We can take Valentine’s example and let it kindle in us a passion for the people in our communities. Are there neighbors we might lift up with a timely word of encouragement, a helping hand, or a secret act of care? Are there broken relationships in our families needing the gentle touch of forgiveness?
Read MoreWithin the leadership of each Parish, the Rector stands as a shepherding figure, weaving together the spiritual and administrative threads that define any one congregation's journey. As outlined in the Episcopal Church Canons, particularly Canon III.9, the Rector is entrusted with profound responsibilities that extend from leading worship and pastoral care to overseeing varied facets of church administration. Their presence is both pastoral and pragmatic, embodying a leadership style that is visionary and grounded in tradition.
Read Moren my first post of this series “On the Church” I dove into the mission of the church through the lens of the 5 Marks of Mission. Today, we will look specifically at a body within an Episcopal Church that has a very important, and yet, misunderstood role. The most common misunderstanding stems from whether vestry members are representatives or agents.
Read MoreAs the Rector of a growing Episcopal church, I've found myself increasingly troubled by the state of Christianity in America as realized in church participation. I've witnessed firsthand the decline in church attendance and the closure of many congregations within the denomination that I grew up in. For the last 15 years in ministry, I find I am having the same conversations that range in topic from who is involved, whose job is whose as it relates to nurture of children, scarcity, various business model questions and so forth.
Read MoreMaximus the Confessor explains that as the intellect is established in God, it longs to discover the principles of His essence. However, God’s inmost nature is beyond our capacity to investigate. We can, however, understand the qualities of His nature: eternity, infinity, indeterminateness, goodness, wisdom, and power.
Read MoreMaximus the Confessor teaches that when the intellect contemplates invisible things, it seeks their natural principles, the cause of their generation, and their providential order and judgment.
Read MoreWhen the intellect contemplates visible things, it searches for their natural principles, the spiritual principles they reflect, or their original cause, according to Maximus the Confessor.
Read MoreMaximus the Confessor explains that the pure intellect engages with passion-free conceptual images of human affairs, natural contemplation of visible or invisible things, or the light of the Holy Trinity.
Read MoreMaximus the Confessor teaches that we cannot know God’s essence directly. Instead, we know Him through the grandeur of His creation and His providential care for all creatures. These serve as mirrors reflecting His infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.
Read MoreMaximus the Confessor likens the revelation of divine truth to the rising sun. Just as the sun illuminates the world, revealing itself and everything it touches, the Sun of righteousness reveals Himself and the inner principles of all creation when He rises in the pure intellect.
Read More
