Hello all, going to avoid naming names, and naming parishes, but for reference: I am a fairly rural living Episcopalian struggling with the options available to me. I was a cradle, I left the faith, I returned to the faith in my 20s. The nearest 3 Episcopal churches to me are 30-45 minutes away, and I've recently been attending one in particular for their good works in the community, the gospel message, and the history of the church building itself being the things that puts it a step above the other 2 in the area.

That said: while I largely align with this parish (again, I am not within the bounds of any of the 3 parishes closest to me), in that we share a liturgically conservative, theologically liberal mindset on the Church, there seems to be a lack of understanding among the congregation as to why the church does what it does, why the Catechism is what it is, and says what it says, and why there is a divide between protestant identified Episcopalians and Anglo-Catholics. I, personally, fall heavy into the latter, and would be remiss if I wasn't honest about the fact that I am largely aligned with the Roman Catholics of the Augustinian tradition apart from their denial of women taking Holy Orders.

The big thing I have struggled most with is that it is a very, and perhaps overly, welcoming Church. Now, I know what you're thinking! You're thinking that means I want a more right wing, conservative, bigoted church. NO! That is not at all what I mean. What I mean is it is lukewarm. In the 4 months I've attended this parish, I've been called and convicted by the readings, the sermon, and the liturgy precisely once. A sermon on the forgotten, and the persecuted, on preaching the gospel and doing loving acts for our neighbors who are incarcerated. I don't want to be fully comfortable in church. I want to be reminded of the heavy weight of the path of faith. I want to be reminded that I am not doing enough for my community, I want to be forced to confront where I am coasting by on faith instead of living it.

And again, I admit, again, that the Augustinian concepts of Ordo Amoris, the order of Love, and De Civitate Dei's concepts of sacrificial stewardship are deep pillars of my own faith. My own theology is heavily influenced by Memento Mori and the theology of suffering as purification, AGAIN, I admit those things! I live, work, and breathe in high stress, high moral injury, high stakes life, in my career, in my hobbies, in most aspects of my life. I work in clinical operations, I work with horses, my hobbies are motorsports and motorcycles and combat sports and roughstock. But I don't WANT the evangelical cowboy churches, I want the high church with its spine intact.

I suppose, all I really have to say, is I am deeply struggling with You Are Enough theology and environments. I am not asking for hellfire and brimstone, but to be reminded, again and again, of what works our faith calls us to do. To be reminded to love our neighbor, to serve our neighbor, and that what we give to the poor is what we take with us to the pearly gates. Any advice on how to either start those conversations with church leadership, or find a church where there IS that kind of conviction? And, is the spiritual starvation and calling to serve I have been feeling the last 3 months a genuine call to orders as a seminarian or am I just frustrated?

I had watched the liturgy on YouTube before, so I was not surprised. It was a struggle keeping up with the hymns, but the organ in the background provided the tune and the congregation provided the cover for my unfamiliarity. I knew when to say "and also with you," and I knew how to follow along with the back and forth between the priest and people. I took communion and was surprised by the real wine.

The priest stayed behind with me after Coffee Hour began and answered my questions and shared with me about his career and theology, and we connected over being two gay men in the Christian faith. He gave me a copy of the Book of Common Prayer to take home.

After that I joined everyone in coffee hour. I was the youngest person there I think (I'm 30), but I enjoyed everyone's company a lot. I have a background in caregiving and of course loving my own grandparents, so I tend to get along with and respect my elders very well. I ended up hugging half the people there!

I'll be going back for sure. Great experience. And I look forward to getting everything "down" and blending right in.

Hi everyone, first of all it is a decision that I have meditated for a long time and there have been several situations that have led me to make this choice.

A few years ago, I began my discernment process at my parish. A colleague and I started our preparation together, but at a certain point, the process took a turn I was uncomfortable with: the rector insisted we share intimate details of our personal lives and spiritual practices. On top of that, a committee of parishioners was tasked with evaluating whether we were suitable for seminary even though, according to diocesan policy, recommendations must come directly from the rector, not the congregation. Consequently, I decided to pause my discernment. While surprised, the rector accepted my decision and suggested I continue participating in church life alongside my peer.

Soon after, however, the rector began sidelining me and excluding me from preparatory activities. Disheartened, I started attending less frequently. The rector noticed and called me in to ask if everything was alright. I explained that I simply needed some personal time, but assured them I would return to my regular duties, which I did.

Sometime later, I asked permission to consult the parish archives for my thesis on the history of the church. The rector flatly refused. Yet, only weeks later, they granted access to those exact same archives to an outside private school. Given that I had been an active member of the parish for three years, this felt deeply unfair.

