Charles Lee: What Really Makes a Good Idea Work?

Innovative ideas that create significant change to an industry are few and far between. It’s no wonder many people go to great lengths to get insider information about the ideas and strategies that surround the latest “success stories.” Why not? There’s a lot we can learn from companies and organizations that share the same market space with our own endeavors.

Unfortunately, some are trying way too hard to steal ideas under the guise of learning. This is faulty thinking when it comes to idea-making. Here’s why (apart from legal ramifications).... Keep reading

Sam Rainer: The Case for Gradualism

My Facebook news feed recently captured several images of gas pump prices. Ubiquitous posts of ubiquitous subjects are nothing new to social media images. Purchasing gas below $3 per gallon, however, was worthy of a little celebration. So I clicked like.

I’m not old (relatively). But I do remember buying hard copies of music in brick-and-mortar stores. I can also remember buying gas below $1 per gallon—back in the days when maps were folded in the glove compartment. I miss the gas prices. I don’t miss the origami madness of refolding the map.

It was not so long ago that $3 per gallon gas was quite unthinkable. In fact, back then, if we jumped overnight from $1 per gallon to $3 per gallon, the White House phone lines would have lit up. People would have revolted. We would have unfolded our maps and charted our way to Washington.

The gradual path of rising gas prices has been painful but—for the most part—tolerable. People actually buy the Prius now. No one is speculating about one-upping the Excursion. When change occurs in steps, people have time to let it settle in increments. Like climbing a thousand steps, you can get there with enough time. Keep reading

Artie Davis: 5 Changes That Increase Productivity

I was reading this recently in the CEO newsletter. I loved the info-graphic, and was intrigued by the biggest changes leaders need to make to become more productive..

The top five really resonated with me and I’ve listed them in my own words… Keep reading

Carey Nieuwhof: 7 Fresh Ways for Every Church Leader to Think About Money

If you’re going to be effective in ministry, you have to become comfortable talking about money.

Few church leaders I know are.

Here Come the Bullets 

It’s been a struggle for me too. You take a few bullets when you talk about money, even when you speak about it as earnestly, biblically and honestly as you know how.

But talk about it you must. Especially if you want to have a vibrant ministry in the future.

But if you don’t talk about it, you will likely remain broke as a ministry, and chances are so will the people you lead. The message of our culture leads people to overextension on things that matter little in the end, and often end up dissolving families (see below).

It’s Not Hopeless…Really

I know what it’s like to lead with very meager resources as well as what it’s like to lead with more.

When I began in ministry 18 years ago, three small churches called me to be their pastor.

The annual budget for one of the churches was $4000. No, there are no missing zeros. (And I’m not making that up.) Added together, the budget of all three churches was under $50,000 for the year. The doors were almost closing.

But seeing resources freed up for ministry has made a big difference. Nearly 2000 people call our church home, and we see almost 1000 of them every weekend. Today our church is vibrant, healthy and alive (so thankful for that.)

7 Different Ways For Every Church Leader to Think About Money 

So how do you talk about money? And why should you talk about this subject so many leaders avoid?

Here are 7 ways to have the conversation. Keep reading

Also see
Why Year-End Giving Is a Good Thing

Matt Perman: 9 Recommended Books on Leadership

Five of these books are from an explicitly Christian perspective, and four are from the secular arena. I know that nine books is a lot, so after reading these recommendations, I suggest picking up maybe three or four of them. Keep reading

Church of England makes Sunday worship more accessible with new app

The Church of England has released a new free app to help more people follow Sunday services using their mobile devices.

'Sunday Worship' presents the full Bible readings for the main church service, along with the Collect and post-Communion prayers for the week in a simple, easy to follow format for use on iPhones and iPads.

The launch of the app follows that of two others published to support and engage congregations. 'Reflections for Daily Prayer', which offers daily Bible readings, prayer and inspiration, was released on 28 November, and 'The Lectionary' is now available as an app, Kindle e-book or printed booklet. It provides clergy and worship leaders with vital information such as Bible readings and full details of feast days.

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The apps have been developed by the official publisher of the Church of England, Church House Publishing, alongside Aimer Media. Keep reading

Photo: Christchurch, Bushmead

ACR Online – Forget the Channel

The 21^st century saw incredible communication breakthroughs with a soaring use of social media. Social media has given us ways of communicating that is unparalleled in digital history. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, blogs, microblogging have all become household terms. Amongst infinite possibilities, social media has opened up tremendous opportunities for Christians to speak in the world. The internet can be a wonderful place in which resources can be shared and received, in spite of geographical distances between us. In a generation of fleeting entertainment and shallow thinking, Christians can use social media to exercise their imagination and creativity to commend the gospel by speaking the truth in love.

And Christians must speak! We have more reasons to speak than anybody else in the world. Scriptures deride other gods as wood and stone, the works of human hands that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell (c.f. Deut. 4:28). More than the followers of any other gods, or adherents to any other faith, we speak because our God has spoken.¹ And we speak because we know and serve this God who has spoken. Keep reading

Also see Action urged against Internet firewalls of Iran, China, other repressive regimes

Ruth Powell: How Religious are Australians?

Religion has an undeniable place in the Australian story.

Can Australia be described as a Christian nation? This is the sort of question that I have been asked by people visiting from other countries. It sounds like a simple question, but there are different ways to answer it.

The first point to make is that Australia's indigenous people have been in this nation for around 60,000 years. They have a deep spirituality and sense of connectedness to the land.

A group of more recent arrivals to these ancient shores came from the United Kingdom in chains some 200 years ago. Some Christian clergy were part of the landscape as authority figures, which created a rocky start for Christianity. Since then migrant communities have continued to find their way to Australia, seeking a better life for themselves and their children, making it the second most multicultural nation in the world (after Luxemburg!). Many bring their religion with them.

In recent decades, Australia, like other western nations, has experienced extraordinary and rapid social change in recent decades. This changing social context has been analysed and described by philosophers, social scientists, theologians, artists and others. So what is the situation now? How much has it changed? Keep reading

Secularism Among Jewish Millennials Presents an Opportunity for Christians to Share the Gospel, Messianic Jews Say

A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows that young Jews do not consider religion as a key component of what it means to be Jewish. This trend, connected to a wider secularism among the youth, provides an opportunity for preaching the Gospel, according to some Messianic Jewish scholars.

