How can decorating a Crèche draw us to a place of divine encounter?

We are approaching yet another Advent season, a season of making space to wait on God.

Maybe you’re good at making that space. Like a cat, you have no problem flopping down where you are, stretching your legs, and letting Jesus take the wheel.

Or maybe you’re addicted—like most of us—to work, to control and productivity, to entertainment, perhaps even to podcasts!—and Advent feels like a struggle.

Or maybe you’re working three jobs because you have to, and maintaining an interior grasp of God’s love, in the midst of the crazy, is what slowing down means for you.

But sometimes being still is not something you choose. It’s thrust upon you. When you’re not able to go anywhere or do anything much, Advent is life, whether you ask for it or not.

That’s where our guest today found herself. And in that long, involuntary long season of Advent, as she reflected on her life and grew a garden, the journey brought her to writing a little Advent book about nature, the seasons, and the tradition of manger scenes where she grew up in Provence, France, and how she found Jesus there.

Our guest today is Sylvie Vanhoozer. Sylvie is a certified botanic artist, retired French teacher, and author of two books of nature sketches and meditations: The Art of Living in Advent: 28 Days of Joyful Waiting as well as The Art of Living in Season: A Year of Reflections for Everyday Saints. 

Here are some French words we use today: 

Crèche: manger scene

Santons: “little saints”; clay figurines based on ordinary people 

Terroir: a people’s land and all the life in it

Now remind yourself where you’ve stored away your Nativity set. Because after this conversation you might want to get it out. Perhaps it will help you remember, receive, and share the gospel over the next few weeks.

More from Sylvie:

theartoflivinginseason.com

The Art of Living in Advent, discount code IVPPOD20 for 20% off plus free shipping!

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This bonus episode of the podcast responds to the launch of a Global Anglican Communion, which would be separate from the Anglican Communion as we have known it.

There are Anglicans rejoicing over this news. Anglicans grieving over this news. Anglicans who don’t know what to think. And a lot of Anglicans who may not know what’s going on, or may not know what this has to do with them.

Today, we explore some of these feelings and questions, and pose some questions of our own.

On Oct 16, a communiqué email went out from a conservative, international fellowship of Anglican churches, representing several major Anglican provinces worldwide, known as GAFCON. (There are a lot of acronyms in this episode, but we will spell them out as we go.) This communiqué dropped into people’s inboxes with the title “The Future Has Arrived.” Here are a few introductory paragraphs:

“The first Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) gathered in 2008 in Jerusalem to prayerfully respond to the abandonment of the Scriptures by some of the most senior leaders of the Anglican Communion, and to seek their repentance.

“In the absence of such repentance, we have been prayerfully advancing towards a future for faithful Anglicans, where the Bible is restored to the heart of the Communion.

“Today, that future has arrived.”

Then follow 8 resolutions for establishing a Global Anglican Communion separate from the Anglican Communion and the Instruments of Communion.

TLC editor Mark Michael and executive director Matthew Olver join podcast host Amber Noel to ask questions about the meaning and contents of this communiqué, its language and propositions, the history that led up to it, its timing in light of current leadership scandals in the ACNA, and what people who want to move forward with GAFCON might be risking, particularly leaders from the Global South, or what they may still need to know. We also direct specific questions to GAFCON leaders themselves.

And we invite you to join us. If you are a leader in the Anglican Communion, in GAFCON, in the ACNA, or in the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, and you have something you want to ask, share, or correct in response to this podcast, please get in touch: [email protected]. We have questions and critiques, but we also want to understand better what’s going on, and why, and how we can receive needed renewal and reformation together.

Thanks for listening to this conversation. And if you have something to bring to the table, we hope to hear from you.

From this episode:

Resources from GAFCON:

Oct 16 “The Future Has Arrived” communiqué

The Jerusalem Declaration (founding document of GAFCON)

Bishop Paul Donison’s interview on the Stand Firm podcast

Bishop Laurent Mbanda's podcast interview

Resources from The Living Church:

Analysis: GAFCON Creates Global Anglican Communion

‘You Have Broken My Heart’—A Letter to My Siblings in GAFCON

Poggo Responds to GAFCON Communion Launch

The Inside Story on GAFCON’s Communiqué

GSFA Leader Questions GAFCON Communiqué

Podcast: Who Cares About Communion? with Christopher Wells

Other resources:

Nairobi-Cairo Proposals (IASCUFO)

Chemin Neuf’s “Prayer for Christian Unity”

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What does faith have to do with fiction? Can romance teach us something about God's presence in imaginary worlds?

Today’s episode is a conversation with novelist H.S. Cross, recorded live at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Savannah, GA, as part of their Sunday Night Sessions. 

We talk with Heather about 1920s Oxford; love stories and their theological significance; what it’s like to create and then watch your creations surprise you. We discuss the importance of play; why skipping the hard parts risks a story no longer feeling “real”; and the need to “Hold your nerve and not rush the ending.” And finally, since her novel is a messy and complicated romance, in some parts, as she puts it, “rated R" for sexuality, what does it mean, in this kind of story, to “tell the truth” or to get caught “writing while Christian”?

