Sometime around the middle of the nineteenth century, Frederick Faber wrote the hymn, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy”. That would have been soon after he converted from Anglicism to Catholicism, and founded what was to become the Brompton Oratory in Kensington. Before that he’d spent a couple of years as Rector of the Parish of Elton, in Huntingdonshire, which isn’t far from where I live.

It’s a wonderful hymn. When you read the words you can understand the sentiment of William Wordsworth, when he wrote to Faber after he’d decided to take Holy Orders, “I do not say you are wrong, but England loses a poet”. It’s thought that he wrote this, along with others he wrote, to try and increase the importance of hymn singing in the Catholic Church; he’d always been impressed by the power of hymns in the Protestant tradition.

This hymn says, far better than I ever could, what I would want to say about today’s Collect — The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. Please, read the words, take them to heart, and trust in their truth.

You can discover much more about Frederick William Faber on the Diocese of Ely website.

Merciful God,
your Son came to save us
and bore our sins on the cross:
may we trust in your mercy
and know your love,
now and in all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Today is the Ninth Sunday after Trinity. The phrase I want to pick up on from today’s Collect is, “Revive your Church in our day”. I wonder how “revival” might come to today’s Church, and especially to the Church of England.

The Church of England has, for some years now, been attempting to encourage a revival, or new growth. Along with the Methodist Church, they set up Fresh Expressions, which encourages new forms of church for a fast changing world, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions. It was initiated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York with the Methodist Council. As I understand what Fresh Expressions is about, I think it’s an incredibly important initiative, and is doing great work in bringing people into the Church.

But what about revival for those already in the Church? I’m sure there are many in the Church who are benefiting from the Fresh Expressions movement, but I don’t think they’re who it’s primarily aimed at. It would appear, from the various statistics published, there are as many, if not more, leaving the Church as there are new people coming in. Should we be looking to change, or should we stay the same?

The answer seems quite obvious at first, we should change. If things were right as they are, people wouldn’t be leaving. But I’m not so sure the answer is as clear-cut as that. I’m not against Fresh Expressions or change in general, but I do like to think that change is being made for the right reasons, not just for the sake of it. I’m not like some Anglicans:

I particularly like a Book of Common Prayer Evensong, and think there is space within our Churches for more services from that part of our heritage. I love the timeless nature of the Book of Common Prayer, and the feeling it gives of joining with Christians in prayer over many centuries. However, as much as I love and value the Book of Common Prayer, I wouldn’t want it for all services. I would cope if it were all we had, but there has been a great deal of excellent work done in recent years on our liturgy, culminating in Common Worship; though I’m still most comfortable with a relatively traditional service.

There are many Church congregations around who, like me, are more comfortable with the relatively traditional styles of worship. There are also many Church congregations around who find the traditional tedious, and want their worship to be lively and modern. One of the big strengths of the Church of England, and Anglicanism in general, is that it can, and does, support both extremes of that, and much more in between.

Revival might mean learning to do what we already do better. We need to be open for, and willing to, change, when that change is right for that particular congregation. But we also need to be open to, and willing to, stay the same, or even revert to former ways, when that is right for a particular congregation.

Revival amongst our current congregations will make them vibrant and far more appealing to those from outside. Revival may come through what we have already that is good, as well as that which is new, from the likes of Fresh Expressions. We need to learn to embrace it, however it comes, and however we’re led into by God.

Gracious Father,
revive your Church in our day,
and make her holy, strong and faithful,
for your glory’s sake
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Ninth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

The choices we make in life can have unexpected consequences further on down the line. And the wrong choices, the sinful choices, we make often descend quickly into complete chaos. One sinful decision can set off a chain reaction of seemingly unconnected series of events that have consequences far beyond ourselves.

A major part of the rescue plan is already available to us, if only we will take it. Confession and absolution. By “confession” I don’t necessarily mean individual confession to a priest, though that may well be something you find helpful — in that I particularly like the Anglican way: “All may; none must; some should”. The important thing about real confession, whether it be through a priest or directly to God, is that we take responsibility for what we’ve done wrong.

But the best part of the “confession and absolution” equation is the second part, “absolution”. True confession always leads to true absolution. In fact, the absolution is there before the confession, we just don’t truly know our need of it until we have truly confessed, acknowledged and taken responsibility for our sins. We cannot be absolved from something we don’t know exists. But, because of God’s great love for us, he never withholds the absolution from us.

Just because absolution is always given when we truly confess our sins, it doesn’t give us license to go off and deliberately do something wrong, knowing that God will forgive us. True love just doesn’t work that way.

