Holy Week: Embodied Remembrance

Posted on Apr 14, 2022 in Blog, Guest Blogger, Lent |

 

Holy Week: A History

In the earliest records we have of the Church, there weren’t any uniquely Christian feasts apart from the Sunday service. The baby Church was still trying to sort out what to believe, how to act (especially in regards to the Gentiles) and how to even have a service. The New Testament highlights a lot of the challenges experienced by the earliest believers, but essentially, for early Christians, every Friday was Good Friday and every Sunday was Easter. Over time, however, it seemed appropriate for there to be one special Sunday where the Church really leaned into celebrating the resurrection, so Easter was the first feast of the Christian calendar. And its tie to Passover is no accident. Jewish Christians continued to celebrate Passover, but understood that Jesus was the fulfillment of that feast. It made sense to celebrate Easter around the same time as Passover.

Holy Week came later and was born out of pilgrimages to the Holy Land. As Christianity spread throughout the Mediterranean, Asia, and Africa, believers would travel to the Holy Land for Easter and, naturally, wanted to see the places where Jesus had been. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday began as a way for people to follow Jesus’s footsteps from the Last Supper to the resurrection. And of course, having had this amazing experience in the Holy Land, people took them back home and eventually the services became important markers in the week leading up to Easter.

So, let’s sum up: first, every Sunday was Easter; then the Church decided a special Sunday should be more Easter than every Sunday; people traveled to the Holy Land and walked the last week of Jesus’s life, then they brought home what they experienced and Holy Week (and the Triduum) was born out of their enthusiasm.

 

The Triduum: The Sacred Three Days

It’s always good to pause and make sure we’ve defined unfamiliar words. You may have heard of the Triduum before as it is discussed in the Book of Common Prayer, but if you haven’t, you may be interested to know that it is one service over three days. The Triduum begins with Maundy Thursday, continues with the Good Friday service, and ends with the Easter Vigil after sunset on Saturday or early Sunday morning.

In Holy Week we participate in the past. For Jews, remembrance is physical, not just a mental exercise. It’s the same for us in the Triduum. We’re not putting on a play, but we’re profoundly reminding ourselves of the death of our Lord and how inseparable His death is from His resurrection. Let’s dive into how we embody remembrance in our Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday services.

 

Maundy Thursday: A New Commandment

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

While celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus washed their feet, sat down to table, and then began to give his last teachings, which included the verse above. We’ve likely all heard how washing feet was a servants’ job – or at least the job of the lowest ranking person present. Simon Peter couldn’t fathom the role reversal of having his Lord wash his feet. But Jesus insists, telling him that unless he is washed, he can’t be a part of Jesus’s Kingdom. Then Jesus tells all the disciples that they’re to do the same because they’re not above Him – and if He washed their feet, they should wash each other’s as an expression of love. So on Maundy Thursday we hold a foot washing service. It’s an uncomfortable time for some, which is why we always say, “all may, some should, none must,” meaning that it’s completely between you and the Lord what you do during that part of the service.

It may be this Maundy Thursday you realize you need your feet washed by someone who stands in for our Lord so that you can have a part with Him (John 13:12-16). Maybe you need to wash someone’s feet as a sign that you submit to your place as the Lord’s servant. Or maybe you need to just sit and appreciate the vibrant remembrance happening in front of you. All are ways to participate and recall that Jesus set the example of love for us.

While “Maundy” comes from the Latin word for commandment, the New Commandment isn’t the only remembrance happening this day. We read in Matthew, Mark and Luke that on this night, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Every Sunday we partake in the Perpetual Supper (the Eucharist), recalling Christ’s “blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and his promise to come again” (BCP 117). The Body and Blood of the New Covenant were given to us as the outward sign of a hidden reality. In the Eucharist we are abiding in Christ, fellowshipping with one another (and all the Church), and nourishing, strengthening, and refreshing our spiritual lives in Christ. The Eucharist sustains the life in Christ that we received at our Baptism, so remembering the night of its institution is appropriate.

Following Communion, the altar is stripped – another remembrance. In the stripping we acknowledge “the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal leading to the crucifixion” (BCP 559). The altar is a symbol of Christ in our sanctuary. There are a few other symbols of Christ (the cross that leads the processional, the Gospel as it is being read, and of course the elements of the Eucharist itself), but on Maundy Thursday we close the service by focusing on the altar, the place where the sacrifice of Jesus is enacted each time we have Communion. Everything we use to consecrate the Eucharist is removed and in its place we set a crown of thorns. The moment is symbolically powerful as we remember why He wore that crown and then depart in silence.