H.S. Cross has been a tutor and a writer and is the author of three novels: Wilberforce, Grievous, and her latest novel, Amanda.

Now rock your best Oxford bags and handkerchief hemline. We’re heading to the 1920’s where we’ll meet a couple of God-haunted lovers, the woman who created them, and discover what faith has to do with fiction. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

From this episode:

Watch this conversation on YouTube

Amanda and other books by H.S. Cross

Associate for Youth and Young Adults job posting at St. John’s Savannah (October 2025)

Related podcast episodes:

Christmas chat with Heather Cross

Music and ministry with Jon Jameson

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Other events you might enjoy:

Nashotah House intensive course on “The Prayer Book Tradition” (January 2026)

The Anglican Way Conference (February 2026)

How does Nicaea speak to social and political life today?

In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s Nicaea’s 1700th birthday party all year long. Theology, church politics, Christian unity, we’re here for all of it. 

This is one of two episodes this year focusing specifically on Nicaea itself. Our first one was in January: Learning from Nicaea with Lewis Ayers.

Today, we'll learn how we live with Nicaea. We're joined by Catholic theologian Peter Casarella and Pentecostal theologian Daniela Augustine for an ecumenical chat about the council and its importance for the church and world today.

We’ll consider time travel, uncover some things about Nicaea I never knew, explore political and social implications of the council, and make 1700th birthday speeches. And if you ever asked yourself what Nicaea has to do with the Bolshevik Revolution or American empire, today’s your lucky day.

Dr. Daniela Augustine is Professor of Theological Ethics at Lee University and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, Theology, and Religion at the University of Birmingham in the UK.

Dr. Peter Casarella is Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School and one of the founders of the Catholic Initiative at Duke.

Now, whether you’ve been at this party a long time, or just coming in and wondering what it’s all about, we hope you enjoy the conversation.

--

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Why read poetry? If poetry is esoteric, confusing, and time-consuming, why bother? 

Our guest today, Dr. Abram Van Engen, has a strong case for why poetry isn't esoteric at all, but extremely useful, concrete, relational, enjoyable, and meaningful, not just for you, but for the Church.

His latest book is called Word Made Fresh, an Invitation to Poetry for the Church. Today we’ll discuss: the point of poetry and why anyone should bother reading it, how to read a poem, what it might mean that Scripture is full of poetry, what church leaders learn from the art of being apt, and what the heck a poem even is.

Whether you're a "poetry person" or not, this conversation may just get you jazzed up about the ability of a poem to invite our attention in a special way, delight us, deepen us; even give us a little cross-training in the kind of attention we hope to develop in life with God.

Abram is Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities, Chair of the English Department, and Professor of Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. His new book on poetry as spiritual practice, Word Made Fresh, won the 2024 Christianity Today award for art and poetry.

Now whether you dislike it, or you believe poetry, like the world, "is charged with the grandeur of God" (a little Gerard Manley Hopkins for you), we hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Check out Abram’s book. Use promo code LIVINGCHURCH40 for 40% off. (Through the end of 2025. Valid for books shipped to U.S. addresses only.)

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Today we're talking tea. Why? 

Well, we’re an Anglican podcast. Need we say more?

Knowing how to share and make a good cup of tea translates around the globe. Whether it’s hospitality or work-life balance, tea has played a significant role in leadership, conversation, and parish life. 

Today we meet an amazing Christian woman who knows all about tea, why it's special, and how God can use tea time as an opportunity for ministry and leadership lessons. Her name is Jackie James.

Jackie is a certified Tea Sommelier and founder at The London Tea Merchant. She’s also the former owner of the London Tea Room in St. Louis, Missouri.

We’ll hear today about her journey from a Jesus Freak preacher’s kid in the U.K. to a businesswoman in midwest America.

We'll learn a bit about the slow art, challenging business, and fascinating science of tea, and where she has found God at work in it all. How can we stop and share time? How do you run the show, and let things go? How can unlearning self-preserving habits with difficult staff members lead to strength, vulnerability, and grace?

Now get your scones and Victoria Sponge cake ready, because we’re about to have a "jam" session on finding the Lord’s work in a hot cuppa.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

SPECIAL discount code LTMSHOP for 5% off at the London Tea Merchant

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Before there were Protestants, there were Moravians.

In 1415, a Roman Catholic priest named Jan Hus was burned at the stake in Prague for promoting a vernacular liturgy, clergy marriage, and the elimination of indulgences. If he had been born just a few decades later, he might have found a friend in Martin Luther. But instead we know him as the forerunner of a pre-Protestant reforming movement that became the Moravian Church.

Moravians have a unique and robust culture, a fascinating history, and were some of the first and strongest voices for Christian unity, before the ecumenical movement even began.