Russ Resnik, executive director of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC), called the decreasing emphasis on religion among Jewish Millennials "both a real problem and an opportunity," in an interview with The Christian Post on Tuesday. Resnik explained "it's a problem that our country is becoming increasingly secular," but he insisted that, as a result, "a lot of people are growing up without a lot of religious boundaries that historically kept Jews from thinking about Jesus as the Messiah."

According to the Pew study, 73 percent of Jews between 18 and 29 said a person can be Jewish if they do not believe in God. Sixty-six percent of the same group said being Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry or culture, as opposed to religion. Only 13 percent said religion was more important. Thirty-two percent of them identify as Jewish but have no religion. Keep reading

 Also see
Are Jews More Open to Jesus? New Study Shows Fewer Jews Ostracizing Messianics

Photo: Scott Utterback, The (Louisviile, Ky) Courier-Journal

Eric Metaxas: An Ironic Ecumenism: The Global War on Christians (Part 2)

If I asked you to name the country that has witnessed the single greatest outburst of anti-Christian violence in recent years, you'd probably guess somewhere like North Korea or an Islamic country such as Egypt.\

You'd be wrong. The answer is India. As John L. Allen tells us in his new book, "The Global War on Christians," in 2008, "a series of riots [in the state of Orissa] ended with as many as five hundred Christians killed." Even more shocking than the number of those killed was the way they were killed: "many were hacked to death by machete-wielding Hindu radicals."

By the time the violence ended, "thousands more were injured, and at least fifty thousand were left homeless."

Unlike North Korea or Saudi Arabia, the perpetrators were not government officials but private individuals and groups, acting with the implicit and sometimes explicit approval of local officials.

Thus, after a nun was "raped, marched naked through the streets and beaten," local "police sympathetic to the radicals discouraged the nun from filing a report and declined to arrest her attackers."

This was not the first or even the greatest example of violence perpetrated by Hindu radicals against an Indian religious minority. Similar violence in the state of Gujarat in 2002 claimed the lives of an estimated 2,000 Muslims. Keep reading

Former Turkish Cathedral Hagia Sophia May Become a Mosque

Members of the government of the Republic of Turkey have expressed consideration in turning a notable landmark that was once a church into a mosque.

Hagia Sophia, originally built as a cathedral and presently a museum, may be turned into a mosque, recently commented Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc.

"We are looking at a sad Hagia Sophia, but hopefully we will see it smiling again soon," said Arinc regarding the possible change.

Such a possible move has garnered controversy both within Turkey and internationally, as many believe such a decision could put the country at odds with its generations of secular pluralistic tradition. Keep reading

Photo: Arild Vågen/ Wikimedia Commons

The reality for Christians living under the shadow of Pakistan's blasphemy law

Living in a land of 97 per cent Muslims, the Christians in Pakistan have the fear of persecution all the time in the guise of threats, discrimination and hatred. But one intimidation that hovers over them every time is the blasphemy law.

Pakistan gained independence in 1947 from the British rule and the Christians living in the subcontinent decided to be part of Pakistan although many have decided differently and preferred to live in India. After independence and until now, the Christians have been serving the nation in different fields from military, to education, to medical, and many other fields.

The Christians of Pakistan are as patriotic and committed to their country as any Muslim living there; in fact the Christians are more despite the problems and hardships they have to suffer.

Yet, unfortunately patriotism and serving the nation doesn't make them a loyal and equal Pakistani as the Muslims living there are. The majority population - the Muslims - always calls Pakistan their land and the land of Muslims. I would mostly argue with my colleagues when they commented on the cricket match: "God, give victory to our team as the Muslims are playing". I would ask them were only the Muslims living in Pakistan and who was I?

The way every matter in life - from game to job, and the list goes on - is affiliated with religion by majority, which restricts their thinking and minds to accept and acknowledge the presence of the minorities living in Pakistan. The same way accusing and implicating Christians in blasphemy is very easy, just like a toy in a child's hand. It is just like a wish coming true to get rid of the Christian person you don't like by accusing him/her of blasphemy. Keep reading

What’s Wrong with Sacramental Worship?

By Robin G. Jordan

In my article, “Morningand Evening Prayer – Public Worship or Private Devotions,” I examined a number of problems associated with sacramental worship. The problems affect the Anglican Church in North America as well as the Episcopal Church. Indeed, they affect all denomination in which the predominant form of worship is sacramental.

Sacramental worship may be defined as worship in which the consecration and reception of the Holy Communion are the primary focus. The consecration may include the offering of the consecrated bread and wine to God as a representation or reiteration of Christ’s sacrifice or as a form of participation in Christ’s hypothesized ongoing sacrificial activity. The showing of the consecrated bread and wine to the congregation for adoration may precede the communion. A portion of the consecrated elements may also be reserved for subsequent adoration.

In the Anglican Church in North America the priest in charge of the parish or mission determines what meaning is assigned to the consecration and reception of the Holy Communion in a particular church. He does this in two ways. One way is the practices that he follows—the ceremonial, the gestures, and the postures he uses. The other is how he explains the consecration and reception from the pulpit, in the classroom, in the newsletter, and on the internet. What he believes or wants the congregation to believe can be gleaned from these sources.

In its Fundamental Declaration the Anglican Church in North America recognizes the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as “a standard of Anglican doctrine and discipline” with the inference that the 1662 Prayer Book is one of a number of doctrinal and disciplinary standards for Anglicans. The Fundamental Declarations do not identify these standards.

Historically the Thirty-Nine Articles, the two Books of Homilies, and the 1661 Ordinal, together with the 1662 Prayer Book, form the doctrinal standard of Anglicanism. The Fundamental Declarations, however, leaves to the individual what other standards he accepts.

The particular choice of wording also leaves him free to disregard the 1662 Prayer Book as a standard. He may choose the decrees of the Council of Trent to be his standard.

