Weekly essays inspired by Anglican themes and theology.
The Spirit upon Christ and in Us Last Sunday, the Tenth Sunday after Trinity, we heard St Paul’s teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:4). It’s remarkable that the Prayer Book gives such an established place to this teaching of Saint Paul,…
Vol. 57 No. 37 | The Tenth Sunday after Trinity | August 9, 2026 According to the fifth-century Creed of Saint Athanasius, the union of divine and human natures in the person of Christ does not consist in the “conversion of the Godhead into flesh,” but in “the taking of the Manhood into God.” The mystery…
Vol. 57 No. 36 | The Ninth Sunday after Trinity | August 2, 2026 The Feast of the Transfiguration on August 6 has not always occupied the place it does now. Though long celebrated in the Christian East as one of the Twelve Great Feasts, in the West, it was not observed universally until 1457, when…
Vol. 57 No. 35 | The Eighth Sunday after Trinity | July 26, 2026 Earlier this summer I had occasion to read the Burial Office with a congregation that was unfamiliar with the Book of Common Prayer, and I realized how perplexing this service may be to those encountering it for the first time. To be…
Vol. 57 No. 34 | The Seventh Sunday after Trinity | July 19, 2026 Suffering and Hope The Prayer for the Church ends where every Christian life must finally end: in suffering, death, and the hope of eternal life. After praying for the Church throughout the world, for rulers and ministers, and for the faithful gathered…
Vol. 57 No. 33 | Sixth Sunday after Trinity | July 12, 2026 Hearing and Receiving Having prayed for the Church as a whole, for the rulers of society, and for those entrusted with the ministry of Word and Sacrament, the Prayer for the Church now turns to the people who are to receive that ministry:…
Vol. 57 No. 32 | Fifth Sunday after Trinity | July 5, 2026 How Christ Builds the ChurchThe Prayer for the Church asks first for the church as a whole, its unity in truth and love, and then for the rulers of society. But then in the third petition it turns to the outward means by…
Vol. 57 No. 31 | Fourth Sunday after Trinity | June 28, 2026 The Church in the World One of the striking features of the Prayer for the Church is how quickly it turns our attention away from ourselves. In the opening petition, we ask God to unite his Church in truth of God’s Word and…
Vol. 57 No. 30 | Third Sunday after Trinity | June 21, 2026 Praying Our Mission A mission statement says what an organization exists to do, what it hopes to become, and what principles guide its life. In the Prayer for the “whole state of Christ’s Church” in the service of Holy Communion, we have a…
Vol. 57 No. 29 | Second Sunday after Trinity | June 14, 2026 The celebration of the feast of Pentecost that is completed on Trinity Sunday is not the end of the Church’s year but the beginning of its longest season. The green months from Trinity Sunday to Advent occupy nearly half the Christian year. They are the…
Vol. 57 No. 28 | First Sunday after Trinity | June 7, 2026 I have now been your rector for twenty years—a milestone that rather crept up on me. Had the congregation not so kindly marked the occasion, I might have let it pass with little comment, but your acknowledgment has prompted some reflection. On…
Vol. 57 No. 27 | Trinity Sunday | May 31, 2026 On Whitsunday, or Pentecost, the Church commemorated the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples for the sake of their mission in the world. Today, on Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the end toward which that mission is directed: that we may “see”…