I continued serving as an acolyte until around Easter, when I discovered a separate WhatsApp group consisting of the rector and all the other acolytes excluding only me. I was never informed about this group, where parish updates were regularly shared, leaving me completely out of the loop.

Then, around Pentecost, another peer was sponsored and sent to seminary without undergoing any formal parish discernment at all. This came just weeks after I had been told that, should I wish to resume, I would have to start the entire discernment process over from scratch.

A few weeks later, while most of the congregation was away on a field trip, I stayed behind to assist the visiting priest. I had committed to helping with whatever was needed, but unexpectedly, the second seminarian arrived. It turned out he had been summoned via the separate group chat by my former peer (who had since been named acolyte coordinator). With only five people in attendance, the presiding priest had noted that only one server was needed. When I quietly suggested in the sacristy ( I was preparing the credence) that he assist with the congregation, he flew into a rage. He shouted at me, demanded to know who I thought I was, and insisted that our peer was in charge and that I had zero authority. He left and put his alb, although he offered an apology later, it felt insincere. That was the last Sunday I attended that parish. Feeling consistently excluded and disrespected, it was the final straw. For my own peace of mind, I chose to step away to prevent further conflict, fully aware the rector would inevitably take their side.

I have since move to a new parish and will soon inform the Diocese of my transfer. However, I still need to have an exit conversation with the rector. While I am not looking forward to it, I want to express my gratitude for my time there and achieve closure. What advice would you offer for navigating this meeting?

Hello all! I’m posting for some advice/tips to go throughout the official discernment process. I’m in the south, in my early 20s, and at the very beginning of seeking approval for seminary. I started the process of personal discernment last Ash Wednesday. I started in the UMC, but after a lot of reading and personal reflection, I’ve settled in the Episcopal church. The change was mainly due to my fondness and appreciation of liturgy, and the history of the Anglican communion. I feel called to chaplaincy, and have a deep respect for the work of sitting with someone in their worst moments.

I work full-time at a school along with my college classes, but I’m truly so excited to go on this journey, regardless of how it ends up.

I spoke to my rector today, and he said I have about 2 years ahead of me before seminary even begins. I’ll be around 23 when I’d start seminary, and 26/27 when I’m ordained. I’m nervous, and obviously aware that I may be called to lay ministry instead. Does anyone have any tips? My partner and I are attending confirmation classes so that the official clock can start. Would be especially helpful if anyone has gone through the experience in Georgia. I didn’t grow up religious, and I feel nervous about it. Anything helps, thank you all so much!

We got a new rector a year and a half ago. I have been at my parish over a decade. I was at a retreat yesterday, and kept running into new people who say they had been here 36 years, but only reference the rector before last and seem to have disappeared for 20 years before that during the previous rector’s tenure.

I have heard of people leaving with a new rector, but do people always come back like this? There are probably 6 different people I met who claimed the same. So, not only did they not vibe with the new rector who recently retired, but were keeping tabs the whole time. I guess that’s a testament to our reputation, but it still feels so strange. Then again, rectors don’t usually stay as long as they do for us either.

I guess some folks faith really is more about leadership than community. It just baffles me…

I struggle with understanding this passage. The literal meaning is pretty straightforward, but I feel that if we take Christ’s teachings and examples seriously, then the yoke and burden can actually be quite demanding and heavy. Here I think especially of the saints, known and unknown, who have sacrificed (even their own lives) out of love for God and neighbor, who are isolated due to living in a way counter to the prevailing culture, etc.

What are your thoughts on this passage?

Welcome back to the Walk in Love Asynchronous Book Club!  This week we are reading Chapter 21 about God the Father and Creation Care.

If you are newly joining us, feel free to join us where we are in Chapter 21 or read and make a post on a previous chapter.  Since this is an asynchronous book club not limited to a particular week, you are welcomed to join us at any time to add to the discussion.

Introduction Post

Chapter 1 Post 

Chapter 2 Post

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Chapter 5 Post

Chapter 6 Post

Chapter 7 Post

Chapter 8 Post

Chapter 9 Post

Chapter 10 Post

Chapter 11 Post

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Chapter 13 Post

Chapter 14 Post

Chapter 15 Post

Chapter 16 Post

Chapter 17 Post

Chapter 18 Post

Chapter 19 Post

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Our questions for this week are:  

1. What is something new that you learned or would like to share about God the Father and creation care from Chapter 21?
2. What are some specific actions you can take to be a better steward of God’s creation?  What are some things your church community can do?