The Fundamental Declarations take the position that the Thirty-Nine Articles represent the views of Anglicans at a particular time in history. They are not binding upon our consciences today. We can disregard them. This is similar to the position liberals take on the passages in the Bible that condemn homosexual practice. They are the views of a particular culture at a particular time in history.

The Fundamental Declarations also take the position that the Thirty-Nine Articles contain only some principles of authentic Anglican belief and other such principles exist elsewhere. They do not identify where. The individual is left to decide for himself what these principles are and where they may be found.

The end result is that the priest in charge of the parish or mission may assign whatever meaning he likes to the consecration and reception of the Holy Communion as long as he does not run afoul of his bishop. If he and his bishop share similar views, he does not even have this restraint. Like the priest, the bishop is free to assign whatever meaning he likes to the consecration and reception. He is not conscience-bound to accept the doctrine of the Anglican formularies any more than the priest.

As far as what meaning may be assigned to the consecration and reception of the Holy Communion is concerned, the situation in the Anglican Church in North America is like that in the Episcopal Church where church doctrine in general is concerned. In the Episcopal Church a bishop cannot be tried for espousing views contrary to church doctrine until all the bishops of the church have been polled to determine what is church doctrine and whether views the bishop espoused were contrary to that doctrine. In the Episcopal Church church doctrine is whatever the preponderance of bishops believe is church doctrine. What is church doctrine one week may not be church doctrine the next.  The consciences of Episcopal bishops are not bound by the Anglican formularies or any other fixed standard, including the Scriptures. They are the ultimate authority. Even a patently heretical bishop is not likely to face trial for the views he espouses unless he offends his fellow bishops in some other way.

Due to the particular interpretations of Scripture that are prevalent in Anglican Church in North America even the Scriptures are not a restraining influence. Clergy influenced by Anglo-Catholic movement or the Ancient Future worship renewal movement give substantially more weight to church tradition than to Scripture, using tradition to interpret Scripture. They are not critical in reading the Patristic writers, submitting Patristic thought to Scripture.

The Anglo-Catholic movement is a movement with the restoration of traditional doctrines and practices from the Church’s past as its objective. The Ancient Future worship renewal movement is a movement with the revival of traditional doctrines and practices from the Church’s past as its objective. The focus of the Anglo-Catholic movement is the Anglican Church. The focus of the Ancient Future worship renewal movement was initially evangelical and charismatic churches.

The apostle Paul tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). The reading and preaching of the word are a critical part of the process by which an individual comes to faith. Through the proclamation of the gospel God plants the seed of faith, germinates it, and waters and nourishes it.

The Thirty-Nine Articles stress faith as a necessary pre-condition to the receipt of the sacrament of the Holy Communion. Article 25  tell us that through the sacrament of Holy Communion God works invisibly in us and quickens, strengthens, and confirms our faith in Him. Article 29 tells us that only those who have a vital faith can receive any benefit from the sacrament of the Holy Communion. Only they are partakers of Christ.

 Faith must be present in order for God to make it more active, stronger, and more certain. It does not have to be a strong faith but does need to be present.  Likewise faith must be present in order for us to participate in the benefits of Christ’s passion and death, his body broken for us, his blood shed for us.

When too much emphasis is placed upon sacramental worship and the traditional doctrines and practices wed to that worship, the proclamation of the gospel is not just neglected. The traditional doctrines and practices that are so much a part of sacramental worship proclaim “a different gospel.” Rather than offering the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ , they offer something else. Instead of offering the Bread of Life, they offer a stone.

If we are committed to fulfilling the great commission, this knowledge should make us think twice. Jesus commanded the Church to go and proclaim the gospel to the farthest reaches of the earth. He did not command the Church to take a particular form of worship to ends of the earth.

Much of what is touted as sacramental worship is human invention—the ornaments, the ceremonies, and the unscriptural doctrines. A gospel-centered celebration of the Holy Communion is simple and unadorned. It focuses upon what is most important. It follows the reading and preaching of the word and the proclamation of the gospel. Only what is essential to the celebration is present—a minister of the gospel, bread and wine, a gathering of believing Christians, and the intention to do what Christ himself ordained.

A gospel-centered celebration of the Holy Communion is not the representation or reiteration of a sacrifice. It is not a pleading of a sacrifice. It is the proclamation of a sacrifice. “…every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).

When believers drink from the cup, they share in the blood of Christ. When they eat the bread, they share in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). To those who “rightly, worthily, and with faith,” receive the cup and bread, the Holy Spirit applies the benefits of Christ’s passion and death (Article 28).

This is entirely a spiritual operation. The substance of the bread and wine is not changed when bread and wine are consecrated—set apart for sacramental use. Nothing is added to their substance. The bread is bread and the wine is wine.

If we are committed to fulfilling the great commission, we recognize the need for non-sacramental forms of worship as well as balanced services of the word and sacrament. We do not tie ourselves to a particular form of worship. We also recognize that whatever form worship does take, it must be centered on the gospel. It must not draw attention away from the gospel, obscure the gospel, or proclaim “a different gospel.”

In the forms of service that the Anglican Church in North America’s Liturgy and Common Worship Task Force has produced to date, sacramental ministry of the priest and sacramental worship are emphasized. This is not a positive development.

In a denomination that accepts the authority of the Bible and is committed to fulfilling the great commission, the emphasis would be upon the gospel ministry of the pastor and gospel-centered worship. The task force would be preparing for the use of the local church forms of service that conform to the teaching of Scripture in doctrine and practice and provide a wide variety of gospel-centered worship options from which the local church could choose.

The role of the task force, like that of the province and the diocese, would be to support the gospel ministry of the local church, not undermine it. The task force would be producing forms of service that included alternative forms of morning and evening worship as well as services of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Holy Communion. All of the forms of service would be designed for use as regular services of public worship.

All kinds of churches and all kinds of worship are needed to reach North America with the gospel. For a denomination to limit its local churches to one particular form of worship is poor stewardship of what God has given that denomination. It is unwise to say the least.  

A denomination that imposes such a limitation on its local churches is like the servant who was given one talent. Instead of investing it and making a profit for his master, he buried it. A denomination that limits its local churches to a single form of worship should remember the master’s reaction when he learned that the servant to whom he had given one talent had not employed it to his master’s advantage. In imposing this kind of limitation on its local churches the denomination is not being faithful. It is placing the dictates of tradition before the imperative of the gospel. It risks God taking from it all that he given it and giving it to another. 

