FALL A.D.

2023

VOL. 65 NO. 3

Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church

Champaign, Illinois, Photo: Jason Cerezo
 FALL 2023

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 FALL A.D. 2023

VOL. 65 NO. 3

Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church, Champaign, Illinois

Photo: Jason Cerezo
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIRMAN
THE REV’D CHARLESTON D. WILSON
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THE REV’D CHRISTOPHER COLBY

SECRETARY/TREASURER
THE REV’D DR. C. BRYAN OWEN
THE RT. REV’D JOHN C. BAUERSCHMIDT
THE RT. REV’D ANTHONY J. BURTON
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THE VERY REV’D DR. NEAL MICHELL
MR. PHILLIP PARKER
DR. E. MITCHELL SINGLETON, HONORARY

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
THE REV’D DR. FREDRICK A. ROBINSON, EDITOR
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2 anglicandigest.org
 Reflecting the words and work of the
faithful throughout the Anglican
Communion for more than fifty years.

connecting gathering telling

For sixty-five years, The Anglican Digest (TAD) has been the
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From its inception, TAD’s mission has been “to reflect the words
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At a time when print editions are becoming an endangered
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Founded in 1958 by the Rev’d Howard Lane Foland (1908-

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fall 2023 3
 A Letter from a
Member of the Board of Trustees

Dear Readers of The Anglican Digest,

“This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
This is one of my favorite Bible verses to say after the Absolution
and before The Peace in the Rite I service of the Holy Eucharist. It’s a
powerful reminder that Jesus did not come to shame and condemn
sinners. He came to save. He came to seek out the lost. He came to
offer us sinners new, eternal, and abundant life.
That’s a timeless message that lies at the core of the Gospel. It’s a
message that people need to hear, especially if they fear God or think
that because of things done or left undone they are beyond the reach
of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
For 65 years, The Anglican Digest has played an important role in
sharing the good news that Jesus is not the enemy but the friend and
the savior of sinners. Through articles written by lay and ordained
ministers around the Anglican Communion, The Anglican Digest
continues to be a beacon of Gospel light and hope in a dark world
that needs to know and trust Jesus Christ.
This ministry of sharing the Gospel is only possible because of
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And may “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (II Corinthians
13:14).
Faithfully yours,
The Rev’d Dr. Bryan Owen
Member of the Board of Trustees
4 anglicandigest.org
6 Editor’s Letter
7 The Beauty of Mosie Burks
10 Prayers of the People for St. Michael
and All Angels
12 The Baptismal Promises are Not Enough
18 Saints: Anachronistic in the 21st Century?
26 All Saints’ Day
31 All Souls’ Day
36 United in God’s Family
38 Why Requiem Masses?
40 St. barbara
42 The Avett Brothers
47 Pumpkin Cake
49 By the rivers of Babylon
56 Not Alone
60 The Good Priest
63 Necrology

fall 2023 5
connecting

A Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers of The Anglican Digest,
It is common knowledge that we live in a highly mobile society. Many
of us are probably good examples that prove the rule, while others of
us have been blessed with always having lived in one general location.
My wife, Linda, and I have recently become excellent examples of the
former. Having lived in Tampa for only a little over a year, we are now
temporarily located in Champaign, Illinois, where I am currently serv-
ing as the Interim Rector of Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church.
One thing has not changed wherever we have lived. Wherever we go,
we find faithful, Christ-centered, loving congregations, dedicated to
worshiping and serving our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are having a wonderful time in this beautiful church that has a
classic liturgy, a stellar music program, and a warm and loving con-
gregation. Champaign is the home of the University of Illinois, which
helps to make this community a youthful, vibrant, and bustling one. A
new Rector will find an excellent foundation in the current congrega-
tion with tremendous potential for growth. Clergy who are interested
in this position will find further information on the parish website
and the website of the Diocese of Springfield.
Emmanuel Memorial is now our newest Parish Part-
ner. Pictures of the church are on the covers, front and
back, of this issue. Welcome, Emmanuel Memorial, to
The Anglican Digest family!

Faithfully in Christ,

The Rev’d Dr. Fredrick A. Robinson

6 anglicandigest.org
gathering
THE BEAUTY OF
MOSIE BURKS
The Rev’d Canon Stephen C.
Holmgren, M.A., D. Phil.
(Oxford)
Assisting Grace Church in
retirement
St. Francisville, LA
One of the most beautiful
women in America is some-
one you may never have
heard of. By saying this, I am
referring to a concept of beau-
ty that transcends the con-
telling
temporary, much too usual,
sense of beauty that is shaped
by outward appearance. What
I have in mind here is a deep-
er sense of that word, one that
is anchored in goodness and
truth, and in a personal and
vibrant faith.
Mosie Burkes reminds me
of my Swedish-descended
grandmother. On the face of
it, that seems like a ridiculous
statement. Yet, to my knowl-
edge both women have shared
the same deep faith, while
having very different cultural
ways of expressing that truth.
For sure, there is a world of
difference between Mosie, an
African-American Church of
Christ woman born of share-
cropping parents in pre-Civil
fall 2023 7
connecting
Rights rural Mississippi, and
my own forbear, Lydia, who
grew up in an 1890’s immi-
grant family in Minneapolis in
a Swedish Baptist church. Yet,
both women are faith-shaping
for me, but in varying ways.
There is a truism that can help
me and others parse this: if
we have grown up as persons
of faith, a grandmother often
has been a significant part of
the picture. And, for many,
Mosie Burks may be that sub-
stitute grandmother.
Paradoxically, it may be my
Swedish great-grandfather
who perhaps also accounts
for my appreciation for Mosie
Burks. He left Sweden in the
1890’s to come to America
as a dissident Baptist – not
only from the Anglican Com-
munion-friendly Church of
Sweden, but also from his
own fellow Baptists. Why?
Because of, as best as we can
discern, his proclivity toward
Pentecostal experience. After
founding a Swedish language
8 anglicandigest.org
newspaper in Minneapolis,
and in pursuing local minis-
try, he then engaged in mis-
sions to South America.
As much as my own spiritual
and liturgical instincts run in
an old-fashioned Anglican di-
rection (“Let all mortal flesh
keep silence…”), preferring
reflective and mystical forms
of worship, I am stopped in
my tracks by Mosie Burks
and her singing with the Mis-
sissippi Mass Choir. When
I watch her sing, along with
that magnificent choir, I have
the sense that the spirit of my
great grandfather rises up
within me. Yet, I do not want
to deny the universal appeal
of her talent and that of the
ministry of her choir. You-
Tube even has a comment,
in French, from a self-iden-
tifying Muslim, who adores
Mosie’s singing.
I think that the power of
Mosie Burks’s singing with
the Mississippi Mass Choir
gathering telling

the heartfelt significance of

the words she shares with us.

has a lot to do with her unre-
strained and unselfconscious
authenticity. In several of
her videos we see moments
where, “slain by the Spirit,”
Bernini’s Baroque sculpture,
“St Theresa in Ecstasy,” be-
comes transposed through a
music video into contempo-
rary Jackson, MS.
Wouldn’t we—self-restrained
as we usually are—want to
give ourselves to Jesus in such
a self-revealing way? Well, as
a descendent of far-north-
ern European immigrants to
America, I know my usual
answer to that question! And
this is why—for me—Mosie’s
approach to singing the Gos-
pel and in demonstrating her
faith is so compelling. Watch-
ing her sing, with such power,
finds me saying to myself, I
want to go to her church!

As she gives herself to her mu- God bless you, Mosie Burks!
sic—and this is a key point—
Mosie unconsciously embod- Look for Mosie Burks and
ies in her voice and movement the Mississippi Mass Choir

fall 2023 9
connecting
on YouTube. The images
above are snapshots taken
from music videos available
through that medium. I es-
pecially recommend among
her repertoire these: “When I
Rose this Morning;” “I’m Not
Tired Yet;” and “They Got the
Word.” Some of her videos
were recorded when she was
in her 80’s!
vvv
Is God Calling You?
The Sisters of Saint Gregory
welcome women from all
walks of life who are seeking
a deepening call of devotion
in their spiritual journey. If you
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supported by like-minded
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10 anglicandigest.org
PRAYERS
OF THE PEOPLE
St. Michael and all Angels
In the power of the Spirit,
and in union with Christ,
let us pray to the Father,
saying “Lord hear our prayer.”
Father in heaven,
by his blood your Christ has
ransomed us to you,
and has made us a kingdom
and priests to you our God.
As the angels minister to
you in heaven,
strengthen your Church to
serve you here on earth.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Father in heaven,
when the angels greeted the
birth of your Son
they sang for joy ‘Glory to
God and peace on earth.’
Bless with Christ’s peace the
nations of the world.
Lord, hear us,
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
gathering
St. Michael the Archangel
Church of St. Michael
Vienna, Austria
Father in heaven,
your Son has promised to
your children the care of the all who come in faith
guardian angels who look
upon your face.
Protect by your mercy our
neighbours, families and
friends.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Father in heaven,
you give your angels charge
telling
over those who trust in you
to guard them in all their
ways.
Be with those in trouble…
rescue them and show them
your salvation.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Father in heaven,
your angel declares ‘Blessed
are the dead who die in the
Lord.’
‘Blessed indeed,’ says the
Spirit,
‘for they may rest from their
labours,
for they take with them the
record of their deeds.’
Enfold in your love [… and]
to your judgement seat in
heaven.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Father in heaven,
the angels sing by day and
night around your throne:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God almighty.’
fall 2023 11
connecting

we sing your praise and exalt

you for ever.
Amen.