 

Good Friday: Contemplating the Cross

The second part of the Triduum, the Good Friday service, begins in silence the same way Maundy Thursday ended. This is the most somber part of the Triduum as it follows the stripping of the altar. The day itself has traditionally been set apart for fasting, abstinence, and penitence.

On Good Friday, we acknowledge that Jesus’s death and resurrection cannot be separated. It’s not just about logic – that a person has to die in order to live again. God Almighty, a deity that cannot die, took on human flesh so that He could touch death and change it. We see from the Gospels that whatever Jesus touches is changed: sin and sickness cannot defile Him; He cleanses them. We don’t just pause on Good Friday to contemplate that death was necessary for resurrection (though we remember that unless a grain of wheat dies and is buried, it cannot produce life (John 12:24)). We pause because we also recognize that Jesus fundamentally changed death by touching it. And because of that change, we don’t grieve our sin without hope; a hope that is present in the way we pray during the Solemn Collects and in the Anthems near the end of the service. Focused contemplation of Christ’s death on the Cross, like fasting, helps us understand more completely the victory that we wait to celebrate on Sunday.

And speaking of fasting, on Good Friday we contemplate why Jesus died and we may mourn our part in His death with fasting. Fasting plays a myriad of roles in the life of a believer. First, it gets us off autopilot. Even if we’ve spent all of Lent fasting from something, chances are that we’ve learned to temporarily live without the thing we gave up. Good Friday, if observed with abstinence, penitence, and additional fasting, can be a second jolt to our spirits, reminding us why we fasted for Lent in the first place and preparing us for the feast on Sunday. Of course no one is required to fast on Good Friday – again, “all may, some should, none must” – but if you choose to fast, it makes sense to add in prayer and worship. Fasting and prayer/worship go together because it’s not enough just to clear the cobwebs; we have to fill the cleared space with something. Participation in the services on Good Friday is a good way to add prayer and worship.

A feast is only as good as the preparations that go into it. Think of the best Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners you’ve been to. The ones with the most care put into the food and atmosphere were probably the most memorable. The same is true in preparing for Easter: contemplation and fasting are preparation for the feast. The way to Easter is through Good Friday.

 

Holy Saturday Prayer Vigil: Slowing

At Servants we’ve twice done a modified Holy Saturday service, opening the Sanctuary for an extended time of scripture reading, prayer, and reflection. At regular intervals we read designated scriptures found in the Easter Vigil liturgy where we recount the work of God in the Old Testament leading up to Christ. The readings are followed by a collect (a prayer that identifies themes from the readings and collects them into a single prayer for the whole Church). In between the readings we have time for personal prayer and reflection, silence, and sometimes music.

The length of time the church is open varies each year, but we’ve deliberately kept it open many hours to offer our congregants the time and space to slow to a stop and seek the Lord. Jesus didn’t live a hurried life. Case in point, immediately after He was baptized, He left for an extended retreat alone in the wilderness (40 days, to be precise). For most of us westerners, that doesn’t compute. You get a calling or start a job, and immediately you get going on that calling or job, you don’t ask for the next month and 10 days off to go pray in the woods. But Jesus, despite the fact that His time on earth was quite limited, wasn’t fussed about rushing off to do His Messiah job (as maybe His disciples would have expected). He knew His real job was to do the will of the Father who had sent Him – and we can surmise that going to a desolate place for an extended period of time was in line with the Father’s will. In the quiet, Jesus would have been able to commune with the Father without distraction, being strengthened spiritually the whole time.

Not all of us have the luxury of (or money to afford) 40 days off from work, away from family, friends, and distractions. So what can the church do to promote slowing? Open its doors for an extended period, for free, for anyone who wants to come. It doesn’t solve every logistical problem, but the staff certainly hopes that those who can take advantage of this time and space will come and do so.

 

Final Thoughts

Christ’s death is the onramp to a closer relationship to God for us. We start at His death so that we can understand the fullness of what He took on, of what He suffered, on our behalf. We start at His death so we can appreciate that death’s sting is gone. We start at His death so that on Easter Sunday, our joy can be complete, deep and exuberant. Come remember with us this Maundy Thursday, come contemplate with us on Good Friday, and slow with us on Holy Saturday, so that together, on Sunday, we can say – and profoundly mean – “Alleluia!”
 
 
 
 
 
Nikki Smith is the Director of Communications for Servants of Christ Anglican Church. She was a theology major at Erskine College & Theological Seminary for two years and has recently returned to theological study via St. Paul’s House of Formation along with her husband, Justin, who is an aspiring deacon. Nikki has found a deep appreciation for the theology, symbolism, and rootedness of the Anglican Church and wants to share that appreciation with others. She loves reading, The Office, a well-steeped cup of tea, her family, budgeting, and vacation planning (not in that particular order, of course). You can find her on Sundays in the church balcony, usually running the live stream production.
 