I'm doing some research on Anglican theology, particularly on the question of what role Christ plays in providing the Holy Spirit to the church and the world. I've been looking for academic theological treatments of the question in journal articles and the like, but have turned up almost nothing. I'm also combing the Book of Common Prayer for material that touches on the question, but so far nothing has really jumped out at me besides what's in the statements about the filioque in the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed (along with Article 5 in the 39 articles). Does anybody know of anything that might shed some light on how Christ is seen as providing the Holy Spirit in Anglican thought? Thank you!

Hello! I've been working on a BCP reader app called bcp (I know, very creative). The idea is that all relevant content for that specific day is given to you, with no need to search through pages.

I also added the material the Office is composed of, such as Scripture, Collects, and Canticles. You can also check for special days like feasts and fasts, as well as the Daily Readings from the lectionary.

A few notes:

1. I'm a fairly recent Episcopalian, so I built this while learning the BCP myself.
2. Completely free and open-source, forever: no account, no ads, nothing. All texts are public domain: the 1979 BCP for the Offices, plus the KJV and WEB for Scripture.
3. Works fully offline, and updates happen inside the app, so no re-downloading.
4. It's cross-platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, iPhone, and Android. The desktop builds use Tauri, so they're lightweight to download (roughly 6-10 MB). On mobile, since I haven't published to any app stores yet, it's available as a PWA (progressive web app) for now.

Where to get it:

- You can try it on the web (no download/install required): https://vittv.github.io/bcp

- For desktop you can download it for your OS on the releases page: https://github.com/Vittv/bcp/releases

- On mobile, you'll need to add it to your home screen. The web page explains how to install it on mobile.

I fell in love with this denomination and made the app for myself and friends, but I’d love to make it better with more people’s input.

A few things I’m curious about:

- Do you pray the Office daily, occasionally, or not yet? What would make an app like this fit into that routine?

- Is anything missing from the Offices that you’d want in a daily view?

- If you’re a longtime Episcopalian, does anything in the app look off to you? I’m still learning, so corrections are very welcome.

Feedback, bug reports, and contributions are all welcome on GitHub. Thank you for reading!

EDIT: Disclaimer
This project aims to be open and honest.

- Privacy: No user data is collected or sent anywhere. Your settings, such as the theme or showing/hiding rubrics, are stored locally in your browser or app using the localStorage API, so you own them (clearing your browser data resets them). No account is required and no server of mine is involved. The only network activity is checking GitHub for updates.

- AI disclosure: I used AI to write code faster and to learn the stack for building a cross-platform app, including some of the harder parts of the codebase. It was not used for any design, user experience, or liturgical text, and every product decision was mine. The logo was drawn by a friend, who is also an Episcopalian. The project is fully open source, so anyone can check the code and the texts.

I've been using this myself for daily prayer. I also have been reading the entire Bible from it, so I've been trying to make that experience nicer too.

I'm still slowly getting my bearings in choral composing, and something I have difficulty with is choosing a voice distribution. I've been looking around at parish livestreams to get a feel for what a "typical" parish choir looks like (hello to anybody from St Andrew's in Barberton), and it's not making things clearer.

Like, suppose you have an 11-member choir, with 5 men. That's almost enough to do SATB with 3 people on each voice, but I keep hearing that what the world needs more of is 2- and 3-part music, so I feel like it's more complicated than that. Obviously skill is a factor, and so is how complex the music is, but what other considerations are there? Does it vary based on the type of music (like maybe SATB service music is more doable because it has to be simpler to involve the congregation), or the occasion (going all-out for Christmas and Easter, but more austere for Lent... and what do you do when the choir is off during the summer)?

Can anyone help this clueless hobbyist out?

Coming from the RCC where I had the many (short) responses memorized, I'm curious to know how ya'll handle the need to vigorously flip around in the BCP and in the hymnal. I understand that most folks probably have their parish's particular musical version of the Gloria/Sanctus/Benedictus memorized, but even then, it seems like there's a lot of flipping and setting down/picking up a book happening, either to grab the page in the BCP or the hymnal.

My parish has a very nice weekly handout that details all the page numbers. I've been bringing my own BCP with page marker ribbons inserted, and that definitely helps, but it still feels like I'm more focused on keeping track of what page I'm on than paying attention to the liturgy.

I'm only in month three of attendance, I have no doubt I'll get used to it, but does anyone have shortcuts? Is it worth getting that monster BCP/Hymnal combo?

I have guitar chords for a couple of hymns, but would love to add some more hymns from the ‘82 hymnal to the repertoire. Had anyone used this? I can’t find any previews of the pages to confirm this, but it sounds like it has chords listed over lyrics for guitar? Anyone have any reviews of this?

The 2025 Parcohial Report has just come out and I wonder what people think of the data/trends. One thing I would like to note is a significant increase in attendance in domestic dioceses (around 9,000 more than 2024). The reason overall Attendance is down is because the Diocese of Haiti (One of the largest dioceses) did not report any data.