From Common Worship,

Church of England

vvv

THE BAPTISMAL
PROMISES AREN’T
ENOUGH
The Rev. Cn. Dr. Rob Droste
Canon for Congregational
Development and Mission
Archangel Gabriel Diocese of New Jersey
(1489-1491)
Filippino Lippi

With Michael, prince of the

angels, who contends by our
side,
with Gabriel, your herald,
who brings glad tidings,
with Raphael, the protector,
who ministers your healing,
and with the whole company When talking with folks
of heaven, around the diocese, I often
we worship you, we give you hear something like this:
glory, “The promises we make in

12 anglicandigest.org
gathering
the baptismal service are the
directions for how to live as a
Christian. They’re all you re-
ally need to know.” (The Bap-
tismal Promises refer to the
Baptismal Covenant on pages
304-5 of The Book of Common
Prayer.) Of course, this is a
true statement.
Well, in a way.
The five promises are certain-
ly central to how we are to try
to live if we are to call our-
selves Christians: followers
of Jesus, disciples, or (to use
Dallas Willard’s lovely term)
“apprentices” of the Master.
We make a covenant; we sign
a binding contract; we issue
a lifelong promissory note to
live this way — to make choic-
es using this kind of thinking
and feeling. The promises are
breathtaking, impossible on
our own power and a pathway
to a transformed life – and
through it, actions that help
God save the world.
telling
But.
As marvelous as they are, and
as much as they represent a
new beginning and the move-
ment of the Holy Spirit in
the person who makes them,
the promises are (shocking
though this might sound) in
a very real sense, incomplete.
If we want to endure brief dis-
comfort, we might even sug-
gest for a moment that they’re
not enough for Christians
to live the best life to which
they’re called.
This isn’t just me talking; the
Prayer Book itself actually as-
sumes that before we make the
baptismal promises, we will
have first met two essential
requirements. Working back-
wards in the ritual, we will
have b) professed our belief in
the nature and reality of God
as stated in the Nicene Creed.
And before that, we will have
a) renounced Satan and evil
and committed ourselves, in-
dividually and personally, to
fall 2023 13
connecting
Jesus as Savior and Lord. All
this is supposed to happen
before we start making prom-
ises. They’re a response: the
“how” to the “what” or “who”
I am becoming.
A few of you might be saying,
“well, duh. Obviously.” But
how deeply and how often
do you, and your community,
engage – really grapple with
– our Prayer Book’s personal
choice to renounce Satan and
evil and to commit yourselves
to Christ as Savior and Lord?
Notice that when we renew
our baptismal vows in a ser-
vice, we skip over the essential
point of personal decision, of
renunciation, and commit-
ment. I’m sure there were rea-
sons for that choice leading
up to the ’79 ratification of
our current book, but skip it
we do.
Of course some of us will be
reminded, as we witness oth-
ers saying those six powerful
phrases, of the time when we
said those words ourselves in
14 anglicandigest.org
front of God and everybody.
Something may well move
within us. I hope it does. But
in that moment or two, it’s so
important to consider how
deeply we are re-engaging
those answers for ourselves
and reflecting on what they
actually mean. And more than
that, how much they shape
the deepest truth about who
we are. I’m not able to read
minds and hearts, of course,
but I sometimes suspect we
just “roll over” that part of the
service, staying on or at the
surface. I certainly have, es-
pecially when I am ultimately
responsible for the many lo-
gistics of the service itself.
I think that most of us would
agree that our denomination
is, pretty typically, most de-
cidedly uncomfortable with
“taking Jesus as your person-
al Savior” language. (Fine.
Understandably so.) But this
decision is actually central
to going on to the promises
themselves in anything like
gathering
the meaningful way we hope
and intend with the baptis-
mal rite. Shying from them
because of what others have
made of them doesn’t change
those folks. But surely disen-
gagement would have to de-
grade our own Christian ex-
perience in some important
way. “Deciding for Jesus,” no
matter how anxious it makes
us, has always been a central
act of every disciple. “We de-
cide just fine,” we might say,
“we just talk about it differ-
ently.” I wonder.
In other words, without a
commitment to Jesus Christ
as Savior and Lord, a com-
mitment made as myself – an
individual, beloved creature
of God – I think it’s fair to
wonder what the rest of the
promises actually amount to.
Without a solid, energetic,
full-as-possible commitment
to doing this as a way to live
out a vital and vibrant person-
al relationship with Jesus, how
much do they start becom-
telling
ing just well-meaning words,
good in themselves but be-
reft of an essential power that
springs from giving ourselves
to Christ?
I know a lot of Unitarians who
could tweak the language of
our questions only a little and
be just fine. And a step or two
further, agnostics could, too.
But we’re neither Unitarian
nor agnostic. We are people
committed to the Way of Love
– and even more importantly,
to following and imitating Je-
sus himself. Committed, as in
people who have made some
kind of real decision. Com-
mitted to very real sacrifice to
the furthering of the Way in
deep obedience – belonging,
even – to Jesus himself.
It’s hard to imagine how we
could overemphasize this
decision-point, given its im-
portance to everything that
follows in our baptismal ser-
vice and our lives together in
general. And while the work
of making that emphasis is
fall 2023 15
connecting
hard for us denominationally
(though I’m sure in some re-
gions, it’s easier than others),
placing a priority on such a
decision, on such a commit-
ment, and actually expect-
ing it from one another (out
loud for starters), could only
strengthen the promises we
are about to make. Being a
Christian is about making a
choice. A real and confident
choice.
This takes us to the other pre-
requisite for the making of
the Baptismal Promises with
depth and commitment: the
statement that follows of faith
in the Creed. At this point in
the rite, we are deep in the
Baptismal Covenant itself.
And at this point, the prayer
book expects that before the
promises for how to live are
made, and after we have cho-
sen Jesus as the pole star of
our life, our very way of see-
ing all things, we will affirm
publicly that we assent in an
individual, but real, way to
16 anglicandigest.org
the theology and spirituality
of Christianity: ours is a Trin-
itarian faith affirming radical
truths about God – and par-
ticularly about Jesus Christ.
These radical truths may con-
fuse us, and sometimes we
struggle – particularly with
Jesus’ unique power above
and beyond all other revela-
tions of God (“the only Son
of God,” for example, not “one
of the sons of God”). But in
the moment of making the
baptismal promises, and of
baptism itself, to go through
with the ritual with integrity,
either giving it or receiving it,
requires some kind of general
and heartfelt acceptance of the
ideas presented there. (Taken
as a whole, and while they are
full of depth and mystery, the
ideas of the Creed also don’t
have to be that complicated.
I have to wonder sometimes
if we make them so because,
in part, we just don’t want
to go along with the impli-
cations that come with their
gathering telling

truth. They do, after all, chal- them while spitting out a pile
lenge any sense that we are in of asterisks, is an essential
charge of things.) challenge to be met.
Here, I’m not speaking of But if we can renounce Satan
certainty or full knowledge and the forces of evil, and we
(which is impossible in en- can warmly, even affection-
countering these mysteries ately, embrace the Creed,
and complexities), but a kind holding it as true even when
of loving and trusting em- it challenges us, confuses
brace full enough that we can us, worries us, and makes us
then stand and say the words anxious, then the Baptismal
publicly and feel that we have Promises take on a very dif-
something approaching in- ferent reality. They are gener-
tegrity: we do believe these ated, sustained, and charged
things in some meaningful, up with enormous power I’d
important, essential ways. say is unavailable any other
Integrity means our inner way.
experience is reflected in our
outer actions. If we are too In this context, held in this
conflicted to say the words container, the promises be-
and mean them, it’s not time come the answer to this ques-
to be baptized, or to baptize tion: “Now that I have accept-
our children. We’re not ready ed Christ as Savior and Lord,
for ourselves or for them. and now that I have the be-
Standing and saying these as- ginning (or more) of under-
tonishing things as truth, with standing who this God is and
integrity, not just mouthing how God operates as One-In-
them hoping that nobody Three, and now that I under-
will notice our fingers crossed stand that Jesus really is The
behind our backs, or saying Way, The Truth and the Life,
fall 2023 17
connecting

now how do I live? Let me say SAINTS:

it, and ask for God’s help, and ANACHRONISTIC IN
the help of this community, THE 21ST CENTURY?
and live this impossible way
full of grace and truth. Let The Rev’d Dr. Russell J.
me live into all of this – all of Levenson, Jr.
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
it, not just the promises, and Houston, Texas
grow.”