Theological oversight was given by the Rev. Dr. James Manley, assisting priest and theologian-in-residence at Servants of Christ.

A Letter Concerning the Death of George Floyd and Others

Posted on Jun 1, 2020 in Blog, Guest Blogger |

 
Dear brothers and sisters in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese,
 
What a heartbreaking season we are in. We are surrounded by death as we have passed the 100,000 mark in the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
In the midst of that tragedy we as a nation are now struggling with the horrific death of George Floyd. Therefore I commend the thoughtful letter below written by some of my brother bishops and commended by Archbishop Beach. It is in response to the tragic loss of George Floyd while recognizing the many who like him who have died or been treated unjustly.
 
St. Paul calls us to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). Ecclesiastes reminds us that there will be times to weep and to mourn (Ecc. 3:4).
 
This is such a time.
 
Please read the letter. Regardless of how you agree or disagree with it, please instead focus on prayer. Pray for changed hearts throughout our land, for less divisiveness and greater unity, for true justice and heartfelt compassion, and especially now for all those in the black community who have been harmed by the prejudice or apathy of others.
 
In Jesus the Messiah,
 
Neil
 
+Neil G. Lebhar
Bishop, Gulf Atlantic Diocese

__________

To the Clergy of the Anglican Church in North America,
 
I am writing to commend the letter below written by Bishops Jim Hobby, Todd Hunter, Stewart Ruch, and Steve Wood regarding the recent killing of George Floyd in Minnesota.
 
I ask that you reach out to the minorities in your community and serve them as Christ Jesus would do.
 
In Christ,
 
The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach
Archbishop and Primate

___________

A Letter Concerning the Death of George Floyd and So Many Others

George Floyd was made in the image of God and as such is a person of utmost value. This is not true because a few Anglican bishops issue a letter. This conviction arises from our reading of Scripture. The Psalmist said:
 
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. (Psalm 139:13-14)
 
The opening book of our Scriptures declares the value of all human life:
 
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen 1:27)
 
What happened to George is an affront to God because George’s status as an image bearer was not respected. He was treated in a way that denied his basic humanity. Our lament is real. But our lament is not limited to George and his family. We mourn alongside the wider Black community for whom this tragedy awakens memories of their own traumas and the larger history of systemic oppression that still plagues this country.
 
George’s death is not merely the most recent evidence that proves racism exists against Black people in this country. But it is a vivid manifestation of the ongoing devaluation of black life. At the root of all racism is a heretical anthropology that devalues the imago dei in us all. The gospel reveals that all are equally created, sinful and equally in need of the saving work of Christ. The racism we lament is not just interpersonal. It exists in the implicit and explicit customs and attitudes that do disproportionate harm to ethnic minorities in our country. In other words, too often racial bias has been combined with political power to create inequalities that still need to be eradicated.
 
As bishops in the ACNA we commit ourselves to standing alongside those in the Black community as they contend for a just society, not as some attempt to transform America into the kingdom of God, but as a manifestation of neighborly love and bearing one another’s burdens and so fulfilling the law of Christ. We confess that too often ethnic minorities have felt that contending for biblical justice is a burden they bear alone.
 
In the end, our hope is not in our efforts, but in the shed blood of Jesus that reconciles God to humanity and humans to each other. Our hope is that our churches become places where our life together as disciples demonstrates the power of the gospel to bring together the nations of the earth (Rev 7:9). Such work cannot be carried out by one letter written in the time of crisis. We commit to educating ourselves and the churches under our charge within a biblical and theological frame to face the problems of our day. We likewise commit to partnering with likeminded churches in the work of justice and reconciliation.
 
The Feast of Pentecost is here in a couple of days. The power of the Spirit is loosed to convict of sin and deliver us from its power. We pray that in a country as diverse as these United States, the Church will be united in the essential truths of Christianity, including its concern for the most vulnerable. So…come Holy Spirit. Mediate to us and all the earth, we pray, the victory of Jesus over the principalities and powers that seek to rule and cause death and destruction in this time between the times. Come Holy Spirit.
 
Almighty God, on this day, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, you revealed the way of eternal life to every race and nation: Pour out this gift anew, that by the preaching of the Gospel your salvation may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
 
Almighty God, you created us in your own image: Grant us grace to contend fearlessly against evil and to make no peace with oppression; and help us to use our freedom rightly in the establishment of justice in our communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
 
Sincerely in Christ,
 
Bishops Jim Hobby, Todd Hunter, Stewart Ruch and Steve Wood
 
 
 
This letter originally appeared here: http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/page/2050. Servants of Christ Anglican Church is a member church of the Anglican Church in North America and stands in agreement with all that has been said above.