At first, I thought this was a chimere, a garment worn by many or most Episcopal/Anglican bishops as part of choir dress. But the person in question is not a bishop.

In my journey to Jesus class yesterday, my priest mentioned that the image of hell that many people have ie burning lake of eternal fire, has a lot to do with Dante and church leaders than how the Bible actually describes it. She mentioned that the Bible doesn’t actually describe as much about hell as most people assume. One explanation she offered was that some believe Sheol is more of a place of nothingness and disconnection from God than a pit of fire. What is the general way that hell is described by most Episcopalians?

I was raised Roman Catholic, and when I came out, I discerned that I no longer felt comfortable being Catholic. After a year of discerning and church hopping, I left and became Episcopalian. I have been Episcopalian for five years now. I’ve also been in the discernment process for Holy Orders for about two years.

Recently, at my grandpa’s bedside, we decided to have all his sacraments given to him in the Catholic Church. It was a beautiful moment to witness. Since then, some thoughts, questions, and prayers have come up for me. One big thought has been: “Why do the sacraments in the Catholic Church seem fuller or more whole than those in the Episcopal Church?” I want to be clear that I am not trying to say that the Episcopal Church is less than or anything like that at all.

For me, even though I am gay, and the reason I left Catholicism was because of the lack of inclusion of women and LGBTQ persons, I still love the Catholic Church’s approach to liturgy, sacraments, the saints, and Marian devotions. I consider myself Anglo-Catholic as an Episcopalian.

I mentioned all this to my priest mentor, who gently encouraged me to sit with this question: “How might Anglican sacramental theology be a part of creating that space of openness and inclusion that isn’t found in the Catholic Church?”

As I am slowly approaching possible postulant interviews, I am a little worried about coming across as too Roman Catholic or being perceived as wanting to “masquerade as a priest.” Several friends and clergy who know me very well know that I am certainly not trying to make the Episcopal Church Catholic or anything like that.

My priest mentor suggested I read some books to help further cement and grow my understanding of Anglican sacramental theology and Anglican history. He gave me a copy of Mark Chapman’s Anglicanism: A Very Short Introduction, which I am reading now and enjoying as I learn about Anglicanism.

Does anyone have any more suggestions for books, podcasts, or resources that could help me cement a solid Anglican understanding, so that—while still Anglo-Catholic—I can be a little more aware of and connected to the Anglican/Episcopal tradition?

I’m sure the answer is somewhere in Scripture, but I figured I’d ask this specific subreddit since I’m currently an agnostic atheist who is trying to examine his beliefs and has been going to an episcopal church in my area that is very open and LGBT-affirming. Very nice people and all that.

But, would I have to do stuff like never have sex with a woman I’m not married to, even if we’re dating and love each other? Give up masturbation? Give up certain foods and drink? Switch my view from being pro-choice to pro-life?

I just want a clear idea of what I’m getting into. I know not all Christians and Episcopalians are alike, but I’m asking in the general sense.

Hello all, I am a member of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines. I am thankful for this subreddit, for the insights of many different, thoughtful yet equally spiritual sisters and brothers from afar. I have recently been studying the use of the Anglican Rosary and developing a prayer and devotion habit with its aid. Recently work has been very taxing and has sapped so much of the spirit, so I turned to the wisdom of the Rosary, both the Dominican one and ours. After reading the books by M Gurri and JL Estes and learning from the samples writted by different redditors, I tried writing a version specific to my context. The 3 Cruciform beads are based on the mind, body, and spirit of the physician, and the Week beads list down relevant verses to the Cruciform (one may notice that there are a variety of translations; many were committed to memory during childhood at my KJV-only school and church, one of the few good and lasting legacies from that time of my life). I'm happy that our BCP has prayers for the health professions, but it's undeniable that there is a paucity of these, even in prayer books from other traditions. I hope that more may be written by physicians, nurses, midwives, PTs, phlebotomists, nutritionists, etc from our tradition.

I ask for advice on how to improve this prayer and I pray that this may help our spiritual kins in a similar situation. Maraming salamat po!

Hello! I am trying to learn more about how Christianity came to be in the British isles and Scotland before the formalization of the Anglican Church as was known to be from Henry the 8th till now.

Would love to know if it came from Celtic Christianity and or from the desert Mothers and Fathers?

Thanks!

Looking for baptism book recommendations for a pre-k child, grade school age child, and adult. Different books for each age group. Thanks and God Bless!

Highly recommend today’s episode! And this podcast in general.

Apologies to non iPhone users for this Apple Podcast link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-spiritual-life-with-fr-james-martin-s-j/id1819566062?i=1000796063914