The Practical Parson

 As some of you may know, back in December, just a few days before Christmas; I had to go to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy.  While appendectomies are a fairly routine surgery in this day and age; the expenses associated with hospital stays are certainly a factor of their own.  Due to a number of health issues, I have not been able to work a secular job since 2012; and as a result of many circumstances, do not presently have health insurance.   I do not address this to elicit sympathy from any of you, but to describe my experience with the aftermath of all of this.  With what little resources I have available to me, I am working to pay off the medical bills which are ever present; however I thought that I would ask for just a small amount of help from friends and family in the form of a "Gofundme" page.  The amount a small portion of the bills in total; but a chance for those who wish to, to help if they want.  I expect nothing of any ...

Recently, the new president of the United States attended a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral.  The bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the District of Columbia decided a service of prayer was as good a time as any to public berate the new president for what she perceives to be his shortcomings on matters of social justice she clings to.  While it is certainly within her right to promote whatever message she seems appropriate, given that the current state of the Episcopal church seems less based on faith and more on social order or disorder; It is entirely fascinating to me that a woman who encouraged and promoted physical violence and destruction for the summer of 2020, denied the resurrection of Christ during her Easter sermon, and actively promotes anti-Semitic and anti-Christian ideals- should be the one to presume to lecture anyone about morality from a supposedly Christian position.   Is it not ironic that those who demand "mercy", are the leas...

Many millennia ago in Ancient Egypt, the Egyptians had a rather complicated and extensive system of belief; mostly in the area of what happened to the soul once the individual had died.  As one who has studied Egyptology on my own and read numerous books and watched countless hours of documentaries, presentations, and debates on the subject matter; there is one particular scene from the Egyptian book of the dead which describes judgement- that stands out to me in the 21st century as a Christian.  That scene was known as the weighing of the heart.   They believed that the god of the dead (Anubis) would take the heart of the deceased, and weigh it in a scales against the feather of 'truth', personified in the goddess Ma'at.  If the heart was heavier than the personification of truth, the soul was judged to be laden down with sin and guilt, and was thus destroyed by a monstrous demon called Ammit.   If the heart was lighter, then it was judged that the so...

 As an Anglican, it is incumbent upon me to hold to the tradition of the 39 articles of religion.  However one may hold to a tradition, while accepting that this text, which inspired may be; is not beyond reproach nor infallible or inerrant, since only the written Word of God holds that distinction.  As such, it is entirely possible to disagree with and oppose certain aspects of the articles, when they touch upon matters that the articles describe as repugnant to Scripture; which are in fact scripturally evident and proven matters.  Case in point:  Article 22 describes the veneration of relics (in a list of other items) as being "vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."   A rather serious indictment, were it only true.  I would submit, for your consideration; that the preservation and veneration of relics is actually not only scriptural, but that scripture itself contains evidences that...

  In just under a month, Christians will gather in crowded, candlelit churches on Christmas Eve to celebrate the great feast of our Savior's birth.  Recently, some clergy friends of mine have directed me to an interesting little thing that the Episcopal Church's National Cathedral in DC has decided to do for Christmas Eve this year.   Are they going to bring in the homeless so that they have a warm place to sleep that night?  No. Are they going to actually preach the Christ whom they are obliged to by the book of common prayer?  No. Are they going to charge people to attend Christmas Eve Mass and receive Christ?  YES! You heard that correctly, the National Cathedral in Washington, DC; has decided to CHARGE people to attend a worship service on Christmas Eve.  Now some will defend this move as an attempt to control crowd levels or such; but that goes against the very essence of the Christian faith and the nature of cathedrals themselves.  The ...

  Many Christians in the United States will undoubtedly be aware of a new(er) TV series, which purports to dramatize the life of Christ and his followers.  What most people, even some clergy, do not realize; is the subtle, underlying heresy that this series teaches against the Christian Faith itself.   T he show seems to be focusing not on the nature of the people they are supposed to be portraying; but the laws of physical attraction, in the manner in which they both dress the actors, as well as the focus in cinematography on the eyes and faces of the characters.  This introduces the first heretical idea of the show- depicting Christ as purely human, and as such subject to the attractions and desires of human flesh.   That may be simply reading too much into the way in which they film the series, but when one repeatedly hears comments on the series about "how sexy Jesus is", one must ask if the intent was NOT to depict him thus.  The manner of co...

  Those of us who have been involved in the ministry for any great length of time can all agree that one of the most difficult aspects of what we do is to try to convince people to come to church.   It seems easy enough on the surface: just go invite them!  The unfortunate truth of the matter is that the vast majority of people we encounter seem to not be able to care any less about the Church or Christ in general.  Oh they claim to be spiritual, many even claim they have that so-called "personal relationship with Jesus" that televangelists are wanton to sell: But ask them to take 5 minutes out of their day to pay a visit to Jesus in the sacrament or even just to stop into his house for a brief prayer of gratitude, and it's too much for them to bear.   I have been a mission priest for over 10 years now, and trying to build up a small congregation is always increasingly difficult.  Yet in spite of seemingly insurmountable difficulty given the way o...