From the Chapter
Pilgrimage Now and Then
By The Rev. Dr. Thomas N. Buchan, III | Associate Professor of Church History at Nashotah House
The first real sign that my pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham wasn’t going to happen came in mid-March 2020. At the beginning of the second week of the month, I had received word from the Shrine that accommodations were available for dates in the end of June and beginning of July. By the beginning of the third week of March, however, the Shrine was unable to confirm my booking pending a decision as to whether it would remain open in response to the burgeoning coronavirus pandemic. For a few weeks, I nursed some slender hope of making my way to “England’s Nazareth” in the summer of 2020, but it steadily became clear that this would not be possible. For the present, it seemed my pilgrim intentions would have to remain just that: intentions.
In the Days of Herod the King
By Jack Franicevich, Candidate for Master’s in Sacred Theology (STM), Nashotah House
Herod schemes to snuff out the truth so that he doesn’t have to face it. You know the story. He sends the wise men out to find Jesus. Herod, like the Serpent in the garden, becomes a deceiver. Herod will not seek first the kingdom of heaven, and he will not seek heaven’s righteousness. Rather, he seeks to subject the Lord Jesus to his own rule. Jesus is the true light of the world, the only one in whom is life, and in whose broken body alone the warring world will be reconciled. But Herod prefers darkness to light.
Military Chaplains and the Local Church
By The Rev. Canon Kelly O'Lear, Canon Theologian to the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces and Chaplaincy
When thinking about Anglican priests serving in the military as chaplains, it’s helpful to take perspective on what a select and small group comprises this cohort. About 0.4% of the U.S. population presently serves in the entire active-duty military. Unless a congregation is near a military base, few of those worshipping in an Anglican parish might actually know someone in uniform.
Catechesis According to the Rule of Benedict
By The Rev. Dr. Greg Peters, Servants of Christ Research Professor of Monastic Studies at Nashotah House
The Rule of Benedict offers a fully-formed theology of spirituality under the theme of humility. For the monk, this lifetime of formation (or catechesis; or, in a more Benedictine fashion, “a lifetime of ascending the ladder of humility”) takes place in the monastic community, within the four walls of the monastery under the authority of an abbot and the rule.
The Unwavering Life Together
By Jack Franicevich
The thing about books like Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together is that they present such concrete and compelling visions for Christian community that it’s hard to be satisfied with a “takeaway.” We don’t want to take lessons away from Bonhoeffer. We want to experience the common life he insists on. We know that he knows where God is and, as idiosyncratic as his rules appear, we instinctively want to follow his leadership.
Churches Transforming Communities
The late theologian and missiologist, Lesslie Newbigin wrote that each Christian has been sent out with the gospel, together in community, to those in the surrounding culture, for the sake of the King and His kingdom: “The Church is sent into the world to continue that which Jesus came to do, in the power of the same Spirit, reconciling people to God.”
OnScript Podcast with Dr. Jeannine Brown: The Gospels as Stories
OnScript podcast invites you to a live theology event with Dr. Jeannine K. Brown, with co-hosts Matt Lynch and Dru Johnson, at Nashotah House Theological Seminary on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, from 6:30 PM until 9:30 PM. The event is free* but is limited to 30 individuals, and reservations are required.
The Little Texas Church that Could
How would they pay for their land, their building, and their priest? This was not an easy time for any of the parishioners as they were in the middle of a severe, seven-year drought.
A Leader, Not a Follower: Bishop Kemper and Apostolic Ministry
By Mark Michael
The Sunday after the Ascension, May 24, marks a century and half since the death of the Rt. Rev. Jackson Kemper, the Episcopal Church’s first missionary bishop. The current crisis won’t allow for a proper celebration, though perhaps a few pilgrims will gather by his tomb at Nashotah that day for reverent, if socially distanced, prayers of thanksgiving.