Church & Liturgy – My Back Pages

Did the Thief on the Cross Need to be Baptised? He Was.

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”— Luke 23v43 All Christians agree that baptism is important, Getting us to agree on what it does, how to do it, and to whom we ought to do it is a different matter. Still generally speaking, we know thatContinue reading “Did the Thief on the Cross Need to be Baptised? He Was. “

The Year of Our Lord: Why Observe the Whole Liturgical Calendar?

Time waits for no man, and it is already June. In the Western liturgical calendar, we have just passed the Feast of Pentecost, leaving only Trinity Sunday ahead of us before we return to ordinary time, and the slow and quiet growth of ordinary Christian life. Of course, that is the Western ecclesial liturgical calendarContinue reading “The Year of Our Lord: Why Observe the Whole Liturgical Calendar?”

Epiphany: Baptism Reveals the Son(s) of God

When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’— Luke 3v21-22 The feast of theContinue reading “Epiphany: Baptism Reveals the Son(s) of God”

Weighty Words vs. Gravitational Mass: Balancing Sermon and Sacrament

Should the sermon or the Lord’s Supper be the focal point of the Sunday meeting? Yes.

Who is Baptism For?

This is a multiple choice question, but what should the choices be?
a) adults, b) babies; or a) us, b) other people?

‘Our Earthly Rulers Falter’: A Hymn and a Prayer for this Moment in Evangelicalism

English conservative evangelicalism is in crisis. G. K. Chesterton’s honest, insightful, and hopeful hymn gives us the appropriate words for this moment.

See My Vest: Should Clergy Wear Robes?

I suspect that, deep down, a lot of people become Anglican clergy because they like dressing up. Should they?

‘You Can’t Sit With Us’: How Mean Girls Helped Me Better Understand the Significance of the Lord’s Supper

I reckon Mean Girls can teach us something profound about the Lord’s Supper. And maybe one day we could make fetch happen.

The First Supper

A couple thousand years before Jesus, someone else thought of serving a simple meal of bread and wine. What was going on?

What Kind of Witness?: A Case for Churches Staying Open

Covid-19 has forced some tough decisions. A lot of people say closing churches is a way to show our neighbours we love them. But what else might it say? And what might keeping churches open say?