And in this moment, the

promises become something
so much more than they
might otherwise seem and
be. In themselves, they real-
ly aren’t enough to make a
Christian of us. But combined
with a sacred commitment to
Christ and a deep embrace of
the truth of who God is, the
truth received by the Beloved
Community over centuries,
they are more than enough.
Responding to an inner grace,
they create a life that changes In November, Christians ob-
itself and everything around serve a number of important
it. That’s what Holy Baptism is days. Thanksgiving—our na-
supposed to do. Each part is tion’s designated day to utter
essential. our gratitude for all the bless-
ings of life that God bestows
upon us—is toward the end
of the month and often, the
18 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

first Sunday of Advent lands

at November’s end as it does
this year. But, of course, the
morning after All Hallow’s
Eve, November 1, All Saints’
Day, we are invited to remem-
ber and give thanks for those
faithful followers and servants
of Jesus who have gone to that
eternal home promised to all
who give their life to our Lord.

There have been seasons in

the Church when saints were,
for lack of a better phrase, giv-
en a bad rap. In the early days
of our Reformation, church-
es with stained-glass images
or sculptures of saints were
often raided and destroyed.
The method behind the mad-
ness might have been well
intended. It was an overzeal-
ous measure to reset the theo-
logical clock back to a time
when God’s children knew
the One worthy of worship
was not found in images of
glass or stone—where many St. Thomas a Kempis
had erroneously turned in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,
pre-Reformation days. Netherlands

fall 2023 19
connecting

But either there are saints, or I am not completely certain,

there are not. And if there are
none, then the Scriptures are
not to be trusted, for there
are roughly 220 references to
the word saint, or its deriva-
tives, throughout the Bible.
We often associate saints only
with those who have gone on
to that greater shore, but the
Apostle Paul often addressed
his Epistles to the “saints.”
(Consider Romans 1:7 and
Ephesians 1:1.) In this case,
Paul was not writing to those
who were dead, but to the liv-
ing!
but I suspect it is not so much
about the acts one accom-
plishes throughout his or her
life, but instead, a life that is
characterized by an ongoing
surrender to the grace and
mercy of God found in Jesus
Christ. My mentor, the late
John Claypool, used to say,
“All it takes to be a saint, is to
want to be one.”

I suspect authentic Christian

humility calls on us to resist
laying hold of the name “saint,”
but authentic Christian life
does suggest those who give
themselves to Jesus are, in-
deed, saints. You may think,
“I don’t feel like a saint. I don’t
act like a saint.” And that may
be true, which prompts us to John Claypool
consider, “What might it take
to be a saint?” At face value that suggestion
may meet with some rebuke,

20 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

but I know what John was have been saints, who are
suggesting: The desire to fol- not remembered with a spe-
low Christ — that is the birth- cial date on the calendar or
place of authentic sainthood. an image in stained glass, but
lived saintly lives nonetheless:
Take, for instance, Jesus’ call- your grandmother, a teacher,
ing of the first of His apos- a coach, the kindly neighbor
tles—Andrew, Peter, Philip, down the street, and so on.
and Nathaniel (John 1:35-47).
Their journey to sainthood
(and no one would argue
they are not now considered
saints) did not begin with
their piety—it began with
their response to Jesus’ invi-
tations: — “Come... and see,”
(1:39) and “Follow me” (1:43).

There are all kinds of people

who have made that decision.
Some of their lives seemed,
well, larger than life—the
Apostles, the Martyrs, includ-
ing Bishop Thomas Cranmer
(d. 1556), Bishop Nicho-
las Ridley (d. 1555), Bishop
Hugh Latimer (d. 1555), the
Rev’d Dietrich Bonhoeffer (d.
1945); and Mother Teresa (d.
1997). But I suspect you have
had others in your life who
Thomas Cranmer
In late October, I traveled to
my seminary alma mater, Vir-
ginia Theological Seminary
(VTS). Many of St. Martin’s
Clergy have graduated from
VTS over the years, and St.
Martin’s has been generous to

fall 2023 21
connecting

the seminary as well. Because each flooded my mind. Then,

of this, VTS leaders decided I came across an unusu-
to name the home of its Dean al sight — the stone you see
“The St. Martin’s Deanery.” pictured here. It was marked
Part of the reason for the vis-
it, accompanied by my bride,
Laura, was to attend a re-ded-
ication of the Deanery. It hap-
pened to occur at the same
time as the 30th reunion of
the Class of 1992—a happy
coming together indeed. At
one point, those who were
able to, gathered, read aloud,
and prayed for seven of our
classmates who had served
faithfully and now left this life
for the next. “Lloyd Alexander Lewis, Born
12 November 1947, Died—”
But there was a quiet moment and then no date. Dr. “Tony”
that I would like to share with Lewis, as I remembered him,
you. On campus, there is a was still among us, but he had
small cemetery where many already purchased his grave-
of VTS’s faculty are buried. stone and had it set in place; it
Alone, I moved among the sits waiting for that other date
stones and saw the names of to be etched.
those who were a blessing
during my three years there— I was fortunate to study with
the dean, the chaplain, and Dr. Lewis in a few of his excel-
two of my Old Testament lent New Testament classes.
professors. Fond memories of His insights and lectures are

22 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

woven into my own ministry faithful. He went to Church

today, some three decades lat-
er. Dr. Lewis was a quiet and
gentle man, and he was the
first African American pro-
fessor I had ever had. He was
brilliant but took no delight
in telling you that. He just
showed it in his words. He did
not “own” any room he en-
tered, but I was struck by his
kindness, his humor, and his
faithfulness to Christ that he
showed not only in his public
prayers offered before his lec-
tures began, but his personal
prayers — as he would “show
up” day after day in Seminary
Chapel, take his favorite place
in the pew, and kneel to wor-
ship our Lord.
and he lived a genuinely lov-
ing life. This is what impressed
him the most: “Every night,
my father got down on his
knees and said his prayers…”
That visible acknowledgment
of the need of God impressed
upon Dr. Lewis an invitation
to explore that same need,
and in time, Dr. Lewis accept-
ed... followed ... and is still do-
ing so to this day.
I think in some way, we might
always be wise to have our

I was reminded, as I stood be-

fore that stone, of a time when
I asked Dr. Lewis what drew
him to a life of serving our
Lord. He said many things,
but among them was “watch-
ing his father.” He said his fa-
ther was not a larger-than-life
kind of Christian. But he was Photo: public domain

fall 2023 23
connecting
own tombstone in mind. We
all know the date we were
born, but none of us knows
the day of our death—just
that it will come. And how we
live with and in that “dash in
the middle” is, in fact, import-
ant; particularly if we want
to receive that gift of Jesus—
sainthood.
As I wrote above, there are
all kinds of people who have
made the decision to follow
Jesus. I suspect among the
billions, perhaps trillions, of
those who have, since Jesus
first walked the Earth, that
vast majority is not found in
the form of sculpture, or glass,
or print—but are instead, just
what the late Presbyterian
minister, John Henry Jowett,
(d. 1923) called “Common-
place People.” But in the hands
of God—what God can do
with the common! As Jowett
wrote, “Our Lord delights to
glorify the commonplace. He
loves to fill the common wa-
ter-pots with His mysterious
24 anglicandigest.org
wine. He chooses earthen
vessels into which to put His
treasure. He calls obscure fish-
ermen to be the ambassadors
of His grace. He proclaims
His great Gospel through
provincial dialects, and He
fills uncultured mouths with
mighty arguments. He turns
common meals into sacra-
ments, and while He breaks
ordinary bread, He relates it
to the blessing of heaven.
“And ‘this same Jesus’ is
among us today with the
same choices and delights. He
will make a humdrum duty
shine like the wayside bush
that burned with fire and was
not consumed. He will make
our daily business the channel
of His grace. He will take our
disappointments and, just as
we sometimes put banknotes
into black-edged envelopes,
He will fill them with trea-
sures of unspeakable consola-
tion. He will use of our poor,
broken, stammering speech
to convey the wonders of His
gathering telling

grace to the weary sinful souls wald Chambers’s words, are

of men…”1 “consciously dependent on
God,” to those who answer
A hymn familiar to most the call to “come and see,” to
Christian worshippers, “I sing those who—well—just “fol-
a song of the Saints of God,” low.” That’s a worthy use of
ends with the little verse, “And your time—don’t you think?
I mean to be one too...2 Along If you “mean to be one too,”
with all the other things you then just depend on God ...
might ponder this November, just answer that call ... just fol-
family get-togethers, football low—and the good Lord will
championships, the com- take it from there. I promise.
ing of the Advent season ...,
may I invite you to consider 1 John Henry Jowett, My Dai-
your birth—your death, and ly Meditation for Circling the
that “dash in the middle?” Year (New York: Grosset &
The invitation is offered not Dunlap, 1914), p. 288
to be morose or threatening, 2 Lesbia Scott published 1929
but instead to crystalize the
truth—God has given us a From The Star, November
certain measure of days and 2022, a publication of St. Mar-
how we expend them is actu- tin’s Episcopal Church, Hous-
ally quite vital in our journey ton, TX.
toward eternal sainthood.
vvv
All of us will stumble and fall
again and again during our “We are not human beings
little “dash,” but thank God having a spiritual experience;
sainthood is not something we are spiritual beings having
we earn; it is something God a human experience.”
gives ... to those who, in Os- – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