Lessons & Carols: Exercises in Simple Worship

Posted on Dec 20, 2018 in Blog, Guest Blogger |

 
In the Anglican tradition, we have inherited many pieces of liturgy over the last two thousand years. So, it may be a bit surprisingly to learn that the service of Nine Lessons and Carols is a fairly recent invention, celebrating its one-hundredth birthday only this year.
 
While there had been services of alternating scripture readings and carols going back to the mid-1800s, the service as we know it today was constructed out of the grief and horror of the First World War, which had ended only 6 weeks before Christmas Eve, 1918.
 
The author of the service was The Rev. Eric Milner-White, a graduate of King’s College who was appointed chaplain at the college in 1912, four years after his ordination as a priest. When the war broke out in 1914, he volunteered as a military chaplain and witnessed the horrors of trench warfare on the Western front.  “Most of life is at night,” he wrote in a letter back home, “and the nights are filled with prolonged terror—a horrid, weird, furtive existence. … Battle is indescribable, unimaginable. A continuous firework of light balls goes up from the German trenches. But most awesome is the noise. We feel powerless against those splitting cracks and roars, and dream of the metal tearing its way into the bodies of poor men.”
 
Decorated for courage under fire in combat, he was released after what he called “a battle of special horror” in early 1918 and returned to King’s College, where he was appointed Dean. After the end of the war on November 11, he set out to create a special Christmastide service “as a gift to the city of Cambridge” that would serve two purposes.
 
First, he wanted to grieve the loss of young men from the city, and especially from his own college. Twenty-three percent of the members of King’s College had died during the war, including Milner-White’s roommate. Today in the chapel of King’s College is a list of the names of the dead on an engraved plaque; a much later dean of King’s College noted that this list was assembled long after the first Lessons and Carols service. This is because on Christmas Eve, 1918, it was not even known exactly who among the members was alive or dead.
 
Second, Milner-White wanted to reform liturgical practices so that the simple beauty of Christian worship would shine through and attract those who had lost their faith in the horrors of the war, whether serving in it or watching it take place. There is intellectual depth to the service; in Milner-White’s own words, “the main theme is the development of the loving purposes of God” as viewed “through the windows and the words of the Bible.” Yet he aimed at simplicity rather than complex explication of God’s purposes in human history; rather than a lecture, he wanted the focus of the service to be on “colour, warmth, and delight.”
 
Milner-White devoted the remainder of his life to the theme that the simple beauty of Christianity offered hope to an increasingly secular culture without hope. He sparked a new interest in stained glass windows as a means of expressing simple Christian truth in beautiful form. He wrote several simple prayers, one of which made its way into the forthcoming Prayer Book of the ACNA as the first Prayer for Mission in Evening Prayer:

O God and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men, women and children everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

As you listen and worship during Lessons and Carols, occasionally contemplate that the simple service offers an expression of hope that despite the mess that humans have made of our world, God has a plan of redemption for it.

 

For more reading pleasure, an interview with William Edwards, author of The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (Rizzoli, 2004), can be found here.

 

Fr. James Manley is an assisting priest here at Servants. He has recently discovered the joy of cooking on cast iron over a 200,000 BTU propane flame (and still has his eyebrows!)

 
 

Sustaining Our Mission

Posted on Dec 13, 2018 in Blog, Guest Blogger |

 
Servants of Christ Anglican Church is an amazing community—full of kind, caring, faithful people who see a need and jump right into action. Fr. Alex and the other clergy are exemplars of servant-leadership who inspire, instruct, and model authentic lives full of grace and truth. I often describe this church as: “we see a need, and we meet it.” This is a high praise for the character of Servants! We love because God first loved us. Fr. Alex leads us so well to serve Christ and reach others through prayer, praise, service, and community. I was thrilled to be invited by Fr. Alex to explore and recommend options for how Servants of Christ can improve internal systems for fulfilling, expanding, and sustaining our mission together.

We already know “what to do,” but as we grow, we need to become more intentional about “HOW we do what we do”; what are the criteria by which we make decisions? What are the essential values that guide our decision-making? How do we maintain focused and healthy ministry? How do we communicate well between various areas of the church? And importantly, how do we as clergy and staff—equip, train, support, and resource lay leadership in ways that help you accomplish the tasks, for which God has called you?

My calling for the past four decades has been in non-profit organizational leadership and strategic, missional thinking, I have learned over the years that Christ calls us to build both impactful AND sustainable ministry in a hurting world. This requires not only “doing ministry” but developing structures for “HOW we best can sustain ministry.” Good structures allow for growth with integrity. Good systems helps us maintain who and whose we are. We are part of the Body of Christ, called to worship and serve, in this place… at this time… and in ways that allow us to grow and thrive.

Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:18a that “Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body.” In Romans, Paul expands upon the importance of each member of the body being able to express the gifts provided by the Holy Spirit, for the unity and mission of the church:

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” Romans 12:4-8

So for a body to function, it requires several internal systems to work well, especially during times of growth or rigorous exercise. At Servants, God has given us a new building and instilled in us a continuing commitment of “making disciples, learning to do all that Jesus said.” During this time of transition, I have been able to communicate with several people in our fellowship to learn more about structure and individual roles (remember, Kathy and I are still relatively new). Fr. Alex has tracked my progress closely and we meet weekly to process any suggestions. Our intention is to have new organizational processes in place by the annual meeting in January. We will continue to prayerfully improve upon these structures over time and modify them as needed.

This brings us back to our opening scripture from Proverbs: “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.” We are trusting God to determine our steps that allows us to grow and reach many new people who are currently without a church home—while carefully maintaining a healthy community of believers who love each other and the mission before us. Pray for Godly wisdom in each step as we make our plans. God is working… in our church, and through our members, for the sake of others. What an exciting time to be part of Servants of Christ Anglican Church!

Dcn Bob Ayres

 

A lover of great coffee, Bob especially enjoys sharing a cup with his wife, Kathy. They have been married over forty years and have five grown children and ten amazing grandchildren. Bob and Kathy are the founders of Deaf Teen Quest, a national ministry of Youth for Christ USA where Bob is still on staff. Bob has a Doctorate of Ministry and two masters degrees and was recently ordained to the diaconate in the Anglican Church. His undergraduate degree is in education from the University of Florida. But most importantly, Bob loves Jesus because Jesus loved him first.


Intro to Advent

Posted on Nov 30, 2018 in Blog, Guest Blogger |

 
On Sunday, December 2, 2018, we will enter the first season of the liturgical year, Advent. For many, there may be three phrases or words that may be unfamiliar or strange in that introductory sentence. The first is “the first season,” next is “the liturgical year,” and last is, “Advent.”
 
Just as our secular calendar has seasons – winter, spring, summer, fall – so too does our Christian calendar. However, instead of four seasons, the Christian calendar or, “liturgical year,” has six. The seasons of our “liturgical year,” begin with Advent (the “first season” and continue through Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. In each of these seasons our worship has its focus on the different aspects of our walk with Jesus, our risen Lord and Messiah.
 
Advent” is the beginning of our liturgical year and carries with it a dual meaning.  As you may read in the article below, the word Advent comes from the Latin, adventum, which means “to come.” So, in this season we are looking forward to what is to come. We are looking forward to the coming of our Lord as the Baby Jesus, AND we are looking forward to the coming of our Lord Jesus when He returns to take His Church to reign with Him in His heavenly Kingdom.
 
-Fr. Michael La Cagnina
 
 
 
 
The following article was originally published at anglicanpastor.com on November 18, 2018 by Joshua Steele.
 
 

What is Advent?

Advent is the first season of the Church year. It lasts for four weeks leading up to Christmas Day on December 25: (To learn more about what the Church year is and how it’s different than the civil calendar, click here.)

Why is it called “Advent”?

“Advent” comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming or arrival.” Used by the Church, the word refers to:

  1. The “arrival” of Jesus Christ when he was born on the original Christmas Day
  2. The upcoming “arrival” of Jesus Christ when, as Christians believe, he will return to judge the living and the dead.

So, the season of Advent is a season of preparation and waiting:

  1. first for Christ’s second coming to judge the living and the dead (2 Pet 3:11-14; 1 John 3:2-3), but also
  2. to celebrate Christ’s first arrival at Christmas.

Just as the Israelites awaited a Messiah to fulfill God’s promises from Genesis 3:15 to Jeremiah 31:31-34 and beyond, so Christians await the return of Jesus the Messiah make all things new (Revelation 21).

What are some common practices during Advent?

What’s the difference between Advent music and Christmas music?

Perhaps the classic piece of Advent music is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” because it reflects Advent’s emphasis on waiting and expectation. Christmas music, on the other hand, emphasizes the joyful celebration of Christ’s arrival at the Incarnation. “Joy to the World” comes to mind, but if you read the lyrics to that song closely, you’ll notice that they’re actually about the second coming of Jesus, not his birth. So, maybe think of “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” as a paradigmatic Christmas song.

