This Episode, Fr. Ben interviews special guest Fr. Steve Rice, Rector of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We discuss all sorts of aspects of worship and history, from saints, to good ol’ fashioned Bible religion. If you’re listening before December 7, 2022, join us at 6:30p 12/7/2022 to be a part of our Sung Mass. If you’re listening afterwards, we hope this will be edifying as you consider your own spiritual practices during the Advent season and beyond as we consider this season how we do worship in The Episcopal Church.

Please Note— If you would like to join us for this service, incense will be offered!

Show Notes:

People often try to define Anglo-Catholicism based on a style or practices; but an Anglo-Catholic would define themselves as a Christian, a Catholic Christian, one who wants to be a member of the Church. By Catholic, we mean universal— one who believes that which is believed by people all over the world, throughout the ages.

Our setting does not matter as much as our approach to what is happening in church, at the Altar— the meeting place of Heaven and Earth, where the once-perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ is made present to us in the Eucharist.

Arthur Tooth Imprisoned for putting candlesticks on the altar available here.

Where did Anglo-Catholicism start? In England, in the 1840’s. It started (of course!) with a sermon by John Keble. Full text of John Keble’s sermon is available here (it’s long!).

Fr. Steve covers lots of reformation history in just a couple minutes in the episode. Rusty on your Anglican/British History? There are many great resources that cover this time period. Fr. Ben read a lot of historian Diarmaid MacCulloch in seminary who has a book on the Reformation called Reformation: A History.

We talk about our annual vigil, called the Gesthemane watch, from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday. Find out more next Holy Week; the watch will be April 6th-7th, 2023.

We also discussed Saints and those who have already passed away; how do we talk to or about those who have passed away? What other ceremonies or rituals do we practice in our lives that might seem strange in a church setting, or vice versa?

What does the word Mass mean? Pope Benedict XVI compares the Mass to missa - Mission. The Mass is our mission.

Book of Common Prayer Rubric (instruction) about the priest facing the altar is on pages 333, 361, 365, etc.

Read more about our Advent program here.