Andrew Lisi: 5 Reasons to Open Your Blinds

There is a small, seemingly insignificant way we as the family of God can start to be missional in our own communities. It starts with opening our blinds. 

My wife Stacy and I recently got the number of some of our neighbors in the triplex where we live. We first invited them out for ice cream, and they weren’t down. But we knew the second time would be a no-brainer decision for them because Stacy was making Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Only fools turn that down.

They came over that Saturday night. It was nice to use the TV as a radio, playing some sweet jazz in the background as we talked. Early on in the conversation we talked about how great it was to have them over and to live in the triplex, because it is great to have some interaction. They had been living there a bit longer than we had, but they shared how they didn’t have any interaction with anyone else in the triplexes yet. They don’t know the people who live below them.

Our neighbors actually loved our music, heard our singing and laughing, and were impacted.

Then they told us something amazing. They were excited when we moved in because we opened our blinds! Stacy not only opens the blinds, but will retract them to bring light into the apartment and provide a feel of openness in the home. They loved it. Not only that, but they said they felt the freedom to start opening their blinds, as every other unit keeps their blinds closed at all time.

Then as I thought about it more, I could see how this had also impacted our neighbors in our old house. We would keep windows open and play music. Our neighbors actually loved our music, heard our singing and laughing, and were impacted. We are still friends with the couple who used to live below us, and Stacy has had great gospel conversations with the wife.

Who’d have thought having our blinds and windows open would have such an impact? This is just a small way we as the family of God can start to be missional in our own communities. This is a seemingly insignificant way for you to open up your life to your neighbors so that you can build friendships and share the gospel with them.

Is it that simple? Yes. Here are five reasons why..... Keep reading

Online map shows mission needs to volunteers

When the Baptist Convention of New England came into possession of an old church building in Massachusetts, BCNE leaders knew exactly what they wanted to do with it.

"We were fortunate enough to have the building donated to us, and now we hope to turn it into a church planting center for training planters in the New England area," Tim Buehner, evangelism consultant and mission mobilization leader for the BCNE, said of the building in Worcester given to the convention earlier this year.

Yet the renovation is daunting and costly, requiring everything from demolition and construction crews to painting, carpentry and masonry skills. Simply put -- they can't do it alone.

"We have a huge need and not enough resources," Buehner said, noting, "I'm sure we're not the only ones with this dilemma. There are extreme needs in areas like ours all over the nation where the majority of churches are small and pastored by bivocational leaders. In places like this, you can't do everything on your own; you need a little help."

That's why Buehner chose to post the convention's need on the North American Mission Board's Volunteer Opportunities map. Located online (namb.net/volunteer-opportunities), NAMB created the tool to connect churches and associations that have needs akin to New England's with volunteer mission teams who can help. Keep reading

What's your denomination or judicatory (diocese, district, network, presbytery, synod) doing to alert local churches to mission opportunities? What is it doing to connect churches and deaneries or their equivalent that have needs with those who can help?

The Expected One Advent Guide

The Meaning of Advent

The Advent season is observed by many Christians as a time of reflection and expectant waiting. The word Advent is English for the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming”. For many Christians, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives – celebrating the birth of the Messiah, and longing for his Second Coming.

Celebrating the Advent Season

The yearly Advent season provides an opportunity for the Church to pause and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, namely, the incarnation of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In preparation for Christmas, LifeWay Christian Resources has released a free devotional app that follows the Advent calendar called The Expected One. The Expected One content was developed by Scott James, an elder at the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL. Keep reading

Digital technology helping to fulfil 'Great Commission'

The organisation behind the world's largest source of digital Scripture content is hoping to reach an audience of billions around the world.

Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) launched the Digital Bible Platform just over three years ago, and has seen exponential growth in the number of people accessing content, currently in the region of hundreds of millions.

Utilising digital technology, FCBH is sharing the Bible with ministry partners all over the globe to make Scripture available to all.

Its quality audio recordings in 763 languages mean that millions of people are hearing the Gospel in their own language. Keep reading

Audio Bible Podcasts

Wealth Inequality in the US Is Much Worse Than People Think; Thin Line Between Lower-Middle Class and Poor

Wealth inequality in the United States is much worse than people think. There is a thin line between the collective earnings of the lower-middle class and poor, while the gap between them and the ridiculously rich is a shocking shame.

A videographer working under the name "Politizane" illustrated this in a video posted to YouTube called "Wealth Inequality in America" in which he features the results of a poll conducted by a Harvard business professor and economist that asked 5,000 Americans how they thought wealth was distributed in the country.

The graphic above illustrates the disparity between what people think the distribution of wealth is, what they believe it should should be like and what actually exists.

And what it shows is that wealth distribution in the U.S. is much worse than people think it is. Keep reading

In searching the internet for articles, I make a point of taking note of articles reporting trends that may affect churches in North America and elsewhere in the world and posting them on Anglicans Ablaze.  

Chinese church protests against arrest of 23 members

A church in eastern China has written a letter to the Chinese government, demanding permission to stage a protest against the detention of 23 members of its congregation.

The Nanle County Church in Puyang, Henan province, which comes under the 'official' state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), claims the majority of those detained, including the church's leader, Fan Ruiling, "have not received a criminal charge, nor any written notice, nor have their families been told where they are detained".

