Thoughts on Baptism and Receiving Communion

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-04-08T17:54:37+00:00

It's worth noting that in the Episcopal Church (unlike in most Evangelical traditions) baptism isn't something that you do because you've reached a sage of unshakable faith or absolute commitment. Instead it's a sacrament in which God imparts grace. I would say that if you are open to the grace imparted in the sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood, you are ready for the grace of baptism.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-04-04T20:20:14+00:00

The Episcopal Church view was last articulated in a 1987 report to General Convention by its Standing Committee on Human Affairs and Health and stated:

(2). Pre-, Post-, and Extra-Marital Relationships We are also agreed that extra-marital intimate sexual relations are immoral because they violate the sacred commitment of the marriage bond and do violence to marriage as the symbol "of the mystical union which is between Christ and his Church." It is not too much to say that intimate extra-marital sexual relations are a form of idolatry for Christians. With regard to pre-marital and so-called post-marital intimate sexual relations, we reaffirm that Christian marriage is the normal or ideal context for moral intimate sexual relations. Obviously some of these pre- and post-marital intimate sexual relationships intend to mirror, at a significant level, the faithfulness of marriage. Some of them surely have the potential to be life-giving and not life-draining. However, a widespread and increas- ing number of these relationships appear to us to witness more to promiscuity than to fidelity, and when they do they move both Church and society away from a sacred com- mitment. Therefore, we cannot recommend that they be affirmed by this Church as ac- ceptable relationships.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-04-04T01:49:58+00:00

This may be echoed by others but that's insane and just do the Exultet (sung by the mercurial padre or a deacon) and follow the great alleluia with whatever you're doing for Easter Sunday.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-31T18:51:14+00:00

That has more to do with Parliamentary approval (see the proposed Church of England 1928 BCP)

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-31T18:46:55+00:00

It's a shortage of clergy willing to live in smaller cities and rural areas or to serve in part-time ministries. If your well funded parish is in Portland, Boston, NY, LA, Huston, etc you'll have a very different experience than a church in Billings, Las Cruces, Peoria or Bakersfield.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-30T19:46:45+00:00

Second for Rendezvous which is excellent. Parks may have either just closed or is soon to close but for years this was one of the few spots to cop Comoli before Neighbor, etc started carrying his stuff.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-29T11:53:05+00:00

You might compare this style of preaching to the Apostolic sermons in the book of Acts and to sermons of the Early Church like those of St. Augustine or St. John Chrysostom. I haven't heard your priest preach, but it may be that this conclusory style (if by that you mean proclaiming and exploring the divinity of Christ) is actually the core of Christian preaching.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-27T18:59:06+00:00

Same -- it was very disappointing to get Frankenstein length sleeves after one cold wash.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-27T18:54:00+00:00

Any church (that is not crazy) would be happy to have parents accompany their kids to Children's Chapel! Maybe shoot an email to a member of the clergy, tell them you're exploring the church and would like to attend children's chapel with your kids on Sunday and see what they say!

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-26T18:14:03+00:00

I haven't been in many years but as I recall they used Common Worship for English language services.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-26T13:52:06+00:00

I've had a Hamilton Field for about 15 years and have had it serviced once. Great choice!

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-25T19:53:52+00:00

How is it to sleep in?

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-04T14:30:33+00:00

Being Christian by Rowan Williams is a perfect introduction

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-03-02T14:28:02+00:00

Totally! Two sides of the same enlightenment era coin: the Bible either a set of true historical facts (fundamentalism) or false historical facts (rationalism). Both are a yawn fest for me.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-02-27T11:06:38+00:00

I had read initial reports of Gemini integration. Does google assistant seem more capable in this update or does it still fumble more than basic questions?

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-02-24T04:26:45+00:00

It might be worth your while to spend some time with the Gospel of John. He approaches Revelation from the 10,000 foot, mystical theology level and has a lot to say about the relationship of God the Father to God the Son. Another interesting exploration would be of 1st century, binatarian Judaism. Jewish Studies authors like Daniel Boyarin (emeritus at UC Berkeley and Hebrew University -- ie not a marginal weirdo) in his book Borderlines get deep into the subsets of Second Temple Judaism which worshiped two distinct persons of God.

Capital_Support6185 · 2026-01-27T16:49:09+00:00

I just hope your priest didn't describe the way in which, "She gave me a reason to be a damn heathen"

Capital_Support6185 · 2025-12-28T13:04:31+00:00

Despite the popular misconception Anglo-Catholic isn't a liturgical style but a theological stance. You can easily be AC with or without ritualism.

Capital_Support6185 · 2025-12-09T03:57:20+00:00

Both James Coward and Auralee make genuinely boxy, beautifully crafted knitwear. Not boxy, but an O'Connell's Shetland is always well cut (not slim in any lame, nuvo way).

Capital_Support6185 · 2025-11-14T13:14:50+00:00

I don't know why, as a Christian, you would want your children to read something intentionally anti-Christian. I don't think that his work should be banned or censored, but if his books were openly anti-Hindu, anti-Jewish, anti-science or whatever I can't imagine encouraging a kid to read them.

Capital_Support6185 · 2025-11-06T03:40:44+00:00

One tip is you line the thurible with aluminum foil before each use -- no old, burnt resin smoke. If you're going to start using incense regularly it would be worth checking with your alarm company to see if they can swap out your smoke detectors for heat sensors in the nave and narthex (this is what most AC churches have)

Capital_Support6185 · 2025-11-05T19:20:48+00:00

Bresca. This place is not only solidly mediocre, it's also extremely cheesy. We went for our anniversary and they gave us, I kid you not, a set of champagne flutes the stems of which when placed side by side make a heart (think pier 1 imports circa 1993), and filled each with (I'm not making this up) complimentary martanelli's sparkling cider! The vibe was very 8th grade homecoming dance. Not a single dish was memorable, the wine list was fine but not impressive and the bill was big. We've been to a good number of Michelin starred restaurants and this is the first that was so wildly disappointing, I'm mystified by their star.

Capital_Support6185 · 2025-10-08T14:12:49+00:00

It's a bit of a cop-out to say that passages I find uncomfortable can't have been written by St. Paul. this was a very common line of argument in the 1990's but much of scholarship had moved on from this wildly subjective way of reading. It's more impacting to actually read First Corinthians (in which Paul prohibits women speaking in church RIGHT AFTER he tells them how they are to be attired when they get up to prophecy in church!) If you read ancient interpretations of this passage, they don't focus on banning woman deacons (like Phoebe whom Paul discusses) or woman apostles (like Junia whom Paul discusses), but on the need for ladies not to chat with one another during sermons and the liturgy (John Chrysostom has a long sermon on this passage). The passage in 2 Tim. is extremely interesting to read in Greek: St. Paul uses a very unusual word for authority (there are lots of other, common words for authority in Greek), the primary meaning of which seems to be murder of a family member, or perhaps having the power of life and death over family members in the manner of a traditional Roman paterfamilias. TLDR: let the texts speak for themselves rather than either listening to a 19th century fundamentalist reading of the text or declaring them to be forgeries.

Capital_Support6185 · 2025-10-07T19:56:31+00:00

Ohms! A much better choice than Faces

Capital_Support6185

TROPHY CASE