does Christmas actually mean? Gonna go right down the middle of the plate, right for the jugular this morning. What does it actually mean? And can I just start out by observing with you that we’ve been given a tradition, we stand on the shoulders of people who’ve come before us, they’ve given us the church, the church has a liturgical calendar, and in the wisdom of the church and the liturgical calendar, Christmas is a 12-day season. Sometimes it even has two Sundays like this season. And the reason it’s a 12-day season is because it’s so super significant, we need time to fully try to think through some of what it means, which is what we’re going to try to do this morning. So here’s what I’m going to say. That it happened, how it happened, and why it happened. What does Christmas mean? It happened, how did it happen, why did it happen? You all with me? All right, ready, set, go. First of all, that it happened….

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London's National Gallery has restored Piero della Francesca's Nativity. The painting is unfinished and was damaged in the past: notably the faces of the two shepherds on the right have been erased. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/r6BiFjebmU

— Rembrandt's Rm (@RembrandtsRoom) December 22, 2023

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“The Annunciation” (1652) by Eustache Le Sueur at the Louvre pic.twitter.com/WNlYXKvrcp

— Ryan (@alwaysonoffense) March 25, 2021