fall 2023 25
connecting
ALL SAINTS DAY
The Rev’d Andrew C. Mead
Rector Emeritus,
St. Thomas Church
Fifth Avenue, NYC, NY
Who are these, clothed in
white robes, and whence have
they come? Rev 7:2-4, 9-17
We celebrate three great feasts
of Christ with the highest so-
lemnity, plus one. The three
feasts are Christmas, Easter
and Pentecost. The plus one
is the Feast of All Saints. You
could say that this last, the
fourth, is the harvest of the
first three; namely, it is the tri-
26 anglicandigest.org
umphs of Christ in particular
human lives.
The glory of God, said a great
theologian, is man fully alive.
That is what the saints are.
They are men, women, and
children fully alive – created
by God, redeemed by Christ,
empowered by the Holy Spir-
it, living their lives as God in-
tends to the fullest.
The Church has a Hall of
Fame for its saints. These are
the capital S saints of univer-
sal recognition. It begins in
Scripture. The anonymous
Epistle to the Hebrews has an
inspiring list of heroes of faith
from the Old Testament, and
it refers to them as a “great
cloud of witnesses” that sur-
rounds us — to encourage us
by their examples, to assist
us with their prayers, and to
strengthen us by their fellow-
ship in the Spirit.
We move on to the heroes of
the New Testament, to John
the Baptist, Peter, James, and
gathering
John, Thomas, Paul and Barn-
abas; to Mary Magdalene,
Mary and Martha of Betha-
ny, above all to the Mother
of Christ herself, the Bless-
ed Virgin Mary. But the ho-
liness doesn’t end with the
completion of the New Testa-
ment. There are saints in the
Church’s Hall of Fame from
every generation, saints who
Madonna and Child
Icon written by
Christine Hales
Sarasota, Florida
telling
illustrate the victory of Christ
in every sort of life. There
are monarchs, bishops and
priests, nuns and monks, hus-
bands and wives, and mothers
and fathers, children whose
lives were brief and brilliant,
servants of the sick and poor,
fighters for justice, martyrs
for the Name of Jesus, mem-
bers of every race and nation,
of every station in life—all
showing that sanctity is some-
thing that occurs everywhere,
and that there is glory in the
ordinary circumstances of ev-
eryday life. If we think back
through our own lives we see
that we have known sanctity
in people and have encoun-
tered saints on their way to
heaven. “There are some that
have no memorial, but these
were men of mercy, whose
righteous deeds have not been
forgotten.”
As a child I learned love and
affection, faith in God, the
first principles of life, the
difference between right and
fall 2023 27
connecting

Icon written by Christine Hales, Sarasota, Florida

28 anglicandigest.org
gathering
wrong, the importance of
courage in standing up for
what is right. My mother and
father, grandparents, kind
aunts and uncles and cousins
began this education. Then
came school and church and
the mentors they provide. A
high school English teach-
er spoke powerfully against
racial prejudice. A Sunday
school teacher made the sto-
ries of the Bible and the ex-
ploits of its heroes vivid, be-
cause she loved them and
seemed to live the stories
herself. One day she told my
mother she thought I would
become a minister, and a great
bell rang in my soul.
Speaking of clergy, one min-
ister, in a sermon I heard at
a critical moment as a youth,
said that no matter what hap-
pened, no matter how scary
things could get, you could
always depend on God to be
there. God was the ground
you could stand on. I won-
dered how he knew what was
telling
going on in my family’s home
the night before. Years later,
two priests—dedicated, wise,
happy, and humorous men
of God—displayed in their
ministries the reasons that
persuaded me to be a parish
priest.
None of these people are
saints in the Hall of Fame,
which is one of the reasons
why the Church celebrates
a feast for all the saints. An-
other reason for this feast is
that every baptized Christian
by definition is called to be a
saint; that is, to live up to what
we have been given in Holy
Baptism. What is that? “Heav-
enly Father, we thank you
that by water and the Holy
Spirit you have bestowed
upon these your servants the
forgiveness of sin, and have
raised them to the new life of
grace. Sustain them, O Lord,
in your Holy Spirit. Give them
an inquiring and discerning
heart, the courage to will and
to persevere, a spirit to know
fall 2023 29
connecting

and to love you, and the gift with people, places, things,
of joy and wonder in all your and events that are deceptive-
works.” This is the definition ly ordinary.
and calling of the saints.
We say deceptively ordinary,
Saint Paul refers to the mem- because the daily circum-
bers of his churches as the stances we encounter are
saints; for example, the saints unique, unrepeatable. They
in Corinth. Given how badly are opportunities for grace
behaved the members of the that will never come again
Corinthian Church and other — little tests and adventures
congregations were, it is strik- in God’s providence that pass
ing that the same apostle who over immediately into eter-
chastises them reminds them nity. We are called to live the
that they are baptized, de- grace of God in times and
fined, and called to be saints places where no one else will
in Jesus Christ. ever live. In words sent to me
by an old friend, “The chal-
We can take heart from those lenge of sainthood is to go
Corinthians! Redeemed sin- where love takes me.” Our
ners: Take courage; rise to life daily lives are golden oppor-
with Christ! “You can meet tunities for splendor in the
them in school or in lanes or ordinary. No one else in the
at sea, in church or in trains entire cosmos can take our
or in shops or at tea, for the place, ever.
saints of God are just folk
like me, and I mean to be one The cloud of witnesses sur-
too.” We are called to exhibit rounds us in these situations,
the triumphs of Christ in our so let us therefore run with
own lives; that is, to embody patience the race that is set
the grace of God in situations, before us, looking to Jesus,
30 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

the pioneer and perfecter trine on the death of our Lord

of our faith, who for the joy Jesus Christ and the event
that was set before him, en- which is the basis of the Gos-
dured the cross, despising the pel: the Resurrection of Jesus
shame, and is seated at the from the dead on the third
right hand of the throne of day – his empty tomb and his
God. Lift up your drooping glorious bodily appearances
hands and strengthen your to his disciples.
weak knees, says the apostle;
be healed, and strive for peace
with all, and for that holiness
without which no one can see
the Lord. Let us become what
we are in Christ. Rise up, ye
saints of God!

ALL SOULS’ DAY

The Rev’d Andrew C. Mead
Rector Emeritus, St. Thomas
5th Avenue, NYC, NY

For since we believe that Jesus

died and rose again, even so,
through Jesus, God will bring
with him those who have fall-
en asleep. I Thess. 4:13-18
The Church gathers all Holy
Scripture together in her
teaching about death. In do-
ing so she grounds her doc-
The Resurrection of
Jesus Christ
Raphael, 1502
Death is the separation of
the soul from the body. The
human body ceases to live,
decays, and turns to dust,
and the soul goes to meet

fall 2023 31
connecting
God, while waiting to be “re-
clothed” with its glorified, im-
perishable body. In death we
sow a mortal physical body.
In the resurrection we shall
rise in an immortal spiritual
body.
Man was not created to die.
Death is contrary to the eter-
nal plan and will of God. Had
the human race not sinned
– that is, had we not turned
away from our life-source
which is our relationship with
God – man would have been
free from death to live and
grow in harmony with our
Maker. Instead, as our ab-
original story in Genesis says,
in Adam and Eve we turned
ourselves out of Paradise. In
Adam all die; in Christ, how-
ever, all shall be made alive.
Death is the close of our mor-
tal life’s experiences. Death
puts an end to the time that
we have to accept or reject
God’s grace manifested in the
mercy of Christ. So when we
die we receive from the Lord
32 anglicandigest.org
our “particular judgment.”
We are shown what it is we
have chosen – either heaven,
eternal life in our enjoyment
of God, or hell, eternal death
in our rejection of God.
The reason we pray for the
dead is that we still hold them
in our love, and because we
trust that in God’s presence
the souls of those who have
chosen to serve him will grow
in his love until they are ready
to behold him in his glory.
In the intermediate state be-
tween death and resurrection,
there is a purification of all
who have chosen to serve the
Lord. God perfects the good
work begun in them, so that
they may receive the holiness
necessary to enjoy the king-
dom of heaven.
Heaven is the perfect life
within God, a communion of
life and love within the Most
Holy Trinity, with blessed
Mary and all the saints, with
the angels, in a redeemed
creation. It is the Beatific Vi-
gathering
sion of God and the joy of
reunions with and introduc-
tions to all heaven’s citizens.
Heaven is the fulfillment of
the purpose and meaning of
human life, the perfection and
consummation of the deepest
human longing, and the state
of supreme, definitive hap-
piness – all made possible by
the triumph of Christ. Heav-
en surpasses comprehension.
Scripture speaks of heaven
in images: light, peace, mu-
sic, choirs, visual splendor,
wedding feast, banquet, wine
of the kingdom, the Father’s
house, the heavenly city of
Jerusalem, paradise restored.
Eye has not seen, nor ear
heard, nor the heart of man
conceived what God has pre-
pared for those who love him.
Hell, the state of exclusion
from this communion and
happiness of Heaven, is the
result of an insistent choice:
the sin against the Holy Spir-
it manifested as a life’s work
not to repent, not to turn to
telling
God, but rather to prefer the
darkness to the light. Hell is
self-exclusion, the result of a
willful insistence and refus-
al. God desires salvation for
all; hell exists only as the cre-
ation of impenitence, a state
embraced against all good-
ness and mercy. God forbid.
In Christ God has done ev-
erything possible to open the
kingdom of heaven, except to
violate his creatures’ free will.
There can be no love without
free will.
The Resurrection of all the
dead, both the “just and the
unjust,” will precede the Last
Judgment. This is the hour, as
Jesus says in the Gospel, when
all who are in the tombs will
hear the Son of man’s voice
and come forth, and those
who hear will live. Those who
have done good receive the
resurrection of life, and those
who have done evil receive
the resurrection of judgment.
(John 5:24-29) Christ the
King will separate them as a
fall 2023 33
connecting
shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats, and his crite-
rion is love. What occurred at
each person’s particular judg-
ment in the hour of death will
be made manifest for all. This
moment, which occurs in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet, no one knows but
God. This is what is meant
by the Church’s confession
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
(1825-1905)
that Christ will come again in
glory to judge both the living
and dead, and his kingdom
shall have no end, and he
34 anglicandigest.org
shall reign forever and ever.
So here we are, celebrating a
Requiem for all the departed!
What shall we say to all this?
While we do cry and miss our
loved ones when they die, we
do not mourn as those with-
out hope. Our beloved dead
are not lost. They have gone
before us. As travelers, voyag-
ers, they are to be longed for,
not lamented. We may wear
dark clothing to express our
loss of them, but only for a
while; they have already as-
sumed bright garments on
the other side.
Jesus gave the name “sleep”
to death, out of which he will
awaken us. While it is true
that the wages of sin is death,
Christ has turned death into a
release, the deliverance of the
soul from the burden of the
flesh to go unfettered to God
and to joy and happiness. Our
purification for the Vision of
God is something to be de-
sired: “that, having this hope,
we may purify ourselves even
gathering telling