Who are the Moravians? What are they about? Why do they love Anglicans, and what can we learn from each other?

Today’s episode is part of our Full Communion Partner series.

You can find our other Full Communion Partner episodes here:

https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/reformation-politics-and-friendship-with-matthew-riegel/

https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/old-church-new-callings-with-magnus-persson/

Our first guest is the Rev. Derek French, pastor of Nazareth Moravian Church in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and co-chair of the Moravian-Episcopal Coordinating Committee.

And our second guest is the Rt. Rev. M. Blair Couch, bishop in the Moravian Church. She is also on the Lutheran-Anglican-Moravian Coordinating Committe in Canada and the Moravian-Episcopal Coordinating Committee in the U.S.

Now pour yourself a German beer. We’re going to hang out with some Christians who from persecuted European beginings quickly found their place among the peacemakers. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Most Christians won't be part of a monastic community. But that doesn't mean they're not influenced by one.

How do those who have taken the habit live their vocations from the monastery into the world around them? And what about the rest of us? What can we learn, whether lay or ordained, from the disciplines and wisdom of monastics? 

Today we’ll hear from three Anglicans whose vocations have been shaped by Benedictine monasticism in different ways. We'll learn about the 6th-century Rule of St. Benedict and how it continues to discipline and nurture Christian life in the 21st century. 

Our first guest is Sister Greta Ronningen. Sr. Greta is a co-founder of Community of Divine Love, an Episcopal monastery in the Benedictine tradition located in San Gabriel, California. She is also an Episcopal priest, prison chaplain, retreat leader, and writer, and the author of Free on the Inside: Finding God Behind Bars.

Our second guest is the Rev. Canon Bryan Biba. Bryan is assistant rector at Christ Church Anglican in Savannah, Georgia, and canon for leadership for the Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. He is also an oblate of the Order of St. Benedict at St. John’s Abbey, a Roman Catholic monastery in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Our third guest is Annie Hodges. Annie is a supply chain manager by day and an Episcopal podcaster by night. With her sister Kate Greer, she hosts The Average Episcopalian podcast, tackling the mystery of faith with reason and humor through the lens of the church they love.

Whether you’re into wimples, cinctures, and Birkenstocks, or following Jesus without the telltale garments, here’s to holy habits of all kinds. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

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Book Bryan mentioned: Benedictine Daily Prayer

Book Annie mentioned: St. Benedict's Toolbox

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How can church leaders pursue justice with discernment and theological depth? Pastors often find themselves in a frustrating place when it comes to pursuing justice in their parishes and communities. There's often a divide or at least a tension between two groups: those who do not want to overthink or "overtheologize" it until the moment to act is past; and those who feel wary of action without substantial, theological, and contextual discernment pieces to help.

With respect to all the practical concerns here, this is a false divide. Hopefully, today's conversation might help us start to find a way across.

We'll talk about leadership, Christian freedom, and political will; challenging presuppositions about authority and building and empowering community bit by bit; various angles and ways of being strategic; and a bit about Catholic social teaching that might help Anglican and Episcopal leaders get "unstuck" from fixed religious and politcal categories to discern more holistic paths of faithful action.

Our guests are The Rev. Canon Natalie Arendse and Dr. Elisabeth Kincaid. 

Natalie is currently chaplain to Whitsunday Anglican School in Mackay, Queensland, Australia. She is honorary Canon in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and former head of St. John's Leadership Academy in Cape Town, a formation program for lay and ordained leaders. 

Elisabeth is director of Baylor University's Institute for Faith and Learning and Associate Professor of Ethics, Faith and Culture at George W. Truett Seminary. She's also author of the new book, Law from Below: How the Thought of Francisco Suárez, SJ, Can Renew Contemporary Legal Engagements.

Now grab your thinking caps and your work boots as we discover a bit more about how prayer and politics, bible studies and social justice, can (and do) go together.

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There's a powerful group of women who you may not know are in your church. They handle your prayer requests. They support your priest. They may help with Sunday school, coffee hour, or missions. And they are an inspiring example of the understated power of simple service. These women are the Daughters of the King. 

The Order of the Daughters of the King is a vowed order for women who are communicants of Episcopal Churches or churches in the historic episcopate. They currently include women around the world in the Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic traditions.

Daughters take vows to obey the two Rules of The Order: the Rule of Prayer and the Rule of Service. They aid local clergy and parishes in prayer and evangelism, and do it while wearing a simple silver cross, the cross of The Order. 

Our guest today is Dr. Grace Sears, past president and archivist of the Order of the Daughters of the King, and past editor of its magazine, The Royal Cross. She is also past vice president of the board of The Living Church Foundation.

We'll talk today about being taken by surprise by a calling, learning leadership, navigating controversial times, and what happens when the Holy Spirit falls in a business meeting.

What can we take from a group of women who simply vow to pray and serve together, no matter their own season of life, or what's going on the life of the church or the world?

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