By Hans Boersma

Historical-grammatical exegesis is what conservative theologians do. Or, so many of them appear to think. The reasoning seems impeccable: By sticking to the text—its grammar, as well as its literary and historical background—biblical theologians can put up an objective bulwark against postmodern subjectivist and revisionist interpretations of the biblical text. Sticking to the text and determining authorial intent are the two key defense tactics of conservative Christians: Only the written word is the law.

An interview and book excerpt from Gerald R. McDermott, recently retired from the Anglican Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School. Dr. McDermott taught at Nashotah House during the Fall 2020 semester, and is the editor of the recently published Race and Covenant (Acton Institute, 2020). The book’s 15 contributors address the race conflict which our nation faces and suggest ways for us to go forward. All of them think that religion—and the historic doctrine of the national covenant in particular—are essential to healing our social wounds.

Elisabeth Rain Kincaid, Assistant Professor of Ethics and Moral Theology at Nashotah House will be the moderator for a Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes (CEEP Network) panel discussion, focusing on the topic: Ambassadors of Reconciliation: The Hard Work of Repairing Our Social Compact. Christians are called to be a witness against violence and seek the peace. What does this look like? How can Christians work to reconcile justice and love? What lessons should the church have learned over the last several years?  

Join us for an insightful conversation into being ambassadors of reconciliation and using love as a primary tool.

Date January 14, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. EST | Register here for this free event.

By Jarod Grice

If you were to ask any evangelical how they would describe their faith in Christ, you would likely get some version of "it's about a personal relationship with Jesus". We've all heard it (and said it) a million times. “It's not a religion, it's a relationship”. This phrase has become so common in the parlance of evangelicalism that it feels off-limits to challenge. 

By The Rev. Matthew S. C. Olver, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Liturgics and Pastoral Theology

Just as close to this tradition’s heart was a book. We often forget how much of this is due to a few strange accidents of history. The movable-type printing press was only 100 years old, for one, when the first Book of Common Prayer was published in 1549, so the possibility of books such as this was still relatively new. Second, Henry’s decision to break from Rome to secure his divorce occurred at a time when a whole constellation of impulses for reform, both inside and outside England, had begun to gather force. And the separation made possible a great deal more reform than Henry himself had desired.

By The Rev. Toby Karlowicz, Ph.D.

One of the more debated doctrines within Anglicanism is that of the Apostolic Succession—the idea that our bishops have received their office in a continuous line extending back to the apostles. Most Anglicans, I think, would agree that we have the succession; the point of disagreement concerns the importance placed on it. On this point, it serves as a line of division. Some define the Church Catholic in terms of that succession: for them, it is the defining feature of a true church, and the vital link that relates our tradition to the wider church.

Alumni and friends, in between sips of egg nog, how about some good old-fashioned jigsaw puzzle time? Clicking those pieces into place is a lot of fun! As you enjoy the 12 Days, we’ve created 12 custom digital puzzles featuring some of Nashotah House’s most familiar images. So take a trip around the Garth to the places on campus you love. To adjust for difficulty, you can choose how many pieces make up each puzzle: simply click on an image and select the number of pieces. The links are shareable, so feel free to share with friends and family.

Cheers and enjoy!

By The Rev. Meghan Dow Farr, ’13

Ministry doesn’t always go as we plan. God doesn’t do what we expect. Sometimes we have doubts. That’s okay. We, like John the Baptist, are called to point outward continuously to the light, to Jesus Christ. When we have been washed with Jesus in the waters of baptism and equipped for ministry with gifts from the Holy Spirit, we are called to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ. And despite the unexpected, we respond: I will, with God’s help. Amen.

By The Rev. Dr. John F. McCard, STM ’03

As I anticipated this year’s very unusual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services—and the silence and loneliness that many of us are feeling by not being together in the church. I was reminded of an experience I had with a group of pilgrims on a visit to the Holy Land many years ago.

Below please find a series of social posts shared with The Chapter community during this Advent season by members of the Nashotah House community who worship and serve at St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. 