as he is pure.” Who would not kinsfolk, lovers and friends,

pray to be transformed into spouses and beloved com-
the fullness of life in Christ? panions, children, mentors,
Who would not yearn for the benefactors, and exemplars;
changing of our corruptible and beyond these, saints and
body into the splendor of the heroes from all ages, only
Resurrection Body? dreamed of, are our patrons
and companions in glory.
Because of Jesus Christ, death They all watch and pray for us
is the finish line of the race set to join them. Let us redeem
before us, a release from the what time we still have left. A
tribulations of this life and great cloud of witnesses sur-
from the pains of this mortal rounds us on our way. Glory
flesh. The older we get, the be to God, who in Christ has
more of our loved ones await conquered our last enemy,
us on the other side: parents death, and made death the
and grandparents, broth- passageway into life everlast-
ers and sisters, relatives and ing!
vvvvvvvvv
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Br. Peter Stephen, OSF,
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e-mail vicar-general@fodc.net
or call 817-948-8826
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fall 2023 35
connecting

UNITED IN GOD’S FAMILY

Peggy Eastman, Poet-in-Residence,
All Saints Church, Chevy Chase MD

Whether by blood or by choice, we

live and breathe
and have our being in families. We
grow up in
families, just as our Lord Jesus did.
We marry into families, raise our
children in families,
live in communities of families, Peggy Eastman
worship in families,
take our places in a global human family.

36 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

It is our destiny to join the long human chain descending

from Eve, our earthly mother, and Adam, our earthly
father. Most important, we are part of God’s family,
looking to our heavenly Father for strength, comfort,
forgiveness, consolation, peace and love.
United in God’s family are we.

God’s family is not divisible; all are equal, all are

welcome, all are precious in our Father’s sight.
All families are quirky, that we know well.
Please, Father, help us to overlook the slights,
mental elbow jabs and differences of opinion in ours.
Please help us to speak softly, as if with padded words,
in deference to our family members’ sensibilities
and vulnerabilities. When my brother in God’s family
hurts, I hurt with him. When my sister in God’s family
cries, I cry with her. When my family members are
joyful, I rejoice with them. In God’s family there are
no strangers; all are related by the bond
of love.
United in God’s family are we.

May we, God’s family members, raise our eyes

and look beyond all that divides us; may the perceived
barriers between us fade like storm clouds chased away
by sun shafts. In God’s family there is no room for
hatred, guile, jealousy, estrangement, rejection or despair.
Let us continually celebrate all that unites us in God’s love.
What a privilege it is to belong to the family of God.

Copyright © by Peggy Eastman, 2022

fall 2023 37
connecting
WHY REQUIEM
MASSES?
The Rev’d Michael Rowe
Requiem masses are offerings
of the Eucharist for the faith-
ful departed. The name comes
from the traditional introit
(entrance verse) “Requiem
aeternam dona eis, Domine”
– “Grant them eternal rest, O
Lord.” This picks up on Paul’s
teaching about those who
have “fallen asleep” in Christ.
(See 1 Corinthians 15:18, 1
Thessalonians 4.14) We con-
tinue to pray for our fellow
38 anglicandigest.org
Christians who are resting in
Christ, awaiting the resurrec-
tion of the dead at Christ’s re-
turn. That is why at funerals
and at other times we pray:
Rest eternal grant to them, O
Lord; And let light perpetual
shine upon them. (BCP page
502)
But there is more to it than
that. Few if any of us die com-
pletely ready for the presence
of God. We know countless
people who have died with
real faith, having grown as
Christians, yet who still have
shortcomings that need heal-
ing and repair before they
can share the perfection of
God’s kingdom. Others have
died with a bare wisp of faith
in Christ, their discipleship
having been neglected rather
than pursued.
Speaking of all his beloved
sheep, Jesus says, “No one will
snatch them out of my hand.”
(John 10:28) We know that
anyone who gives Jesus the
gathering telling

barest chance is secure in his on the foundation survives,

love. Yet there is work to be
done in order to become the
sort of person who fits in the
dwelling places that Jesus pre-
pares for us. (See John 14:2)
the builder will receive a re-
ward. If the work is burned,
the builder will suffer loss; the
builder will be saved, but only
as through fire.”

We recognize that this is true

for others and we know that it
is true for ourselves. St. Paul
talks about this in 1 Corin-
thians 3:10-15: “According to
the grace of God given to me,
like a skilled master builder I
laid a foundation, and some-
one else is building on it. Each
builder must choose with care
how to build on it. For no one
can lay any foundation other
than the one that has been
laid; that foundation is Jesus
Christ. Now if anyone builds
on the foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood,
hay, straw— the work of each
builder will become visible,
for the Day will disclose it, From Wikipedia
because it will be revealed
with fire, and the fire will test Christ is the only foundation
what sort of work each has and we build our lives on him.
done. If what has been built The quality of our building—

fall 2023 39
connecting
the quality of our lives—is put
to the test, purified, and re-
fined. Our salvation is secure
in Christ but all the dross has
to be purged out of us so that
we stand before the Father in
the true image of his Son.
At requiem masses we pray
in particular for this rest and
this purification for those
“whom we love but see no
longer” (BCP page 498), for
those who have blessed us by
the way they have raised or
taught or helped us, for those
who have given us this coun-
try we live in and this parish
we worship in, and for all the
departed.
While requiem masses can
be offered at any time, on All
Souls’ Day (November 2) we
concentrate on this particu-
larly.
May all God’s departed peo-
ple “rest in peace and rise in
glory.”
40 anglicandigest.org
ST. BARBARA
The Rev’d Dr. Joshua B. Braley
Bethlehem Presbyterian Church
Archer, Florida
The thunder rumbles and the
dark clouds swirl,
And jagged bolts of lightning
rip the skies.
She walks abroad once more,
the saintly girl,
With sword held high and
danger in her eyes.
Long ages past, her spirit
would not bend,
The tower and the sword gave
her no fright,
And now when thunder
rolls—till world shall end—
Folk whisper: Barbara walks
abroad this night!
gathering telling

An early Christian martyr, St.

