Funerals are always a difficult time for family, friends and even clergy. This past weekend we buried one of the founding members of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. Not that I am unfamiliar with dealing with death, both personally and professionally, it is still a difficult time for everyone involved.

Thankfully our Book of Common Prayer provides very sound guidelines for the preparation and performance of the burial rite. These guidelines are a great comfort both to the deceased’s family as well as to the church staff responsible for the burial service.

Very early on in my ministry I was reflecting on what is communicated in our burial rite and concluded that if anything, we, as the Church, are communicating the promise found in Matthew 28:20, “…And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” One aspect of my ministry has always been the goal of trying to make our Holy Scriptures relevant and present in our everyday thoughts and actions. And, although the Burial Rite in our BCP underscores Christ’s promise to always be with us, I wondered if there was a way to communicate this promise in our liturgical actions as well.

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Almost every Episcopalian has had the opportunity to witness and share in the baptism of a child or adult during a Sunday morning worship service. Since Holy Baptism is most appropriate in the content of our Sunday morning Eucharistic celebration [See: New Baptismal Theology? Adult Baptism] one aspect of the Rite of Holy Baptism that is often overlooked, or is at least not emphasized, is the role of the congregation in this sacramental celebration. Read the rest of this entry » » » »

Long, long ago, or it seems to me, Lent was a time of sadness, reflection and repentance, when Christians felt they should suffer.  For 40 days these early church Christians ate no rich foods; no meat, cheese, eggs or even milk. However, what these early Christians did eat was fish, and they baked a special bread shaped into arms crossed, a symbol of rest and meditation as Christians sadly contemplated their sins. They called this bread Bracellae, the Latin word for “little arms.”  Read the rest of this entry » » » »

The traditional observance of Maundy Thursday, the name for the Thursday preceding Easter, is derived from the first antiphon of the ceremony of the washing of the feet, ‘mandatum novum’ (Jn. 13:34). Its special celebration in commemoration of the Lord’s Institution of the Eucharist on this day is recorded in 4th century by the Council of Hippo (393). There are two other traditional liturgical features associated with this day: the Blessing of the Holy Oils and the Reconciliation of Penitents, although the latter has long been obsolete.  Read the rest of this entry » » » »

With Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday just over a week away, I requested, as I have done since my very first parish, that all members of the congregation bring in their palms from the previous year’s Palm Sunday procession. For those members who were present on that Palm Sunday, this did not come as a surprise. During the announcement time, and also in our bulletin insert, the attendees on Palm Sunday were asked to retain their palms so that these very same palms could be used to prepare the ashes that would be imposed on Ash Wednesday. I was following a custom that has been practiced in the church for ages.  Read the rest of this entry » » » »

I guess something of a follow-up is necessary given some of the responses to my post about ‘regifting.’ [See: 'Regifting' For Christ] It appears the concept of ‘regifting’ makes some Episcopalians uncomfortable given the gift of Jesus Christ being once and for all. I don’t want to go into the theological implications of the Book of Revelation and the promise of the Second Coming and therefore want to focus of Jesus Christ as God’s gift to all believers and to the world.

The gift of Jesus Christ, having been received, is to be shared. This is what we pray at the end of every Eucharist when we, in our thanksgiving prayer, ask that we be ‘send us into the world in peace, granting us strength and courage to love and serve you’ and ‘send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.’  Read the rest of this entry » » » »

Now that the Christmas season is officially over, having celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6th which marks the end of the twelve days of Christmas, and all of the parties, dinners, gift giving and receiving including the gifts of the Magi, gift exchanges and Christmas decorations (we don’t take ours down until the Epiphany) are moved to storage or, if a real tree was used, put out for pickup or placed at a collection point for recycling, now is the time to move on, or is it?

With so much emphasis on giving and receiving just how deeply do we really understand the nature of a gift? Which poses the question, “Does a gift exist if it is not received?” As I have tried to teach, a gift does not even exist if it is not received. Sure, the gift may not be want we needed or wanted but unless we receive it, it does not exist. And that’s true of all gifts. Take the situation of a compliment. A compliment, if offered sincerely, is a gift in the form of words and opinion. And what happens so many times? “Oh, thank you” is often followed by a “but.” A person is complimented about losing weight and the response is, “but, I still have 10 more pounds to lose.” When the “but” is added what is really happening is that the opinion of the person offering the compliment is discounted. It’s almost like saying, “Thank you but I really don’t accept your opinion as having worth.” And therefore, I have not nor will not receive your gift.  Read the rest of this entry » » » »

In my last post I mentioned the various places in the celebration of the Eucharist where two or more elevations occurred in the service. (See: Elevation Is Not Adoration). But, I missed one very important elevation. Yesterday during our Sunday morning service I noticed, for the first time after all my years in the Episcopal Church and in ministry, one additional elevation that has, to my knowledge, been overlooked and therefore ignored by liturgical scholars and church goers alike. So much time and energy has been focused on the actions of the sacred ministers that we have overlooked some of the actions of the worshipers.  Read the rest of this entry » » » »

When the Eucharist is celebrated, many ceremonial actions take place which may or may not be noticed by those gathered together for worship. This is especially true in parishes that use missalettes that are constantly in flux or congregations that vary the Eucharistic Prayers from Sunday to Sunday. In these situations the worshiper’s attention is focused on the bulletin and the various books necessary to follow along in the service rather than on what is occurring at the Altar. Long gone are the days when it was possible for a worshiper to know the Eucharist by heart and never have to use a Book of Common Prayer. Therefore, many of the ceremonial actions carried out by the celebrant are unobserved but each ceremonial action carries with it a specific implication, meaning and emphasis in the hope of drawing the worshiper into a greater and deeper faith journey in and through the sacraments. One of these ceremonial actions is known as the elevation. In Eucharistic services, observed across the spectrum of liturgical practice, there are at least two times when the priest as celebrant elevates something: at the reading of the Gospel and at the consecration of the Bread and Wine.  Read the rest of this entry » » » »

Please, Lord

Grant me the graciousness

To affirm my strengths

And accept my weaknesses;

While simultaneously

Enabling me to affirm

My weaknesses

And with charity

Grant me a tolerance

Of my strengths