Four other church leaders – Zhang Shaojie, Zhao Guoli, Wu Guishan and Zhang Cuixia – were arrested. The church says their whereabouts is "unknown and no one knows whether they are alive or dead". Keep reading

Also read
Syrian Rebels Kidnap Nuns as They Invade Christian Town of Maaloula Again
Islamic Party Member Renews Threats Against Coptic Christians in Egypt: They 'Will Regret' Supporting Overthrow of Morsi
Bishop demands end to discrimination against Catholics in Bosnia
Tanzania: Church-Torching Incidents Irk Christian Clerics

Anglicans Ablaze Monday Special Edition: December 2, 2013

In this Monday Special Edition of Anglicans Ablaze:

• Morning and Evening Prayer – Public Worship or Private Devotions?
• Morning and Evening Prayer in Texts for Common Prayer: Tools to Fulfill the Great Commission?
• The Story behind Alternative Forms of Service (2009)
• Three Contemporary English Services of Holy Communion for North American Anglicans
• Dave Page: Church Planters are Spiritual Entrepreneurs
• Thom Rainer: Seven Ways Pastoring Has Changed in Thirty Years
• John Pond: Can Youth Ministers Actually Work with Parents?
• Brandon A. Cox: Is Discipleship About Growing? Or Going? Yes!
• Book Review: Shaping a Digital World
• Pilling Report has 'deep and serious flaws', says C of E evangelicals
• Women Bishops in the News
• Eric Metaxas: Paying in Blood: The Global War on Christians (Part 1)
• Angola denies 'Islam ban' but mosques remain closed

Morning and Evening Prayer – Public Worship or Private Devotions?

iBreviary

By Robin G. Jordan

The services of Morning and Evening Prayer originated as regular services of public worship. With the rise of monasticism in the fourth century the dawn office of Lauds and the dusk office of Vespers were appropriated by monastic communities as a part of their daily cycle of prayer. By the Middle Ages the practice of the main church in a community beginning the day with Lauds and ending it with Vespers fell into abeyance. The monastic offices would displace the cathedral or popular offices.

With the rise of mendicant orders of religious like the Franciscans in the thirteenth century the offices underwent another change. Rather than being sung in community, they were said privately. By the time of the English Reformation in the sixteenth century they had largely become the preserve of the clergy and the religious. The more pious laity used primers and similar manuals in their devotions.

At the time of the English Reformation Archbishop Cranmer sought to establish the public reading of Scriptures for “…the setting forth of God’s honor and glory and …the reducing of the people to a most perfect and godly living.” He saw the reform of the monastic offices as a means to this end. He translated the monastic offices into the vernacular and conflated them into the services of Matins and Evensong in The Book of Common Prayer. In every parish church the curate ministering in the parish church was directed to cause a bell to be tolled at “convenient time” before he began each service to summon the people to hear God’s word and to pray with him. What Cranmer did unintentionally was to restore the cathedral or popular offices.

Until the nineteenth century the typical pattern in Anglican parishes was Morning Prayer, Litany, and Ante-Communion. A sermon was preached at Ante-Communion. In many parishes Holy Communion was celebrated only on the four “Sacrament Sundays” of Christmas, Easter, Whitsunday, and Harvest.  The Evangelicals would introduce the more frequent celebration of the Holy Communion in their parishes in the eighteenth century.

The nineteenth century saw the enactment of legislation that permitted the separation of Morning Prayer from Litany and Holy Communion and the preaching of a sermon at Morning Prayer. This led to a number of developments. Morning Prayer would become the principal service in Evangelical parishes. These parishes would also have an early celebration of Holy Communion. Holy Communion would become the principal service in Tractarian parishes. Non-communicating celebrations of Holy Communion would become the practice in Post-Tractarian parishes. In these parishes Mass was celebrated on weekdays as well as Sundays and feast days.

In Tractarian and Post-Tractarian parishes Morning and Evening Prayer were subordinated to Holy Communion. In Post-Tractarian parishes were daily non-communicating celebrations of Mass were the practice, Morning and Evening Prayer once more became the preserve of the clergy and the religious. The nineteenth century also saw a revival of religious orders in the Anglican Church.

The practice of weekly celebrations of Holy Communion at which the baptized or confirmed regularly received communion was a twentieth century development. In the Episcopal Church this development may be attributed to the Liturgical Movement and the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. In the Church of England it is attributable to the Parish Communion movement.

The forms of Morning and Evening Prayer adopted in the 1979 Prayer Book were not particularly suitable for use as regular services of public worship. This appears to have been the intent of the compilers of the book. They wished to emphasize the celebration of Holy Communion as the central act of Christian worship on Sundays and feast days.

The Additional Directions in the 1979 Prayer Book do permit the use of all that appointed through the Prayers of the People if there is no communion. They also permit the singing of a hymn or anthem and the taking of a collection and the conclusion of the service with the Lord’s Prayer and the Grace or a blessing or the exchange of the Peace. The service may be led by a deacon or a lay reader in the absence of a priest.

I am not aware of any Episcopal churches that have taken advantage of this permission. If the regular priest is absent for any reason and a supply priest cannot be secured, an Episcopal church is likely to use Morning Prayer in place of its usual celebration of Holy Communion.

The disappearance of Morning Prayer as a viable option for the Sunday service in the Episcopal Church has contributed to the present situation in that denomination. Sacramental worship with its ceremonial and pageantry and its weekly reception of communion has become a substitute for the proclamation of the gospel and sound Biblical teaching. It soothes and lulls the consciences of Episcopalians to the point that they do not question what they hear from the pulpit or in the classroom. They have the familiar ritual and the sacrament. Sacramental worship is their opiate.

Sacramental worship paved the way for the ascendancy of liberalism in the Episcopal Church. It provides a guise under which all kinds of false teaching might be introduced to Episcopal congregations.

Sacramental worship shifted the focus on Sunday mornings. Episcopal congregations became less concerned with hearing Bible truths and principles and their application to the life of a Christian. They became more concerned with receiving the sacrament.

Sacramental worship has made the Episcopal Church priest-centered as well as sacrament-focused. Without a priest Episcopal congregations flounder. They are deprived of a critical element in their congregational life—their life as a sacramental community.  This overdependence upon the sacramental ministry of a priest makes them all too willing to accept false teachers and “wicked ministers.”

Sacramental worship has hampered the ability of the Episcopal Church to start new congregations and to maintain existing ones. It has hindered the denomination’s ability to reach a broader segment of the population as well as to regain lost ground. What new congregations are started are organized around the sacramental ministry of a priest. Existing congregations that can no longer support a priest and to which the diocese can no longer provide a priest wither away.