Barbara held fast to her faith
despite being locked in a tow-
er and is sometimes seen as
the inspiration for the fairy
tale “Rapunzel.” According to
legend, her executioner was
struck down by a bolt of light-
ning. Because of this she has
always been associated with
thunder and lightning, gun-
ners, and miners. In artwork,
she carries the implement
of her martyrdom, a dou-
ble-edged sword.
St. Barbara has a small but
secure place within Anglican-
ism. The Church of England
parishes of St. Barbara’s, Ash-
don-under-Hill, St. Barbara’s
St. Barbara
Haceby (now redundant), and
Dutch engraving, 1475-1500
St. Barbara’s Church, Coven-
try, all bear her name. The champ Chapel at St. Mary’s
website of the last-named Warwick.”
church goes on to explain:
St. Barbara has also garnered
“The chapel at the former Anglican literary referenc-
rocket testing range at es. G. K. Chesterton wrote
Woomera in Australia was “The Ballad of St. Barbara” in
dedicated to her and there is 1916, while still a member of
a statue of her in the Beau- the Church of England. Last

fall 2023 41
connecting

but not least, that most An- THE AVETT

glican of novelists, Barbara BROTHERS AND
Pym, includes the fictional
London church “St. Barba- ST. PAUL
ra-in-the-Precinct” in her
book An Unsuitable Attach- The Rev’d Garrett Boyte
ment: “a very old, almost Church of the Holy Cross
Shreveport, Louisiana
moribund church, just off
High Holborn, very conve-
nient for Gamages.”
Last August as I watched a
thunderstorm rolling in, I
wrote these lines, hoping to
evoke St. Barbara’s aura of
power and mystery.
Saint Barbara’s feast day in
The Episcopal Church is 24
November.
vvv

THE ORDER OF ST. ANDREW At the end of each year, Spo-

Men and Women, married or single,
not living in community. Being in
the world, but not of it. Entrusting
ourselves to the hands of the
eternal potter, and being molded
daily through religious life.
Are You Called?
osabishop@aol.com
1-(914)-923-2005
osaanglican.org
Advertisement
tify (an online music service)
tells me what my most lis-
tened-to music for the year
was. For 2021, my most lis-
tened-to song was The Fray’s
“Over My Head (Cablecar),”
which in our second year of
pandemic ministry is telling
on myself a bit.

42 anglicandigest.org
gathering
Like a lot of other people, I
made up a large portion of my
music from bands and songs
that were popular when I was
a teenager. All American Re-
jects, Fallout Boy, My Chem-
ical Romance. In addition to
those, a stunning variety of
Broadway and other musical
tunes.
But for the last seven years,
I have listened to one group
more than any other. In fact,
I’ve listened to them more
than most others have. Spoti-
fy tells me that I am in the top
half percent of their listeners.
It’s a pair of brothers from
telling
North Carolina, along with
their bassist and cellist: The
Avett Brothers.
The Avett Brothers
I love The Avett Brothers. I
might be wrong, but I think
they are some of the greatest
lyricists of the 21st century.
Their songs capture the hu-
man condition in such pro-
found and moving ways. And
the musical compositions
aren’t bad either.
Beyond general musings on
the human condition, the
Avett Brothers tackle such
weighty subjects as original
sin, redemption, grace, love,
the afterlife. And they do so
from quite a Christian per-
spective.
fall 2023 43
connecting

Their grandfather was a “Something has me (some-

Methodist pastor, and this thing has me),
colors their music as much as Oh, something has me
does their upbringing in the (something has me)
North Carolina Highlands. acting like someone I don’t
Their theological imagery is wanna be.
often piercing in its descrip- Oh, something has me
tion of certain themes. Take (something has me),
for instance their song, “Ill acting like someone I know
with Want,” the second verse isn’t me,
of which says, ill with want and poisoned by
this ugly greed.”
“I am sick with wanting,
Their song “The Once and
And it’s evil how it’s got me.
Future Carpenter,” a play on
And every day is worse than
the one before. the Arthurian moniker of the
once and future King of Al-
The more I have, the more I
bion and Jesus’ profession as
think
a carpenter, is about a man
I’m almost where I need to
traveling from place to place
be,
and learning to accept the
if only I could get a little
hand he was dealt in life. The
more.
chorus provides some of the
This song is about sin. Just as best advice for the good life:
St. Paul talks about sin in his “Forever I will move like the
Letter to the Romans, so do world that turns beneath
the Avett Brothers talk about me,
sin as a power that is over us and when I lose my direction
rather than as something we I’ll look up to the sky.
might or might not do. The And when the black cloak
chorus says, drags upon the ground,

44 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

I’ll be ready to surrender, and

remember.
Well, we’re all in this togeth-
er.
If I live the life I’m given, I
won’t be scared to die.”

From their song “Murder in

the City,” which recounts a
brother telling his family that
if he gets murdered in the
city, to try their best to live in
peace, they offer a lovely end-
ing refrain, “Always remem-
ber there was nothing worth
sharing like the love that lets
us share our name.” Or take
the more recent song, “Vic-
tory,” which offers a striking
image that can be applied to
Christ on the cross, with the
words, “From Victory, I ac-
cept defeat.”
I could go on about their
various songs and what they
represent, but suffice it to
say, it’s good Christian mu-
sic. Or rather, it’s good music
that happens to be very Chris-
tian.
Christ on the Cross
Albrecht Durer
But to make a broader point, I
think it’s important for Chris-
tians to learn to see the world
through a theological lens. If
you’re a Christian, you’re a
theologian. Theology is not
just a task for the priest or the
academics of the Church, but
a project with which each and
every Christian is engaged.
Learning to take what we
learn in church and our pri-

fall 2023 45
vate devotions and to apply it learn from the wider culture
to the larger culture is one of about how to live our faith in
the ways our faith takes an in- a way that is relevant to the
carnational shape. contemporary world and yet
still faithful to the world of
When we listen to music or God’s dream. That is, after all,
watch movies or TV shows, the task of the Church in ev-
we should keep an eye out for ery generation.
themes and devices that speak
to our faith. I grew up in a tra- From Crossings, February 9,
dition that had something of 2022
a checkered past with music
and movies and other forms vvv
of entertainment. Like many
holiness movement churches,
we viewed popular culture as
something to be suspicious of.
But I maintain that Christians
should keep an eye on the
culture at large, and seek and
point out those ways that God
is glorified even in unexpect-
ed places.

Just as the Christ child ap-

peared in the most unex-
pected of places that night
in Bethlehem, so he appears
to us now even in places we
might not expect him. And
we all have something we can

46 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

PUMPKIN CAKE
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup salad oil
2 cups pumpkin

Sift together dry ingredi-

ents (minus sugar) and set
aside. In large bowl, whisk
oil, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin
until smooth. Mix in the dry ingredients until
just combined. Pour into a sheet or tube pan. Bake at 350° for
25-30 minutes. When cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 stick margarine
8 oz. cream cheese
2 tsp. vanilla
16 oz. powdered sugar
Mix margarine, cream cheese, and vanilla well. Stir in sugar.
Blend and spread on cake.
Cathy Moe
From Jubilee Recipes, compiled by Emmanuel Memorial Episco-
pal Church, Champaign, Illinois.

fall 2023 47
connecting

48 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

BY THE RIVERS OF iles taken, representing sev-

BABYLON
The Rev’d Richard R. Losch
St. James’ Episcopal Church
Livingston, Alabama
eral thousand more. These
included all the aristocracy,
the scholars and teachers, the
religious leaders, and the arti-
sans and craftsmen. The only
ones left behind in Judah were
the unskilled and uneducated
masses, who were incapable
of organizing themselves to
be any threat to the Babylo-
nians.

Psalm 137 laments, “By the

rivers of Babylon, there we sat
down, yea, we wept, when we Ruins of the ancient city of
remembered Zion.” In 586 BC Babylon in Mesopotamia,
King Nebuchadnezzar of Bab- Iraq, reign of Nebuchadnezzar
ylon conquered Jerusalem, II, 6th century BC
and carried King Jehoiachin,
his whole royal household, The exiles were finally freed
and allowed to return to Ju-
and 10,000 Judahite elites into
exile in Babylonia.1 dah when Cyrus the Great of
Persia conquered Babylonia
In the following decade there in 538 BC. With the short life
were two more waves of ex- expectancy of those days, af-

fall 2023 49
connecting

ter 50 years in Babylonia only captives. One of the financial

a few remembered life in Ju- benefits of ancient warfare
dah. Even so, a significant was the enormous wealth that
number of Judahites, includ- could be obtained by enslav-
ing many who had been born ing whole populations and
in Babylonia, chose to return then selling them. For 2500
and rebuild their homeland. years this slavery image has
This period, known as the
Babylonian Captivity, has tra-
ditionally been looked upon
as a time of great suffering
for the Judahites, from which
they were released and freed
by the wise and benevolent
Cyrus.2

In almost every ancient cul-

ture, slavery was a major
institution and a primary
source of labor, from the low-
liest tasks right up to teach-
ing, medicine, finance, and Tyrants of the Old Testament:
the arts. Ancient slavery was Nebuchadnezzar. Georg Pencz
very different from the racial- (German, c. 1500–1550).
ly-based slavery of the last few Woodcut; The Cleveland
centuries, but it was still slav- Museum of Art, Charles W.
ery, and it was still onerous. Harkness Endowment Fund
Although slaves were bought
and sold and many were born been the one that has pervad-
into slavery, the vast majori- ed the tradition of the Babylo-
ty of ancient slaves were war nian Captivity. The only prob-

50 anglicandigest.org
gathering telling

lem is that it is a completely predecessors, took a very dif-

incorrect one, because they ferent and enlightened posi-
were not slaves. tion as to what to do with con-
quered peoples. They would
The Babylonians, following bring back the best—the tal-
the example of their Assyrian ented and educated leaders—
and spread them throughout
the kingdom, giving them
incentives to assimilate, share
their talents and skills, and
hopefully be absorbed into
the Babylonian culture.3