By The Rev. Danny Hindman, Campus Minister for Reformed University Fellowship | The University of Wisconsin – Madison

There is precious little in my time and place—the Upper Midwest in 2020—that helps me to remember what kind of season Advent is.  As we enter into these high, holy and ever expanding days of devotion to American consumption (I’m already receiving “Holiday” shopping deals as I write, and it is only just November), it is challenge enough to simply remember—never mind embody, inhabit, participate in—what sort of time we are in. I suspect I am not alone in this, and the readings for today help redirect us toward what it is this Season is about.  

By The Rev. Lawrence N. Crumb, ‘61

Every day, as I sit at my computer, I look at this picture of The Flight into Egypt by Melchior Broederlam, a Flemish painter who lived at the turn of the fifteenth century. Broderlam worked for the Duke of Burgundy, perhaps the wealthiest and most powerful man in medieval France.

The picture was the greater part of a large travel poster given to me as a high school French prize, and I had it framed over fifty years ago when I moved into my first apartment.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Crafts, Jr., Captain, MC-USN retired, Class of 1989 at Nashotah House. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. crafts earned a degree from Yale before being trained as a medical doctor at Case Western Reserve University. After retiring from the Navy, he prepared for the ministry at Nashotah House, and graduated and was ordained in 1989.

By The Rev. Dr. Victor Lee Austin

Rose Macauley’s 1956 novel, The Towers of Trebizond, opens with an Oxford woman coming home from High Mass on her camel, and continues as a sort of dazzling high wire literary act of British eccentricity and Anglican peculiarity mixed with ruminations theological and historical and sociological and political and so much more, in sentences that seem ever just about to topple over but then right themselves and head off elsewhere. In the course of this romp across Europe, the narrator (niece of that Oxford woman), crossing Turkey on the aforementioned camel, sick and perhaps hallucinating from a potion she has imbibed, throws up the following not atypical 118-word sentence.

By The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, SSC, DD 

While one might argue as to what is right or wrong, the reality is that most modern denominations and so-called Bible churches and non-denominational churches have eliminated virtually all Christian feast days. In areas where these churches predominate, we should not be surprised when fellow parishioners seem to be surprised to learn or to remember what have been the traditional festivals/feast days of the church. Sadly, whenever feast days are eliminated and the liturgical seasons are eliminated, we are met with a cultureless Christianity.

By The Rt. Rev. Anthony Clavier

Back then, it seemed to me that Christmas happened suddenly, one might even say dramatically. At some stage on Christmas Eve, a tree, roots included, took its place in our house. I knew it had been there, waiting patiently in the shed, because one of my tasks was to keep the sacking-covered roots watered. Together, Mother and I would decorate the tree, open the Christmas cards and place them on the mantle shelf, and place the wrapped presents from relatives around the tree.

A Review by The Rev. Ben Jeffries, ’14

The cornerstone of Nashotah House Press at present is the 'Anglo-Catholic Classics' series, which centers around reprinting texts that the Tractarians themselves either wrote, re-issued, or translated. There are a few works in the series that post-date the Tractarians themselves (E.B. Pusey died in 1882) but which are earnest continuations in the same direction.

Nashotah House is pleased to announce that the Rev. Dr. Esau McCaulley’s Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope has been awarded the 2021 Christianity Today “Beautiful Orthodoxy” Book of the Year. Christianity Today seeks to publish and highlight books most likely to shape Christian life, thought, and culture. In 2019, Hans Boersma’s book Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition was awarded Best Book in Theology and Ethics by Christianity Today. Both of these awards demonstrate the caliber of professors and visiting scholars teaching at Nashotah House. See for yourself by taking a free online course with Dr. McCaulley or Dr. Boersma.

By The Rev. Lee Nelson, ‘05, SSC

During these upcoming Ember Days (December 16, 18, & 19), I’d ask you to take on intentional fasting and prayer for clarity of vocation and desire in your own life as well as in the lives of others. In particular, this is a time to pray for an increase of vocations to Holy Orders and the religious life. But, it is also a time to intentionally place your life on the altar of the Lord’s grace and mercy and ask for the joy of surrender to His holy will.