Songs for Advent

Here are some of the better-known songs from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s helpful list of Songs for Advent:

  • Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus – Charles Wesley
  • Hark, the Glad Sound! The Savior Comes – Philip Doddridge
  • Imagine – Keith and Kristyn Getty
  • Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence – Gerard Moultrie
  • Love Divine, All Loves Excelling – Charles Wesley
  • My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout – Rory Cooney
  • O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – ancient hymn
  • Of the Father’s Love Begotten – Aurelius Clemens Prudentius
  • Savior of the Nations, Come – Ambrose, 4th century; Martin Luther
  • Soon and Very Soon – Andraé Crouch

Check out the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s list of Songs for Christmas as well. I also highly recommend the following:

Advent Collects and Collect Reflections

In the Anglican tradition, each week of the Church year has a special prayer, called a “collect,” used during Sunday worship and then for the following week. Here are the collects for Advent. If you click on the titles, it will take you to the Anglican Pastor Collect Reflection for that week—a short blog post to help you reflect on the collect!

The First Sunday in Advent

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Second Sunday of Advent

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Third Sunday of Advent

O Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient toward the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world, we may be found a people acceptable in your sight; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Fourth Sunday of Advent; Annunciation

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and as we are sorely hindered by our sins from running the race that is set before us, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Other Advent posts at Anglican Pastor

If you’d like to learn more about Advent, check out the following posts at Anglican Pastor:

Other Advent resources

Check out the following resources to learn more about Advent and how to celebrate it:

 
 
 
 
Fr. Michael is an assistant clergy at Servants. He is a retired rector of a congregation in High Springs, FL and still lives there with his wife, Joyce. You can most often find Fr. Michael volunteering to help when he is able and offering solutions for various conundrums that arise in ministry work. 

The Future of Our Churches

Posted on Oct 19, 2018 in Blog, Guest Blogger |

 
At the beginning of this month I was blessed to attend the Young Anglican Project and Rooted Conferences in Nashville, Tennessee. The Young Anglican Project is a group designed to help Anglican Youth Programs throughout the United States. The first day of the gathering we were fortunate enough to spend the day with Archbishop Foley Beach. Foley Beach++ spoke to us about the future of the ACNA. He said that future is our students. His desire is that the local Anglican Church will long for the youth of today. He told us to get out there and build relationships. Programming will only get you so far. You have to know your students. His exact words were, “Students spell love: T-I-M-E.” Listening to him speak about his childhood and getting to know him on a more personal level, reminded me why I love youth ministry. Our students just want someone to be real with them, and for us to know who they truly are. I don’t have to pull a rabbit out of my hat and entertain them. I just have to listen.
 
Later that day Foley Beach++ asked us what struggles we have in our ministries. Some spoke of parent involvement, community involvement, how do we instill a life of prayer in our students, and the fact that we have a small number of students in our youth groups. Others spoke of suicide, depression, gender confusion, and same-sex attraction. These are all problems that we are facing in some shape or form within our own groups. We also brought up areas where we were seeing success. Some of those areas where: students leading small groups, students having a heart for missions, and multi-generational relationships.
 
Then he asked, “How does your youth ministry fit into the overall ministry of the Church?” I sat with this question for a while. Then I looked at our service from the pew on a Sunday morning. I see some of our students serving in different rolls, for example music team and acolytes. Then I asked myself, is that enough? How do we instill a desire for our youth to not be an audience member, but an active participant on Sundays and beyond? The next question he asked was who are the people in your church that are being discerned to work with the youth? Who and what do these people that help us run our youth groups look like? Is our help multi-generational? What does support look like from the church? Foley Beach++ told us not to answer these questions ourselves, but to get support from our parish.
 
Youth ministry is a long road. It’s spending time in real conversation with our students. It’s meeting them where they are, not just expecting that they will always come to us. It’s answering the hard questions that we may not be ready for, but the Holy Spirit is. It’s honestly looking at how our youth ministry fits into the overall ministry of our church. It’s taking the time to show and teach them what it means to be Anglican. They are not just the kids in that other building who you see every so often. How can we achieve the goal that Foley Beach++ stated: that youth are the future of our churches? Can we have a multi-generational support system for our youth and Servants? I pray that we can. I pray we all desire to know our youth on a personal level and find them where they are.
 
 
Kim Harris
 
 
Kim has been a member of Servants for four years and is the Director for Children & Families. With her husband John she has three children: Jack, Kaycee, and Katelynne.

