The Practical Parson

 Recently, I was in town.   The town nearest my home is in many ways the epitome of small town America; a town in the shadow of a former manufacturing plant for Tobacco, with a community that isn't the smallest, but where everyone still seems to manage to know most everyone and everything going on in town at a given time.   Indeed, it was even a stop for country music star Justin Moore almost a decade ago when he was on his "Small Town USA" tour.   I have lived here for my entire life, and know intimately the community and many of the people; all good sincere people who have always had a place in my heart.   Judge my shock and dismay as I have borne witness over the last 3 years, as my hometown community has been forced into a situation that I am reliably well-informed, is not unique; given the current political and economic climate of our nation.  There have always been poor people in our community, our Lord himself said "the Poor you h...

 In Anglican Church circles today, as I suspect has been for some time; there is an ongoing debate as to the nature of the theology of provinces within the Anglican patrimony.  Some, like myself, tend more towards what might be called old-school Anglo-Catholicism; which others claim is a recent innovation.  Others tend more towards Calvinist theology; which the evangelicals in Anglicanism is the only "true" expression of the Anglican identity.  While I will not argue the value of churchmanship as part of theology, I have very good and solid friends on both sides of that spectrum who are theologically quite similar; it is worth noting that a principle cause for so many to claim Calvinism as Anglican has largely to do with an evangelical approach to the liturgy and church in general.  Being evangelical is not in and of itself a bad thing, nor does it denote an unnecessarily unfortunate tendency towards anarchy; however the notion of denying anything good about the...

There is currently a building campaign going on in the heart of Rural North Carolina, which strives to rebuild the church and Christendom; which have both suffered much loss as a result of the excesses of the past 50+ years. I will tell you all about this project from the fundraising site: The Missionary Diocese of the Sacred Heart was established in 2016, in response to the loss of faith that the Church has seen over the past several decades. Its mission is to provide truth to a fallen world, a home for those forgotten, and a place where all may encounter Christ at the foot of the cross in His holy sacraments. Our diocese is blessed to be experiencing growth and expansion of our missionary outreaches; and we seek to build physically so that the work we carry out in the name of the Lord may have permanence and a home. To this end, we are seeking to build a (relatively) small cathedral at our Bishop's seat in Ruffin, North Carolina; which will be the mother church of our diocese. It...