The Practical Parson

 The Bishop of Charlotte seeks to cement his legacy in destruction and demanding the faithful pay for the privilege of it.   Let's help him out, shall we?

 Recently in the State of North Carolina where I live and conduct my own ministry, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Charlotte Diocese has issued new "liturgical norms", pertaining to the administration and reception of Holy Communion.  In his letter, he orders that altar rails and prayer kneelers no longer be used by people who wish to receive communion, that altar rails should be removed, and that the faithful are to be encouraged (if not commanded) to receive communion standing instead of kneeling.   While it is entirely within the Roman Church's capacity to force upon its followers whatever it may deem appropriate; one must keep in mind that forcing the faithful to practices which go against their own tradition and the faith they practice, is a mark of arrogance and irreverent pride.   The Bishop writes that he has chosen to enforce these actions to produce "Uniformity" within the church's liturgies.  Ah yes, the age-old myth of liturgical "Uniformi...

 With the recent election of a Woman to sit in the seat of St. Augustine at Canterbury; the Anglican world is yet again aflame with the half-a-century old debate on women's ordination.  Having written extensively in previous posts on the matter from a theological and philosophical perspective, which are still unconvincing to those most ardent supporters of women's ordination; it would seem a point of futility to argue the point any further.  However a cleric that I have known made the statement recently, that the ordination of men only, was only a "tradition" of the church; and argued that such could be changed by the church.  Unfortunately, this is not only untrue, but it degrades the very heart and essence of the priestly ministry to a position of non-consequence.  If such a thing were indeed true that the church alone created and could change the dignity and nature of the priesthood by popular acclaim, then the promised salvation and ever-abiding presence tha...

 20 days ago a young man was assassinated in front of his own children and a crowd of several thousand people on a college campus in Utah.  Almost spontaneously, our "progressive" brethren broke out in thunderous celebration for the death of this man; posting fictitious quotes attributed to him and calling him every manner of slander the left is capable of summoning as an insult against their opponents.  One of the more fascinatingly ironic facts of that phenomena for me personally, was a massive increase in downloads of/ internet searches for the song "no One Mourns the Wicked", from the titled movie "Wicked" which was released just a year ago.  The lyrics proclaim that the wicked die alone, the wicked's life is lonely, etc.; much to the delight of the liberals who played the song in celebration.   However the irony of them playing this song as a celebration of that man's death is overwhelming to those of us who have seen the movie and know the st...

 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ- Today the world witnessed a horrific act of targeted political violence, in the form of the assassination of a conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk, in Utah.  As people of Christian faith and charity, I ask you all to remember his family and friends in your prayers; and commend to your prayers the intention of the repose of his soul.  Before too long, media outlets will shift the narrative of this day away from the story of what happened, and will begin blaming inanimate objects and victims themselves for acts of horrific violence; in a spectacle that is a revolving circle of self-righteous grandstanding rather than meaningful discourse or transmission of fact.  As both a Bishop but first and foremost a Christian; I have been heartbroken and utterly sickened to see so many people who profess Christian faith and love, actively celebrating the death of a man whom they deemed “the enemy.”  While he may have held views that we...

 In May of 2023 a 28 year old man in Baltimore, Maryland viciously assaulted 2 pro-life protesters outside of a Planned Parenthood facility in Maryland.  The suspect, Patrick Brice; claimed to the court that he was only seeking to debate the initial victim on the concept of 'sin', when he (in his own words) "Just snapped" and decided to tackle the 84 year old man and beat him up.  He then did the same to another man who attempted to stop him; the entire ordeal being caught on surveillance video for the whole world to see.  In most situations and other cases, such evidence and confession from a suspect would be seen as evidence enough to Garner a conviction that would lead to substantial incarceration; however this time was different.  Yes, this time both the judge and the jury seemed unable to determine that any really serious crime had been committed, despite evidence and witness testimony which supported the case.  The problem?  Both judge and jury s...