For A New Generation

Posted on Aug 9, 2018 in Blog, Guest Blogger |

 
Our “Great Treasure Hunt” has come to an end. I cannot express how grateful I am for each person who volunteered their time and energy last week to make VBS happen. We had volunteers of all ages who filled numerous roles. We had drivers who picked up families so they could attend VBS, a live band, a snack creator, group leaders, recreation leaders, and story-tellers that brought God’s Word to life. These are just some of the roles our volunteers tackled. Here at Servants of Christ you showed what a true servant of Christ looks like. For those of you who were praying from home and keeping us in your thoughts, thank you. We felt the Holy Spirit moving, and we know He was there protecting and guiding us this week. Thank you all for filling these valuable rolls so we could help the kingdom of God grow. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
 

This week gave me a glimpse into the future of our Children’s and Youth Ministries at Servants. We are growing, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, in amazing ways. We had an average of forty children, ages 2-10 years old, attend VBS this year. We also had amazing youth volunteers. When I reflect on this, I see forty plus lives that we have the privilege to help disciple for Christ. 

The exciting news is that this school year our Club 456, that is our 4th-6th grade discipleship group, could double in size. Wednesday nights during the school year our 4th through 12th graders meet for food, fellowship, and discipleship. They learn from each other. They support one another through their words and actions. The older students mentor the younger ones. The younger students breathe new life into the ministry. Some of you have helped with meals, transportation, or volunteered on Wednesday nights. We are so grateful for all of those ministries. If you are feeling lead or hear the Holy Spirit tugging at you, we’d love your continued support.

This Sunday we need your prayers. We are going to ask our students and their parents to stand up. We’ll pray over the students for the upcoming school year. I don’t know if you know this, but being a kid is hard. There is so much pressure put on our children these days, it’s exhausting just listening to them. They can’t just run outside and play after school anymore. They can’t come back in when the street lights go on. They are startled by almost every noise and wary of everyone. They don’t know what it’s like to not have a phone to look at. Trust me, separating them from their phone is akin to separating them from their hand. I covet your prayers for them. If we make the commitment to remember our young people and their families in your prayers each day, we can start to show them what the active love of Christ looks like. We all need a little extra lift each day.

Please take the time to get to know our students. They are quite amazing. They have been blessed with so many different skills and talents. They love serving in different roles, but they are young. Did you know that several of our youth were not raised in church and have no spiritual guidance at home. These youth don’t have parents who are connected to Servants or any other church body. They desperately need spiritual mentors. All of our young people need mature Christians who will speak God’s truth into their lives. I know that loving them can sometimes require a large amount of grace, but we’ve been entrusted with a remarkable opportunity to grow the kingdom. How can you get to know them? Just come up and start a conversation.

Last but certainly not least, you can join us. Join us on Sunday mornings in Children’s Church. Come to our family events and hang out with our young families. Come fellowship on Wednesday nights with the youth. The last Wednesday of every month is game night. This is where you see them in their element. Join the transportation team, and help give the students who want to be there a ride. There are so many ways you can serve.

As verse 4 says in Psalm 78, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” That generation is among us. The time is now. Let them know all the wondrous things God has done in your life.


Not My Will, But Yours – Day 40

Posted on Mar 25, 2018 in Blog, Devotions, Guest Blogger, Lenten Devotional 2018 |

 
The theme of the devotionals has been calling; many have found and are living out their calling, but many of us don’t feel one or aren’t in the position yet to live it out (incidentally, I’m in this third group). What do we do about that?
 
One answer is to pray about it, and trust in the Lord to reveal it to you. This is good advice, but we don’t dictate the Lord’s timing. It may be years before you feel a calling. It may be never. So what do we do in the meantime?
 
This is a question that faces all of us. The church is living in the meantime between the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus and His return, when all will be put to rights, when at the name of the Lord, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. But that hasn’t happened yet. It may not in our lifetimes. So, again, what do we do in the meantime?
 
This question looms large in the background of the epistles. Then as now, there’s an inherent tension between waiting, as when the scriptures repeatedly instruct us to wait on the Lord, and doing, as when Jesus tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. This is a tension that has to be worked out, prayerfully, in each of our lives; there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the question. And yet the scriptures and the Church provide guidance to us. Each Sunday, Fr. Alex or Fr. James dismisses us with the exhortation to go into the world “to do the work You have given us to do, to love and serve You as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord.”
 
This would be a difficult thing even if we weren’t sinful creatures. Calling or no, discerning the work He has given us to do is no easy task. I believe wisdom consists in knowing how to apply what we know to what we do in the world. It is both God-given and hard-earned. So what are we to do if we don’t have enough wisdom for a given situation? We cannot simply “follow our heart,” because we know that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) We often don’t even desire what the Lord desires, let alone know how to bring it about.
 
I think the answer must be to pray for wisdom and to act, trusting that the Lord will transform our desires, guide our paths, and bring us to our calling, even if we don’t yet know what it is.
 
For now, we pray along with Jesus in Gethsemane, “yet not my will, but yours be done.”
 
