Faith and Honor

This is our first ever Proper Podcast, where we discuss the Collects and Propers of the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. On this episode, we discuss Septuagesima and its ramifications.

On this episode, Fr. Bart and Fr. Eric talk with Fr. Jonathan Kell about the theology of illness. Fr. Jonathan has been studying the works of Jean-Claude Larchet, which grants insight into pastoral counsel, particularly to those in the sickbed. We discuss the Offices for the Sick in the Prayer Book, how to think about illness, what use sickness and death have for the Christian, and how to prepare for death.

One of the most interesting -- and misunderstood -- aspects of the ancient Church is the office of the Deaconess. Obscured in the contentious polemics surrounding women's ordination, the office of the Deaconess has been largely forgotten. And yet it is an apostolic office, found in the Sacred Scriptures (the same passages used by advocates of women's ordination). We know of famous deaconesses in the early Church, and Saint Olympias featured in our banner image was a great friend of St. John Chrysostom. However in the post-patristic era, the office of the Deaconess became subsumed into the institution of nuns and monasteries, and slowly disappeared. Yet 1836 it was revived again, first among the Lutherans, and shortly thereafter adopted by the Church of England and the Anglican world more generally. One famous representative was Florence Nightingale, the legendary mother of modern nursing, who passed through the Deaconess training (having to leave before taking the vows). In this fascinating episode we speak with a living and breathing Deaconess, Annette Johnson. She comes by to speak with us about the history of the office, its nature, purposes, and its important role in the Church.

Following up on our episode of the 1979 Prayer Book revision and its apocalyptic consequences, we have a talk about the liturgical climate in the 1960s, especially as seen through the eyes of W. H. Auden. An Anglican, and one of the most famous poets of the 20th century, Auden has left us eyewitness commentary on the liturgical revolution underway during the 1950s and the 1960s, that would lead after his death to the catastrophe of the 1979 revision. We bring on Auden fan, Brian Miller, to talk about the poet, his life, and opinions of the liturgical upheavals taking place in his lifetime. We look at Auden's view of the proper nature and purpose of a Liturgy, the role of elevated and hieratic language, continuity with the Anglican tradition, and the prevalence of deep philosophical errors like Egalitarianism which swept away the old Episcopal Church, and left wreckage in its place; to be learned from, for the survivors of the shipwreck who live in the present.

An important recent book On Being Reformed: Debates over a Theological Identity has engaged prominent theologians on the question of the Reformed theological identity, and whether it is possible (any more) to formulate a coherent identity behind the term. 
Thinkers like Darryl G. Hart and R. Scott Clark have sought to recapture the term Reformed, using documents such as the Westminster Confession of Faith. On the other side, thinkers like Chris Caughey have argued that long and detailed confessions like the WCF are problematic, with articles that no one today (even Hart and Clark) would subscribe to. 
We bring Chris on the show to talk about this at some depth: does the term Reformed have a meaning, and who gets to decide? Did it ever have a stable meaning? Are Reformed Baptists a part of it? Was the Reformed pastor Jacob Arminius a part of it? What about John Calvin, who didn't unambiguously teach double predestination?
We conclude with the historic lessons from the Nicene Creed, and a discussion on whether confessions ought to be minimalist or exhaustive.

On this episode, we discuss the point of observing Lent. We live in a time where observing Lent is typically seen as a mere denominational marker, when it is in fact a very ancient, even biblical practice. And yet so many American Christians don't only fail to undertake Lenten disciplines, but any fasting or ascetical practice whatsoever. We not only look at some of the origins and practices of the Lenten fast, but also the various opportunities and occurrences that happen within this devotional discipline. Lent isn't so much a burdensome obligation as much as it is an opportunity and healthful spiritual exercise that can yield greater Christian maturity.

The 1979 revision of the Prayerbook was one of the pivotal moments in the history of the Episcopal Church. The whole prior history of the Anglican liturgical tradition was thrown out, and replaced with an ad hoc, reconstructed, 'archeological' work that came to be known as the 1979 "Prayerbook". All this took place simultaneously with the demolition of other cornerstone elements in the Episcopal Church in the late 1970s: the doctrine of gender, the corruption of holy orders, the abolition of moral theology, and the carnal seduction of the young men in the seminaries.


Yet the 1979 "Book of Common Prayer" was presented as an orthodox, ancient and trustworthy revision, which posed no problems in doctrine or liturgical practice. How are we to understand the arguments made by the champions of this liturgical revolution? What was the cultural and ecclesiastical climate that existed in the Episcopal Church in the 1950s and 60s that led to the this revision? What were seductive claims that allowed the 1979 revision to take hold?
We have with us one of the foremost experts on the 1979 revision, Rev. Edward Rix, who for many years has worked with the Prayer Book Society USA, under the staunchest opponent of the 1979 revision, the famous Rev. Dr. Peter Toon. Currently Fr. Rix is the priest-in-charge at the Church of All Saints, a traditionalist 1928 BCP parish in Wynnewood, PA.

Few topics cause division and rancor as the question of women's ordination in the Anglican Church of North America. In this episode we look at an article that discusses the question without sufficient care, both for the unity of the Church and for today's dangerous climate of an aggressive secular culture: http://anglicanpastor.com/ask-an-anglican-pastor-an-interview-with-tish-harrison-warren-pt-2.  Questions around gender and power today cannot be asked in isolation from a cultural climate infused by Cultural Marxism, which has staked out gender and power as its two cornerstone issues and has used those two concepts to demolish much of the Church in the West. When conversations around Women's Ordination get heated, charges of sexism start to fly without considering that the term has been weaponized by secular and Marxist theoreticians. Treating the matter of women's ordination in a sympathetic manner in an Anglican magazine of an quasi-official status can be extremely harmful to the peace and unity of the Church. We discuss all this, and more, in this Special Edition episode.

What's going on in American culture, how is the church reacting to that, and what are we doing about it? On this episode, Joe, Eric, and Bart discuss trends toward secularism in society, resulting in hostility to the Christian faith and life, as well as how Roman Catholics and evangelicals are responding to these shifts. Oftentimes, this takes some form of accommodation, or else a concerted effort to ignore the obvious and seemingly inevitable. As young Anglican churchmen leading our families, what are we doing in light of all this? How do we and our families carry on faithfully in our Christian walk? What role does domestic, "homely" divinity play into our plan of action, as well as life in our local parishes and dioceses? .

Note: please accept our apologies for slight audio glitches in this recording. We are using a new podcasting platform.

Christmas! This is the big episode to start the most important conversation of the season. Do we really know as much about Christmas as everyone likes to think? So much has been lost and obscured about this most important of holy days. When does it start? What does it do within our liturgical calendar? What is the twelfth night? Where does roasted goose fit into this picture? The richness of traditions surrounding Christmas is inexhaustible, and there has never been a better time to fully and deeply understand the holy day which we assume we know everything, and not enough, about. Join us for this conversation with Chris Marchand, a liturgical scholar on the celebrations of all of the holidays during the Christmastide.