The growth of the Episcopal Church is tied to the growth of its base. As its base shrinks, the denomination shrinks. A characteristic of the Episcopal Church’s base is its attraction to sacramental worship. The denomination lost a part of its base when it alienated conservative elements in its base with its growing social activism and theological liberalism. The same factors—sacramental worship, social activism, and theological liberalism—interfere with the denomination’s ability to expand its base.

Before the liturgical revision of the late 1970s the Episcopal Church was able to start new congregations and maintain existing ones, using deacons and lay readers and the service of Morning Prayer. This is no longer a viable strategy.  

This state of affairs is not particular to the Episcopal Church. It also exists in the Anglican Church in North America. As in the Episcopal Church from which the ACNA broke away, sacramental worship is the dominant form of worship in that body. The ACNA’s penchant for sacramental worship is evident not only in its “theological lens,” its ordinal, and Texts for Common Prayer, but also on the websites of ACNA churches.

The prevalence of sacramental worship in the Anglican Church in North America is attributable in part to the sacramentalism of the conservative traditionalist Anglo-Catholic element that forms a part of its base. It is also attributable in part to the influence of the Ancient Future worship renewal movement upon other elements forming that base.

The Ancient Future worship renewal movement with its emphasis upon sacramental worship is an expression of the convergence movement. It is one of the expressions of the convergence movement with which congregations and clergy in the Anglican Church in North America are most familiar.

The Ancient Future worship renewal movement was also influential in the Episcopal Church before the AMiA and the ACNA broke away from that body. The Ancient Future worship renewal movement was popular with the faculty and students of the Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. TESM is still one of its centers of influence.

The convergence movement is an outgrowth of the charismatic movement and shares a number of its characteristics. It is interested in reanimating inherited doctrinal and devotional traditions. It is prone to emphasize subjective experience and feeling. Its commitment to revealed truth in Scripture has been described as not particularly strong or vigorous.

As long as sacramental worship dominates the worship of the Anglican Church in North America, the ACNA will not be effective in carrying out the great commission. New church starts led by deacons or lay catechists or readers and using the forms for Morning and Evening Prayer from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer in their worship gatherings are using forms not designed for use as regular services of public worship.

The forms for Morning and Evening Prayer in Texts for Common Prayer are no improvement. They are closely modeled on the forms in the 1979 Prayer Book. See the accompanying article, “Morning and Evening Prayer in Texts for Common Prayer: Tools to Fulfill the GreatCommission?” The Anglican Church in North America has not learned from the experience of the Episcopal Church and is set on repeating its mistakes. 

Photo: Pro Terra Sancta

Morning and Evening Prayer in Texts for Common Prayer: Tools to Fulfill the Great Commission?

By Robin G. Jordan

In Texts for Common Prayer the ACNA’s liturgical commission adopts the 1979 order of Morning and Evening Prayer for these offices for the Anglican Church in North America. Indeed, Morning and Evening Prayer in Texts for Common Prayer is so closely modeled upon Morning and Evening Prayer in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer that they are almost indistinguishable. The former Episcopalians who comprise the liturgical commission have not been able to make a complete break with the worship patterns of their former denomination.

The 1979 revision of the American Prayer Book changed the order of Morning and Evening Prayer after the Collect of the Day and added a number of so-called enrichments to the two offices.  These changes were consistent with the 1979 revision’s emphasis of the Holy Eucharist as the central act of worship on Sundays. They effectively eliminated the use of Morning and Evening Prayer as regular services of public worship in the Episcopal Church and reduced Morning and Evening Prayer to forms for the use of clergy and pious laity in their private devotions. The services of Morning and Evening Prayer in the 1928 Prayer Book, patterned on the services of Morning and Evening Prayer in the 1662 Prayer Book, were much better suited for use as regular services of public worship and were used for that purpose as late as the early 1970s.

The ACNA’s liturgical commission took A Prayer for the Clergy and People and sacrificed it on the Procrustean bed of the 1979 order of Morning and Evening Prayer. This collect originally came from the Sacramentary of Gelatious (A.D. 492), and is found in the Old English Primers. It was placed at the end of the first English version of the Litany published in 1544, and was inserted in the Prayer Book at the end of the Litany in 1559. It was placed after A Prayer for the Queen’s Majesty in 1662 and in the American Prayer Book after A Prayer for the President of the United States and All in Civil Authority in 1789. It occupied this position in the American Prayer Book until the revision of the 1979.

In the 1979 order of Morning and Evening Prayer seven daily collects and three mission prayers follow the Collect of the Day. Those using the offices may read one or more of the daily collects and one of the mission prayers. The liturgical commission has altered A Prayer for the Clergy and People, added the words, “and ignite in them a zealous love of your Gospel,” and turned it into one of the mission prayers.

The liturgical commission would have done better to have returned to the 1928 order of Morning and Evening Prayer.  This would have provided the Anglican Church in North America with another form of service for use as a regular service of public worship on Sundays. The 1979 form of Morning and Evening Prayer is not suited to this purpose.  The form of Morning and Evening Prayer in the Anglican Church of Canada’s 1985 Book of Alternative Services is much better suited to the use of Morning or Evening Prayer as a regular service of public worship on Sundays. A sermon can be preached after the readings and before the creed,familiar hymns can be substituted for the canticles, and a simple litany form can be used for the prayers. Congregations are not treated to the rapid fire recitation of a long string of poorly-chosen collects that adds nothing to their worship experience. The flexibility of the 1985 Canadian form of Morning and Evening Prayer make it particularly suitable for the use of small congregations and home groups.

To its credit the liturgical commission does make provision for the preaching of sermon after the readings and the substitution of songs of praise for the canticles. Unfortunately the liturgical commission did not include permission to use metrical versions of the Venite, the Jubilate, the Easter Anthems, the Phos Hilaran, and the other canticles in place of the prose versions.

Except for the utterance of the spontaneous intercessions and thanksgivings of the people and recitation of the Litany and the General Thanksgiving, the liturgical commission makes no provision for intercession and thanksgiving at Morning and Evening Prayer. The officiant is not given permission to read a selection of occasional prayers and thanksgiving. Nor may the officiant substitute a less cumbersome form of prayer for the Litany. The liturgy commission makes no provision for the omission of the Lord’s Prayer, the Suffrages, and the Collects if the Litany is used, a provision found in a number of the newer Anglican service books but not the 1979 Prayer Book.