 
 
Justin Shoemaker
 
 
 
Justin came to Servants three years ago. He’s a scribe in an emergency room in Palatka, FL and volunteers at youth group each Wednesday. He enjoys readings and playing soccer, and would usually rather be skiing.

When There’s No Calling – Day 39

Posted on Mar 23, 2018 in Blog, Devotions, Guest Blogger, Lenten Devotional 2018 |

 
The question of calling has always been a difficult one for me. I have often struggled with the desire for a specific mission in life – a primary focus that would unite the various aspects of life. But I don’t feel that I have that clear calling. At times, I assume that it must be my own fault, that I don’t have the proper relationship with God and am not seeking to hear Him fervently. At other times, I assume that different people need different things, and God hasn’t seen fit to provide me with that focused mission that others seem to have. There is probably truth in both.
 
It was somewhat ironic to me a few weeks ago when Fr. Alex mentioned me in his sermon on calling. Among the list of people who have a clear calling – such as David to leading music and Mary to intercessory prayer – he included me, listing several places of service. (I would contend that my actual service is less impressive than he would have my “resume” sound, but I digress.) The irony to me was that I don’t feel like a very good example of calling. Some might say I have the spiritual gift of helps, which I would describe as “doing the job that’s needed.” I don’t know whether this can or should be considered a calling. It certainly does not meet my traditional definition.
 
So what do I do with that? I serve where I can. I work with several people to lead a community group that gathers monthly to strengthen relationships and serve together. This last fall, I had the opportunity to lead a financial class with Adrienne. I play music on Sunday with the music team. And other odds and ends such as organizing the AV team.
 
What do all of these things have in common? Nothing, as far as I know, except that they are opportunities to serve. I continue to wrestle with the question of calling. I continue to pray for clarity and direction. And I continue to serve.
 
Perhaps this is a question with which you also wrestle. I would encourage you to step out and do something. Be intentional, seek the Lord’s direction, but then go. Don’t let your uncertainty keep you from the opportunities that God has placed in front of you.
 
 
Jose Boada
 
 
Jose joined Servants in 2006 and has served in various capacities over the years. Outside of Servants he enjoys Gator sports with his wife Adrienne and their daughter Audrey.

An Interview with Alan – Day 38

Posted on Mar 22, 2018 in Blog, Devotions, Guest Blogger, Lenten Devotional 2018 |

 
Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:13-14
 
Q. You have a ministry of working with children one Sunday a month. How did you get involved in that?
 
A. Well I don’t think you can say what I do is really a ministry. At least that’s not how I see it. For me it is just a really fun thing to do and I wouldn’t call it work either. But to answer your question it started when Deb Daquila who was working in the toddler room suggested that I give it a try.
 
Q. Why do you think she did that?
 
A. I don’t know but probably because one of my jobs as an usher is to count everybody in attendance at the service and that includes the children and adults that take care of them in their classrooms. I would usually have something to say to the kids like “How is everybody? Are you having fun?” etc. before I left with my count.
 
Q. What did Deb do?
 
A. She suggested that I might be good with the kids and I should volunteer in the toddler room. For some reason I said yes. That was several years ago. Now I am with the pre-k kids.
 
Q. What background do you have that might have led you to want to be in children’s ministry?
 
A. I’ve always liked little kids. I like being with them and seeing how they operate, how their minds work, stuff like that. Dawn and I were never blessed to have children. Maybe being with little children one Sunday a month helps make up for this. Maybe being a school teacher was a way of compensating for this. But those were high school kids, a totally different animal. (Dawn taught high school math for 35 years. I came to teaching as a second career and taught high school social studies for 22 years.)
 
Q. What else would you like to say about your ministry?
 
A. As I said before I don’t really consider being with little kids a ministry. That implies work, and to me it is not work. It is really a fulfilling time for me, so much so I often prefer to be in the pre-k room than in the adult service. I really truly have fun with the kids. I draw and color right along with them. There are pictures I colored with them on my refrigerator. Also, Marissa their teacher (remember I am just a helper), does a great job with the kids. For me it is a great blessing to be recognized as Mr. Alan and to see these little ones grow and develop. Often I must say I am somewhat envious of the parents of the children in our church. I am blessed, truly blessed, to be able to help the parents have a few moments to enjoy their church experience. Wait, maybe that’s the whole point of ministry: that it is NOT work, that it can be fun and it is certainly a blessing. The blessing is in the giving.

 

Alan Cox
 
 

Alan is retired, but spends most of his days working on repairing his home that was damaged during Hurricane Irma last year. He and Dawn have been blessed by the many people at Servants who helped with clean up and have prayed for them through this time. Alan is an usher and recently stepped up to help with the sound ministry.


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