The ones they left behind

were the disorganized rabble
who, without leadership, were
easy to control, and offered
no threat of rebellion or ven-
geance. While this is not the
common image of the Baby-
lonian Captivity, which is one
of great oppression and suf-
fering, scholars have known
for centuries that though it
was extremely painful to be
ripped away from home and
homeland, life for the Juda-
hites in Babylon, while far
from joyful, was not all that
bad.
Cyrus the Great
fall 2023 51
connecting
Modern archaeology contin-
ues to confirm what scholars
have long believed, that even
though the exile was a painful
cultural and spiritual trauma,
the suffering has been exag-
gerated in the popular image.
The Bible indicates that King
Jehoiachin and his family re-
ceived better treatment even
than other captive kings (2
Kg. 25:30; Jer. 52:31ff), and
clay tablets found in Nebu-
chadnezzar’s palace show
that royal captives received
Jeconiah from Guillaume
Rouillé’s Promptuarii Iconum
Insigniorum, 1553
Public Domain
52 anglicandigest.org
generous monthly rations of
grain, wine, and oil (in the
ancient Middle East this was
the equivalent of a monthly
salary).4 They recorded not
only property, contracts, and
inventories, but also personal,
legal, and business activities,
as well as personal and offi-
cial communications. In these
records we find many Jahvis-
tic names in business, social,
and legal documents, indi-
cating that a large number of
Judahites held important and
powerful positions in Baby-
lonian business, finance, and
politics. For example, Baby-
lonian custom required that
a witness to a contract be at
least equal socially to the peo-
ple making the contract. We
find many contracts between
high-level Babylonians being
witnessed by people with Jah-
vistic names. There are also
records of some Judahites
who are identified as royal
courtiers, and some were gov-
ernment officials (Dan. 2:12).
gathering
The records reveal that even
the common Judahites, while
not living in luxury, lived fair-
ly decent lives. There were
many settlements whose
populations were almost ex-
clusively Judahite, yet there
is no indication that these
were either enforced ghettos
or pockets of poverty. It ap-
pears that the Judahites sim-
ply preferred to live with one
another. This is not surprising
when we consider the ethnic
neighborhoods that are so
common in America today.
One of these was a settlement
that in Babylonian was called
âl-Yâhuda (Judahtown). Cu-
neiform and Hebrew clay tab-
lets from the site indicate that
it was a normal working- and
middle-class community.
This is not to say that life was
sweet and pleasant for the
exiles. Some were oppressed
and some persecuted, and
most no doubt felt the cultur-
al pressures of being outsiders
forced into a foreign country,
telling
especially where religion was
involved. Religion was a par-
ticularly difficult matter, as
they were forbidden to wor-
ship God, and on a few rare
occasions were required to
worship the pagan Babylo-
nian gods. Many refused, and
were severely punished (Dan.
3:8ff).
The Babylonians strongly en-
couraged education, so the
Judahites established schools
to teach both children and
adults. When they could, they
secretly taught their history
and religion, and worshiped
God there. This began a deep
appreciation of the value of
education that is still robust
in Jewish culture to this day.
These schools were called
batei knesse, houses of assem-
bly. The Greek is synagogé
(συναγωγή), gathering to-
gether, from which we get the
word synagogue.
They continued this practice
after returning to Judah, and
fall 2023 53
connecting

even several centuries later this day there is a large pop-

in Jesus’ time the synagogues
still focused strongly on
teaching.5 After the destruc-
tion of the Temple in AD 70,
synagogues, in addition to
teaching, became the primary
centers of worship. This led to
the development of Judaism
into a form similar to what we
know today.
ulation of Jews in Iraq (Bab-
ylonia) and Iran (Persia) who
are almost unquestionably
descendants of the ancient Ju-
dahite exiles. Unfortunately,
those in Iran are increasingly
made to feel unwelcome.
When the exiles returned to
Judah, they rebuilt Jerusalem

Even those who were born in

Babylonia or were too young
to remember their homeland
still heard tales from their el-
ders, were steeped in the an-
cient traditions, and longed
to return to Judah. Some, on
the other hand, had devel-
oped good lives in Babylo-
nia, and were quite content to
stay there. Many had married
Babylonians. When Cyrus the
Great gave them the oppor-
tunity to return to Judah, it is
not surprising that many were
enthusiastic about returning,
some were reluctantly willing Nehemiah rebuilding
to do so, and some chose to Jerusalem, illustration by
stay right where they were. To Adolf Hult, 1919

54 anglicandigest.org
gathering
and the Temple. This begins
what is known as the Second
Temple Period, which ended
with the destruction of the
Temple by the Romans in AD
70. Ezra, with the help of the
Persian-appointed Judahite
governor Nehemiah, purified
and reformed the religion.
They instituted the practice of
the Jewish faith in much the
same form as it was observed
by Jesus five centuries later.6
From that time on, the adher-
ents of that religion can prop-
erly be called Jews rather than
Israelites or Judahites.7
_____________
1 The term Jewish (as a religion) is not a
correct designation for these people un-
til after Ezra and Nehemiah’s reform of
their religion after returning to Judah.
The word Jew derives from the Hebrew
Jehudi, Judahite.
2 Cyrus was indeed a wise and benev-
olent ruler, and very much ahead of his
time. He helped the Judahites return
to Jerusalem, and even provided them
with military protection, financial aid,
and advisors to help them rebuild. This
was more than mere altruism, however.
He was wise enough to see the value of
having a strong and grateful vassal state
on his western frontier. To this day, Jew-
telling
ish tradition honors Cyrus as a benefac-
tor.
3 When the Assyrians conquered the
northern kingdom of Israel 150 years
earlier, they did the same thing. It
worked so well that by the time Cyrus
conquered Mesopotamia, the total ex-
iled population of Israel had been ab-
sorbed and had disappeared. They were
ten of the twelve Israelite tribes, and are
now referred to as the “Ten Lost Tribes
of Israel.” The Kingdom of Judah was
made up mainly of two large tribes,
Judah and Benjamin. Many Judahites
had Jahvistic names. These are names
that incorporate some part of the sa-
cred Name of God, JHVH as a part of
the name (e.g., Elijah, Josiah, Johanan).
No Babylonian would have had such a
name. The Babylonians were assiduous
record-keepers, writing in cuneiform
on baked clay tablets that have survived
intact over the millennia.
4 The records of most ancient civiliza-
tions were kept on more fragile media
such as papyrus, and have decayed be-
yond restoration or are lost altogether.
Thanks to the arid Egyptian climate,
many of their papyrus records have sur-
vived for thousands of years.
5 The Yiddish word for synagogue is
shul, school.
6 In AD 70, almost 40 years after Jesus’
death and resurrection, the Romans de-
stroyed Jerusalem and leveled the Tem-
ple, taking all the Temple artifacts back
to Rome. After that, Judaism abandoned
animal sacrifice, which had been prac-
ticed only in the Temple. The authority
of the hereditary Levitical priesthood
fall 2023 55
connecting
dissolved, and the synagogues, under
the influence of the Rabbis (teachers),
NOT ALONE
became the centers of not only teaching,
but also worship. The Rev’d Gavin Dunbar
7 Notwithstanding, although techni- Rector, St. John’s Church,
cally incorrect, it is common to call the Savannah, GA and President of
descendants of Jacob Jews after they re- the Prayer Book Society USA
ceived the Law at Mount Sinai. Before
that event they should be called Israel-
ites. Calling them Hebrews is question-
able, as that term’s definition is ambig-
uous. Abraham was a Hebrew (of the
tribe of the Ivrit), yet the Arabs, descen-
dants of his son Ishmael, would never
be referred to as such. In common usage
Hebrew refers to the Israelites, the de-
scendants of Abraham’s grandson Jacob.

From The Epistle, St. James’