The Litany is not the best choice for use with a congregation that contains a large number of people who have no previous experience of the Christian community at prayer. In the 1979 Prayer Book the Litany is four pages in length. The Litany, in addition to the Lord’s Prayer, the Suffrages, and the Collects, is even a poorer choice. When the Litany is used, these elements are redundant. The Litany also normally ends with the Lord’s Prayer.

The lack of a provision to omit everything after the Creed and to substitute for the Lord’s Prayer, the Suffrages, and Collects a form of prayer more suitable for a modern day service of public worship is one of the reasons that the 1979 form of Morning and Evening Prayer is poorly suited for use as a regular service of public worship on Sundays. In closely following the 1979 form, Morning and Evening Prayer in Texts for Common Prayer suffers from the same defect.

The rubrics permit the reading of one or more lessons. They note that “normally” a canticle is sung or said after each lesson. The choice of language infers that the canticle may be omitted after a lesson—a feature of the shortened forms of Morning and Evening Prayer found in a number of the more recent Anglican service books and designed for use in private devotions.

Since the rubrics do not limit the number of readings to two—one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament,  the same choice of language can be interpreted to mean that a canticle should follow each lesson—three lessons, three canticles; four lessons, four canticles; and so on. The rubrics, while offering suggestions, leave what canticles are used and where to the officiant.

Morning and Evening Prayer in Texts for Common Prayer gives the strong impression of being designed for use in seminary chapels, at conferences, and in private devotions but not as a regular service of public worship. These situations, I suspect, are the only situations in which the members of the liturgical commission have taken part in Morning and Evening Prayer. Consequently they have no idea of how Morning and Evening Prayer should be designed to make them usable as regular services of public worship. They have limited experience of non-sacramental worship if they have any experience of that type of worship at all.

If the Anglican Church in North America is committed to the fulfilling the great commission, it needs to put more tools in the local church’s worship tool box. The ACNA also needs to put the right tools in that tool box. A single eucharistic rite for use on Sundays and feast days, a shortened form of the same rite for use on weekdays,  a provision for deacons’ Masses, and forms of Morning and Evening Prayer for use in seminary chapels, at conferences, and as private devotions is an inadequate set of tools to say the least.

It suggests that the Anglican Church in North America is not really serious about taking the gospel to unreached and lightly reached people groups in North America, making disciples, and enfolding them into churches. It further suggests that the present members of the ACNA’s liturgical commission may be wrong people to be putting together such an important tool box.

It also prompts a number of questions about the leadership of the ACNA’s College of Bishops. Does the College of Bishops understand what the local church needs in its worship tool box to reach the lost?  Is College of Bishops satisfied to give the nod to whatever the liturgical commission comes up with because two of its members are colleagues? These are reasonable questions to ask.

A number of Anglican provinces and at least one Anglican diocese have produced service books that equip the local church with more tools. They have not only made the services of Morning and Evening Prayer and Holy Communion more flexible but have added new forms of service to the worship toolbox of the local church. The Church of England has produced a Service of the Word, which may be used with a celebration of Holy Communion or separately.  The Church of Ireland has also adopted a similar pattern of worship for use when the services of Morning and Evening Prayer and Holy Communion do not meet the needs of a particular congregation. The Anglican Church of Australia in its two most recent service books, An Australian Prayer Book (1978) and A Prayer Book for Australia (1999), provides a number of non-sacramental options for Sunday services.  So does the Diocese of Sydney in Sunday Services (2000) and Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings (2012).

While the Anglican Church of Kenya’s most recent service book has only three options for Sunday services—Morning Worship, Evening Worship, and the Service of Holy Communion, the first two options are designed to be used as regular services of public worship on Sundays. They are not forms that are not intended for that use but which may be put to that use under special circumstances. The compilers of the 1979 Prayer Book did not envision the use of Morning and Evening Prayer as regular services of worship on Sundays. Nor do the compilers of Texts for Common Prayer.  However, the compilers of Our Modern Services (2002, 2003) did envision the use of Morning and Evening Worship as Sunday services. Morning and Evening Worship are not only designed for use as regular services of public worship on Sundays but also they are particularly suited to the cultural setting in which they are used. They have permitted the Anglican Church of Kenya to make extensive use of evangelists and lay readers to spread the gospel, plant new churches, and care for new Christians.

If the Anglican Church in North America does not give its local churches more tools and the right tools for fulfilling the great commission, the ACNA will become another Continuing Anglican Church in North America. The ACNA will go the way that the existing Continuing Anglican Churches have gone. They neglected the gospel. They did not make disciples and enfold them into churches. They are withering as their base withers.

North America does not need more Continuing Anglican Churches. North America does need more gospel-centered, mission-shaped churches. The worship tool box that the ACNA’s liturgical commission has put together so far is not the worship tool box of a church that is centered on the gospel and shaped for mission It is the worship tool box of a church that is centered on the sacraments and content to do nothing. It looks suspiciously like the tool box of another Continuing Anglican Church.

Also see
The Story behind Alternative Forms of Service (2009)
Three Contemporary English Services of Holy Communion for North American Anglicans

Dave Page: Church Planters are Spiritual Entrepreneurs

Leadership guru Ken Blanchard once shared with me that you could tell if a person was an entrepreneur by the fourth grade. Church planters are spiritual entrepreneurs. Merriam-Webster defines an entrepreneur as “one who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” I remember starting my first lemonade stand when I was ten years old and recruiting other friends to help me. My first love was baseball and I was the guy that would call up his friends and ask one to bring the bats, another to bring the balls and invite everyone to meet at the elementary school at 2 pm to play baseball. In the same way, a church planter asks one friend to bring the sound system, another friend to bring the children’s ministry equipment and invites everyone to gather at the elementary school for a worship service.

Church planters are spiritual entrepreneurs who know that the odds are stacked against them in starting a successful church but they’re willing to assume the risk anyway. Unlike a business entrepreneur whose primary goal is to make money, a spiritual entrepreneur’s goal is to make meaning – to see lives changed by the power of God. Keep reading

Thom Rainer: Seven Ways Pastoring Has Changed in Thirty Years

We are out of clichés about change or the pace of change. Sometimes we forget how much particular vocations have changed in a short time. In fact, in thirty years pastoring has changed in ways we likely would have never predicted or imagined.