Being rescued from the chaos of sin will restore some order into our lives. And that’s what we should all be aiming to do in this penitential season of Lent.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.

Holy God,
our lives are laid open before you:
rescue us from the chaos of sin
and through the death of your Son
bring us healing and make us whole
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for Ash Wednesday
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Sometime around the middle of the nineteenth century, Frederick Faber wrote the hymn, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy”. That would have been soon after he converted from Anglicism to Catholicism, and founded what was to become the Brompton Oratory in Kensington. Before that he’d spent a couple of years as Rector of the Parish of Elton, in Huntingdonshire, which isn’t far from where I live.

It’s a wonderful hymn. When you read the words you can understand the sentiment of William Wordsworth, when he wrote to Faber after he’d decided to take Holy Orders, “I do not say you are wrong, but England loses a poet”. It’s thought that he wrote this, along with others he wrote, to try and increase the importance of hymn singing in the Catholic Church; he’d always been impressed by the power of hymns in the Protestant tradition.

This hymn says, far better than I ever could, what I would want to say about today’s Collect — The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. Please, read the words, take them to heart, and trust in their truth.

You can discover much more about Frederick William Faber on the Diocese of Ely website.

Merciful God,
your Son came to save us
and bore our sins on the cross:
may we trust in your mercy
and know your love,
now and in all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Today is the Ninth Sunday after Trinity. The phrase I want to pick up on from today’s Collect is, “Revive your Church in our day”. I wonder how “revival” might come to today’s Church, and especially to the Church of England.

The Church of England has, for some years now, been attempting to encourage a revival, or new growth. Along with the Methodist Church, they set up Fresh Expressions, which encourages new forms of church for a fast changing world, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions. It was initiated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York with the Methodist Council. As I understand what Fresh Expressions is about, I think it’s an incredibly important initiative, and is doing great work in bringing people into the Church.

But what about revival for those already in the Church? I’m sure there are many in the Church who are benefiting from the Fresh Expressions movement, but I don’t think they’re who it’s primarily aimed at. It would appear, from the various statistics published, there are as many, if not more, leaving the Church as there are new people coming in. Should we be looking to change, or should we stay the same?

The answer seems quite obvious at first, we should change. If things were right as they are, people wouldn’t be leaving. But I’m not so sure the answer is as clear-cut as that. I’m not against Fresh Expressions or change in general, but I do like to think that change is being made for the right reasons, not just for the sake of it. I’m not like some Anglicans:

I particularly like a Book of Common Prayer Evensong, and think there is space within our Churches for more services from that part of our heritage. I love the timeless nature of the Book of Common Prayer, and the feeling it gives of joining with Christians in prayer over many centuries. However, as much as I love and value the Book of Common Prayer, I wouldn’t want it for all services. I would cope if it were all we had, but there has been a great deal of excellent work done in recent years on our liturgy, culminating in Common Worship; though I’m still most comfortable with a relatively traditional service.

There are many Church congregations around who, like me, are more comfortable with the relatively traditional styles of worship. There are also many Church congregations around who find the traditional tedious, and want their worship to be lively and modern. One of the big strengths of the Church of England, and Anglicanism in general, is that it can, and does, support both extremes of that, and much more in between.

Revival might mean learning to do what we already do better. We need to be open for, and willing to, change, when that change is right for that particular congregation. But we also need to be open to, and willing to, stay the same, or even revert to former ways, when that is right for a particular congregation.

Revival amongst our current congregations will make them vibrant and far more appealing to those from outside. Revival may come through what we have already that is good, as well as that which is new, from the likes of Fresh Expressions. We need to learn to embrace it, however it comes, and however we’re led into by God.

Gracious Father,
revive your Church in our day,
and make her holy, strong and faithful,
for your glory’s sake
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Ninth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

I have always been something of a fan of Adrian Plass; he is very funny. In this video he’s giving a (not so) typical set of Announcements before a service in an Anglican Church — he must have been to Godmanchester!

The choices we make in life can have unexpected consequences further on down the line. And the wrong choices, the sinful choices, we make often descend quickly into complete chaos. One sinful decision can set off a chain reaction of seemingly unconnected series of events that have consequences far beyond ourselves.

A major part of the rescue plan is already available to us, if only we will take it. Confession and absolution. By “confession” I don’t necessarily mean individual confession to a priest, though that may well be something you find helpful — in that I particularly like the Anglican way: “All may; none must; some should”. The important thing about real confession, whether it be through a priest or directly to God, is that we take responsibility for what we’ve done wrong.

