“I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”.

Our Lives and the Life of the Triune God.

Caring for the Poor and the Mission of the Church.

Entrusted to the Triune God: On Baptism.

'And thou, Child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest': the Benedictus and acknowledging the Forerunner.

'For the peace and well-being of the churches': Patriots, Loyalists, and the state prayers in July 1776.

'The hedges of liberty are broken down': Duché's 1775 fast day sermon to the Continental Congress.

'The line of obedience': a 1775 sermon in Bruton Parish Church.

'Cherishing those virtuous and religious principles': Robert Smith, Patriot Anglicans, and preaching as moral reflection.Patriots, Loyalists, Anglicans: unity and accord.Fallow time, fruitful seasons: the Parish in Summer.'Not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences': The Prayer of Oblation and the Prodigal(s).For Grotius, Calvin, and Cassander: 18th century Anglicanism's eirenic reading of the Prayer Book.An error has occurred the feed is probably down.The Haven of Our Happiness: Decently Writ, XXV.We ask for God’s blessing on what we offer in this space, and pray that we might, for many years to come, continue to worship Him in the beauty of holiness. We also pray for the indecent, the un-habited, and the disoriented souls who might find a home in the Church we love so much.

We pray for the decently habited clerics in their charge to orient the people to the Kingdom of God. We give thanks to God for His abundant blessings in each of our lives, for the opportunity to publish our thoughts and opinions on our beloved Church, and for readers who engage with us in thoughtful dialogue. It is therefore in the spirit of this Ember Week that we pause to mark the changing season and celebrate. As Christ’s own, we celebrate Ember Days as a seasonal pause for thanksgiving for God’s gifts, whatever they may be. Priests and deacons are charged to connect the people from things temporal to things eternal, and by that same token, Ember Days allow us all to remember that we live by a different calendar in the Christian Church than the rest of the world. (As the photo above illustrates.) Clergy are often ordained during Ember Weeks, to serve as the stewards of these sacramental mysteries. They mark the ebb and flow of the seasons with a pause for gratitude to God – not just the transition from spring and summer’s bounty to autumn’s harvest and winter’s rest – but from our birth in baptism, to life in the Eucharist, to anointing and death. But what is compelling is the purposes for which Ember Days remain in our calendar. It’s all speculative history, mildly interesting, and you can read more about it here. They seem to have been established to settle a conflict between the ancient pagan practices of celebrating the seasons of the year, and the interests of the Church in Rome to garner support and instill traditions of fasting and prayer to Jesus Christ. What gives?Įmber Days have a spotty historical origin. Yet Ember Days are dutifully noted, four times a year, on our Episcopal liturgical desk calendars from Church Publishing. My theme: “Borders: The Necessary and Yet Tragic Matter of Drawing Lines.We often find Ember Weeks and Days to be rarely celebrated or discussed amongst Anglicans, except maybe by seminarians who are reminded to write to their bishop this week. on Sunday, October 17, at Incarnation in Dallas. The fall theology lecture will be at 5 p.m. At 9:30 I will teach a class on “Friendship as a Key to the Bible.” This Sunday, September 19, I am to preach at Good Shepherd in Cedar Hill, Tex. Pray also that God will raise up for us new and faithful candidates for the ordained ministry. Spare a thought this week for the ministers in your own parish, lay people whose lives are God's ministry in the world as well as your clergy, and for the bishops of our church and around the world. Similarly, Ember Days come in Advent (in the second week), Lent (in the first week), and in the week of Pentecost. The autumnal Ember Days begin on the first Wednesday after Holy Cross Day (Sept 14) and thus, in 2021, they are Sept 15, 17, and 18. They come in threes: Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. They come, roughly, at the turns of the seasons. They are rather old fashioned, but they are also old: the Ember Days, times for praying for the ministry of the church and especially for ordained ministers.

Ember days episcopal church