In early 1984, I began serving as a pastor for the first time. I would ultimately serve four churches as a pastor and nine churches as an interim pastor. In 1984 I was a young 28-year-old pastor without a clue. Today I am 58-years-old, and I’m still not sure I have a clue. So much has changed. So much has changed in pastoring in just thirty years. Let’s look at major ways the pastorate has changed in that time. Keep reading

John Pond: Can Youth Ministers Actually Work with Parents?

For years I always told the pastor, parent, or anyone else who asked that of course I am partnering with parents. We never want to be that youth ministry that does not work alongside parents, sense they are the primary disciple makers. However, a few years ago I realized that when it comes to working out this priority I was just giving lip service. Talking to other youth ministers I realized I was not the only one. How do the youth minister and parent practically work together to see that discipleship is actually happening in our teenagers' lives, as opposed to working in isolation and only pretending that we are working together?

The following elements must be in place for the relationship between youth ministers and parents to work in reality and not just on paper. Keep reading

Brandon A. Cox: Is Discipleship About Growing? Or Going? Yes!

We often use the word discipleship in two different senses. We refer to our personal spiritual growth as discipleship – the process of becoming more like Jesus. But we also use the word to refer to a person or church’s ministry of making disciples. So when we talk about discipleship as a purpose of the church, to which are we referring? Both. For me, discipleship has always been and hopefully always be a challenging issue to understand. What I mean is that I don’t ever want to have it boiled down to such a simple concept that I see it as a short formula. There are different angles from which we have to view the concept. For example… Keep reading

Book Review: Shaping a Digital World

It’s rare to find a short work on the nature of technology that is at once well written, wisely documented, philosophically astute, and steeped in Scripture. While several noteworthy books on the philosophy of technology have appeared in fairly recent years—such as Quentin Schultz’s Habits of the High-Tech Heart (2002), Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows (2011), Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together (2011), and Tim Challies’s The Next Story (2011)—this work occupies its own felicitous category for several reasons. First, Schuurman is a practitioner, a computer scientist. Most books written by technical experts are theologically thin or secular; instrumental rather than interpretational; and naively optimistic about the cultural and personal effects of the technologies they attempt to master. Second, this is the first book on this often vexing topic that omits nothing of significance and treats every relevant question pertaining to the nature, function, direction, limits, and promise of technology. This analysis is neither dry nor jocular (the curse of so much contemporary writing, even on serious topics); neither pedantic nor cursory; neither long-winded nor short-sighted. Keep reading

Pilling Report has 'deep and serious flaws', says C of E evangelicals

The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) has said that there are "deep and serious flaws" in the Pilling report on human sexuality.

The Pilling report made numerous recommendations, including the proposal that clergy, providing they have the agreement of their church council, should be able to offer services to bless faithful same-sex relationships.

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The CEEC welcomed the Bishop of Birkenhead's dissenting statement, in which he wrote that "after much prayer and soul searching" he could not sign the report as a result of its failure to offer "a consistent or coherent response" to questions surrounding the Church's stance on sexuality. Keep reading

Also see

Andrew Symes: The Pilling Report: what it says, what it means, what we should do

More responses to the Pilling Report may be found at Anglican Church League and Anglican Ink.

Women Bishops in the News

9th Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminister Elected

The third ballot for the election of the 9th Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster was called at 1:41pm. With four nominees remaining on the ballot the results showed that the Reverend Canon Melissa Skelton had received a substantial majority of votes from both houses, clergy and lay. Clergy: 81 of 119 and Lay: 126 of 173

After the results were learned, the Metropolitan of the Eclesiastical Province of BC and Yukon, Archbishop John Privett contacted the other four bishops of the Provincial House of Bishops and there was a concurrence of the Provincial House. Keep reading

Also see
Rev. Canon Melissa M. Skelton: Statement [Video]
Rev. Canon Melissa M. Skelton: Curriculum Vitae[PDF]
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Seattle

Irish Anglicans install Rev Pat Storey as bishop

The UK and Ireland's first woman bishop has been consecrated by the Anglican Church at a service in Dublin on Saturday.

The Reverend Pat Storey, a rector in Londonderry, was appointed in September. Keep reading

David Ould: Grafton Appointment Exposes Massive Differences in the Anglican Church in Australia

I wrote last week about the appointment of Rev Dr Sarah Macneil as the new Bishop of Grafton diocese in NSW, Australia. Not only is she due to be Australia’s first female diocesan, but far more troubling she is on the record as holding what many consider to be heterodox views on human sexuality and the atonement.

I wrote to Dr Macneil’s new diocese and sought clarification on these large questions. Did she stand by her views or was she now committed to the official position of the Anglican Church of Australia? You can read about the clear contrast between those two positions in my original piece. Keep reading

Eric Metaxas: Paying in Blood: The Global War on Christians (Part 1)

Mass burials of murdered Christians in Nigeria

Sometime in November, the North Korean regime publicly executed eighty people in seven cities across the country. In each instance, a crowd was forced to watch as ten people, their heads covered with white bags, were tied to stakes and machine gunned to death.

The "crimes" for which these people were put to death were "watching or illegally trafficking South Korean videos, or involvement in prostitution, [or] possessing a Bible."

That's right. Possessing a Bible. Keep reading

Also see
Dozens killed in fresh attacks in central Nigeria
Christians prepare to face increasing persecution in India
India Group Seeks Action on 'Mass Conversion' of Aboriginals to Christianity

Photo: World Watch Monitor

Angola denies 'Islam ban' but mosques remain closed

The government of Angola has denied that it is engaged in the process of 'banning' Islam from within 

its borders.

"There is no war in Angola against Islam or any other religion," said Manuel Fernando, director of the National Institute for Religious Affairs, a division of the ministry of culture.

This despite an earlier reported quote from the Minister of Culture Rosa Cruz e Silva, who is reported to have said: "The legalisation of Islam has not been approved by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights… Their mosques will be closed until further notice." Keep reading