But the best part of the “confession and absolution” equation is the second part, “absolution”. True confession always leads to true absolution. In fact, the absolution is there before the confession, we just don’t truly know our need of it until we have truly confessed, acknowledged and taken responsibility for our sins. We cannot be absolved from something we don’t know exists. But, because of God’s great love for us, he never withholds the absolution from us.

Just because absolution is always given when we truly confess our sins, it doesn’t give us license to go off and deliberately do something wrong, knowing that God will forgive us. True love just doesn’t work that way.

Being rescued from the chaos of sin will restore some order into our lives. And that’s what we should all be aiming to do in this penitential season of Lent.

Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.

Holy God,
our lives are laid open before you:
rescue us from the chaos of sin
and through the death of your Son
bring us healing and make us whole
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for Ash Wednesday
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

May we trust in your mercy and know your love

Sometime around the middle of the nineteenth century, Frederick Faber wrote the hymn, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy”. That would have been soon after he converted from Anglicism to Catholicism, and founded what was to become the Brompton Oratory in Kensington. Before that he’d spent a couple of years as Rector of the Parish of Elton, in Huntingdonshire, which isn’t far from where I live.

It’s a wonderful hymn. When you read the words you can understand the sentiment of William Wordsworth, when he wrote to Faber after he’d decided to take Holy Orders, “I do not say you are wrong, but England loses a poet”. It’s thought that he wrote this, along with others he wrote, to try and increase the importance of hymn singing in the Catholic Church; he’d always been impressed by the power of hymns in the Protestant tradition.

This hymn says, far better than I ever could, what I would want to say about today’s Collect — The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity. Please, read the words, take them to heart, and trust in their truth.

You can discover much more about Frederick William Faber on the Diocese of Ely website.

Merciful God,
your Son came to save us
and bore our sins on the cross:
may we trust in your mercy
and know your love,
now and in all our days;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Revive your Church in our day

Today, the Ninth Sunday after Trinity, I want to look at “revival”, and how it might come to us in the Church of England.

The Church of England has, in recent years, been attempting to encourage a revival, or new growth. Along with the Methodist Church, they have set up Fresh Expressions, which encourages new forms of church for a fast changing world, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions. It was initiated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York with the Methodist Council. As I understand what Fresh Expressions is about, I think it’s an incredibly important initiative, and is doing great work in bringing people into the Church.

But what about revival for those already in the Church? I’m sure there are many who are benefiting from the Fresh Expressions movement, but I don’t think that’s who it is primarily aimed at. It would appear, from the various statistics published, that there are as many, if not more, leaving the Church as there are new people coming in. Should we be looking to change, or should we stay the same?

The answer seems quite obvious at first, we should change. If things were right as they are, people wouldn’t be leaving. But I’m not so sure the answer is as clear-cut as that. I’m not against Fresh Expressions or change in general, but I do like to think that change is being made for the right reasons, not just for the sake of it. I’m not like some Anglicans:

Revival might mean learning to do what we already do better. I was recently contacted by The Prayer Book Society, following the post I made about the Nunc Dimittis. Amongst there aims are, “Upholding the worship and doctrine of the Church of England … as enshrined in the Book of Common Prayer”; and, “Encouraging the use of the Book of Common Prayer as the norm for all principal services …”. I love the timeless nature of the Book of Common Prayer, and was thrilled to hear from them. But I don’t think I can take up their offer to join them. If the Book of Common Prayer were all we had, I wouldn’t be terribly sad about it for me, but I don’t think it is right for all. I’m sure there are some congregations who it is absolutely right for, but they are probably in the minority.

I think for real revival, including amongst the existing membership, we need to find a middle way — typically Anglican. We need to be open for, and willing to, change, when that change is right for that particular congregation. But we also need to be open to, and willing to, stay the same, or even revert to former ways, when that is right for a particular congregation. One of the big strengths of the Church of England, and Anglicanism in general, is that it can, and does, support both extremes of that, and much more in between.

Revival amongst our current congregations will make them vibrant and far more appealing to those from outside. Revival may come through what we have already that is good, as well as that which is new, from the likes of Fresh Expressions. We need to learn to embrace it, however it comes, and however we’re led into by God.

Gracious Father,
revive your Church in our day,
and make her holy, strong and faithful,
for your glory’s sake
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect for The Ninth Sunday after Trinity
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council

Archbishop’s Christmas Message to the Anglican Communion

I was very impressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Christmas message to the Anglican Communion, published yesterday. Bearing in mind some of the horror stories about children we’ve been hearing in the news recently, I think it is good that the Archbishop has chosen to focus on the youngest members of our societies in his message.