Here’s a young man who was obviously raised by loving parents that encouraged him to take pride in himself and in his family. No different from most families struggling to make it day by day.
Today’s students are idealistic-yet-realistic, pioneering, culturally aware, spiritual-but-not-religious, no-nonsense theologians.
The chains that bind us from claiming the abundant life that God has made known in Jesus are inside our souls and are self-imposed. Because we will not accept who we are, will not serve and enjoy our Maker as the person he has created us to be, we choose captivity over freedom.
Back in the day Episcopal Church congregations used to organize themselves into Foyers groups (small dinner groups) to find ways to get to know each
Alternative liturgies are featured in this week’s Saturday Collection, with one congregation doing a modern adaption of Evensong for Superbowl weekend, a PA parish doing a U2’charist to raise funds for the Sudan, and an Interfaith worship service in Rochester NY. There’s an account of a particularly industrious way to raise money for a parish Food Bank and of a different twist to Youth ministry.
There’s a moving story of an Episcopal priest’s crisis of faith that started when a medical crisis nearly destroyed his family. The Orange County Register tells the story of The Rev. Brad Karelius, rector of Church of the Messiah.
The Super Bowl is the great liturgy of the United States of America and for many around the world. It binds us together across the usual divides of class and race, even if you are among those who never watch football. Like our liturgies of the church it has its own rhythms and order. Good and evil contend for our allegiances.
When the Puritans had lived in England, it was clear who they were: they were not the established Church of England. They held up the Bible as the pure word of God and preached faith as the central requirement in the human relationship with God. They saw no need for bishops and Prayer Books.
The Washington Post tells the story of a group of young people from the Bokamoso Youth Centre, Winterveldt, South Africa, who are in the Washington, DC area on a cultural exchange.