Episcopal Church, Livingston,
Alabama, October and No-
vember 2022

Much of my travel this spring

was made without compan-
ions. It’s a perfect mode for
the kind of relentless explo-
ration I had intended, and I
don’t regret it. But I was not
surprised to miss being able
to share these explorations
with others—at least at the
end of the day. By the wonder-
ful logic of joy, a joy shared is
not decreased but doubled. In
56 anglicandigest.org
gathering
praising something, our joy in
the thing we praise increases.
(The joy of the heavenly city
is to join together in praise of
the infinite goodness of God.)
Our time, notoriously, is one
in which virtual (unreal)
community has displaced real
community, legitimized the
trolling of the online lynch
mobs, and driven the upward
spikes in anxiety, depression,
and mental illness, most wor-
ryingly among the young (but
not just the young). Online
communications have bene-
The Persistence of Memory
Salvador Dali, 1931
Museum of modern Art,
New York City
Photo: Public Domain
telling
fits: on my solo journey, I took
joy in posting photos, which
many people seemed to have
enjoyed viewing, and which
they told me made them feel
included in my excursions.
But there is only so much that
online communications can
do: the deeper work of build-
ing and maintaining relation-
ships is not attained by post-
ing pictures, clicking “like,”
or reposting a meme. Those
seeking community and rela-
tionship in and through the
online world are setting them-
selves up for disappointment.
Exacerbating these inher-
ent problems with the online
world is the fashionable wis-
dom pushed by some online
influencers, that we have a
duty to cut so-called “toxic”
people out of our lives, “toxic”
meaning anyone who might
cause us discomfort—even
friends, siblings, spouses, par-
ents. The word “toxic,” with
its pseudo-scientific aura (it’s
an online buzzword, not a
fall 2023 57
connecting
term in the recognized psy-
chological lexicon), is a label
that conveniently allows us
to cut contact, ignore obli-
gations, and shelve any feel-
ings of guilt. In cases involv-
ing physical or emotional
abuse, cutting of contacts is
in order; but a recent large-
scale study found that 27%
of adult Americans admit to
being estranged from a close
family member, and the real
number is probably higher. In
most cases it is an adult child
who has cut off contact with
a parent. Are these really all
cases of physical or emotional
abuse? Or have we redefined
disagreement and conflict as
abuse?
Behind this it is not difficult
to discern the contemporary
imperative to self-fulfillment.
Before the sovereign claims
of the self, and of self-love,
all other relationships, com-
munities, and obligations are
dissolved. All relationships
are judged simply on their
58 anglicandigest.org
immediate value to me, and
the door is opened to manip-
ulation, exploitation, and bul-
lying, even if there is no overt
cutting of connection. It’s a
recipe for the spread of anger
and despair that is poisoning
our souls; it is a blueprint for
the profoundest solitude, a
self-constructed prison of our
own desires and agendas, out
of which we can never escape.
Against this myopic view,
one must set the ancient law
of God’s city, that love of self
requires love of neighbour “as
myself,” and love of God above
all other loyalties. It requires
that we leave the door open
for relationships to grow, and
for us to work at those rela-
tionships that are difficult.
Against the relationship-cut-
ting, community-shredding
tendencies in our culture
stands the Gospel, by which
the Spirit is at work to recon-
cile those who are estranged
from God and each other,
and to draw them together
gathering
in the unity of the Church’s
holy fellowship. The weekly or
daily assembly of Christians
for worship, and the work of
common prayer at which they
engage, is precisely to knit us
together as members of one
body in Christ. We gather
not as a self-selected clique,
but “all sorts and conditions
of men” whom the Spirit has
chosen to bring together in
catholic unity. In robustly
penitential prayers, we con-
front our need to forgive and
be forgiven, along with our
telling
anti-social tendencies, our
greed, pride, anger, and envy;
in robust intercession, we
make the needs and aspira-
tions of others our own; in
mutual service, we both give
and receive support from
one another, in an acknowl-
edgment of mutual depen-
dence. In corporate thanks
and praise we share the joy in
salvation, that is increased by
being shared.
“Let all things be done unto
edifying,” says the Apostle (1
Corinthians 14:26), that is,
for the “building up of the
Church in faith, in hope, in
love, into spiritual maturity.
That’s the fundamental prin-
ciple of Christian liturgy, and
it should be connected with
the images of the Church as a
temple of the Spirit, of which
we are living stones, the city
of God in which we are citi-
zens. That’s what we are en-
gaged in: the building of a
spiritual house, in which we
grow together. Every practice
fall 2023 59
connecting
of the Church is designed to
build us up in faith in Christ
and love for neighbour, as in-
terdependent members of his
body. It is true, of course, that
we can neglect those practic-
es, perform them perfunc-
torily, subvert them to other
agendas, and so on. Yet even
so, their promise and pow-
er abide, and in this age are
needed more than ever.
From The Parish Paper of
St. John’s Church, Savannah,
Georgia, August 28, 2022
THE GOOD PRIEST
The Very Rev’d Sam Candler
Dean of the Cathedral of
St. Philip
Atlanta, Georgia
60 anglicandigest.org
I sing a song of good priests
today, or whatever your tra-
dition might call the minister,
the pastor, the caring soul,
who leads you in prayer week
after week. The one who gath-
ers you in holy community.
Wherever you were this past
weekend, here is what hap-
pened.
Coming to church today is the
recent widow, reminding her
priest that it has been one year
now. A little girl is skipping,
quite fast, down the hall. The
old man on his walker is not
scared of her skipping at all.
Here comes a young couple
who just started visiting two
weeks ago—and they are al-
ready married (so it’s not like
they’re just looking for a wed-
ding location). A busy lawyer
walks in, without her children
this Sunday; she is teaching a
Sunday School class today.
An eager young acolyte is
hanging around dutifully, just
in case he needs to serve to-
gathering
day. The man over there has
just been diagnosed with can-
cer. A woman arrives who di-
vorced her husband two years
ago; she is smiling and happy.
Her ex-husband will attend
a later service that day. One
of the city officials arrives,
whose policies not everyone
enjoys; but he knows he is
not simply an elected official
at church. He will not be re-
minded of that.
“Let me show you a picture of
my granddaughter,“ a wom-
an announces as she delays
the people behind her in line.
The priest smiles and squints
at the tiny screen; she will try
to remember the girl’s name.
One of the neighborhood
guys without shelter walks in
with his stuff; the congrega-
tion knows where he usually
sits, and makes room for him.
One man is wondering, with
the banking industry seeming
so fragile, how he will make
a decision next week. Anoth-
er guy is glad his team is still
telling
in the basketball tournament.
Still another guy is asking for
prayer because a family mem-
ber is dying. One young per-
son is complaining about the
coffee, while another is eager-
ly drinking her third cup.
The service itself may not be
what some people consider
perfect. Someone mispro-
nounces a name. The music is
beautiful, and one piece seems
too slow. Some wish the priest
had a different tone of voice.
The sermon—well, the ser-
mon—can be wildly erratic,
sometimes striking a chord
with people. The good priest
knows that the minds of the
congregants are wandering all
over the place. But people are
serving faithfully.
The good priest meets all
these people, and stays with
all these people. The good
priest cares for her people,
absorbs his people’s pain, de-
lights with her people, cries
with his people. The good
priest does not scold, or com-
fall 2023 61
connecting

plain. The good priest bears Where else does this Holy
the burdens of people. The happen, that the Holy meets
good priest does not turn ev- us? Yes, it can happen in oth-
ery issue into a fad of the day, er places, but churches and
or into some political message faith communities have a long
of the day. tradition of it happening. All
these people, young and old,
The good priest knows that she black and white, have come
is serving inside a community to be with the Holy for a cou-
that is much bigger than she ple of hours, whether they say
is. The good priest knows he’s it that way or not. Church is
representing something larg- where people touch the Holy;
er than he can explain. The Church is where the Holy
good people in the congre- touches people. We are touch-
gation know this, too. We are ing something bigger than us.
gathering to say something, Each of us, even the priest,
to hear something—a holy has only meager ways of ex-
tradition – that was delivered pressing that encounter.
to us and that we are now de-
livering onward. But the Sunday liturgy of that
encounter is a billowing mys-
Not everyone in church on tery, full of prayers and struc-
Sunday always thinks specifi- tures and actions and pos-
cally about the Holy, even the tures which carry centuries of
priest. And, yet, in all these wisdom with them. The priest
people, in all these situations, or community who does not
in all these joys and cares of realize what our service con-
life, the Holy is meeting us, tains is missing the mystery!
even when we are too dis- No matter how errantly we
tracted to realize Holy pres- pray, the power of the Holy
ence. Liturgy is changing people.

62 anglicandigest.org
gathering
The Eucharistic prayer is re-
citing something, rehears-
ing something, remember-
ing something, that has been
told Sunday after Sunday for
two thousand years. That sto-
ry is what generates new life
in people, year after year. It’s
not our political platform. It’s
not our social statement. It’s
not our latest fad, of whatever
sort. It’s not our skill. It’s not
our wisdom. It is the unseen
power of God, revealing God-
self in the telling and hearing
of Christian tradition.
The good priest, the good
pastor, the good minister,
graciously bears the ancient
story of the Holy—delivered
this week among skipping
children and aged walkers,
among the worried and the
happy, among the political
and non-political, among
all sorts of shapes and sizes,
and colors and conditions, of
God’s humanity.
From The Cathedral Times,
March 26, 2023.
telling
NECROLOGY
The Rev’d Irving Frank
Ballert, 97, in Clifton Park,
New York, on 11 February
2023, served parishes in New
York, including over 30 years
as Rector of St. Paul’s, Sidney.
The Rev’d Clarence Al-
fred Cole, Jr., 80, in Santee,
South Carolina on 27 March
2023, served parishes in South
Carolina and Florida
O Almighty God, the God of the
spirits of all flesh, who by a voice
from heaven didst proclaim, Bless-
ed are the dead who die in the Lord:
Multiply, we beseech thee, to those
who rest in Jesus the manifold bless-
ings of thy love, that the good work
which thou didst begin in them
may be made perfect unto the day
of Jesus Christ. And of thy mercy, O
heavenly Father, grant that we, who
now serve thee on earth, may at last,
together with them, be partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light;
for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
From the Office for the Burial of the
Dead, Rite I, the Book of Common
Prayer, pg 486.
fall 2023 63
Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church, Champaign, Illinois
Photo: Jason Cerezo
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