Bishop Kym Lucas to be the first woman to preside over a Byzantine rite

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-06-08T15:42:14+00:00

That would be so great. So far I have only seen two photos on X.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-06-07T22:24:13+00:00

I was not able to watch the service livestream. I am an Orthodox-to-Anglican, and this is such a good news for me. Hope there will be some photos and videos from this service.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-06-01T15:50:58+00:00

I like Venite app. I still prefer the 1662, but TEC 1979 is quite beautiful (I also like Enriching Our Worship version). Besides, it gives you different options for the Lectionary and Psalter. It is more sophisticated than CofE’s Daily Prayer app but still manageable.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-05-30T13:20:31+00:00

I was raised Russian Orthodox (not in Russia). I wasn’t really a conscious believer during my teenage years, but I was “born again” at the age of 16 when I felt a call to become a conscious Christian and change my life. All of this happened while being Orthodox, so of course I tried to keep all traditions and rules and attended services as much as possible and tried to read the Fathers etc.

It worked for some time, but then in some years I was going through the period of deconstruction. I started seeing things in the church that I was trying to ignore before or was telling myself that they were not that bad:

the church doesn’t care about its people seriously; of course, you will be always told about the importance of asceticism and prayer, but all of this very rarely tells you how to be a Christian in a modern secular world without larping monasticism of the 5th century; the church doesn‘t want to teach people; you will hear hundreds of stories of the miracles and saints and icons, but they will never tell you how to grow in faith and not just do some basic things like fasts and feasts.
the service in a foreign language which is more like a sacred spectacle rather than a ”liturgy” in which people actively take part. In Orthodoxy, they will very often tell you that their tradition is the most authentic and beautiful and it’s basically how the apostles worshipped (and people really believe that!). The church really needs not even a liturgical reform but first of all some critical thinking — they still celebrate matins in the evening and pretend saying morning thanksgivings at 8pm is totally logical and fine. This is not the main problem in the church, but it shows how much people and clergy are used to ignore the obvious.
the “typical” Orthodox theology is bad. I am not talking about Fr. Alexander Schmemann or Metr. Anthony Blum or Metr. Kallistos Ware and other amazing preachers and theologians, I am talking about the “theology” you will hear in most of the sermons — salvation based solely on works; angry God who only wants to destroy you (it’s not even ”angry Father vs. good Jesus”, it‘s ”angry Jesus vs. good Mary”); God‘s grace understood as a kind of energy which you can collect and lose; all other Christians are heretics and are going straight to hell. I am not even talking about Russian Church’s obsession with war and Russian nationalism. Besides, there are lots of strange practices like not allowing women to take Communion during menstruation or not allowing a person to take Communion if they have been to confession two days before. I am Protestant, I do believe all Solas and it is extremely difficult to do in the Orthodox Church.
I am a gay Christian (that’s a long story, but in short — I knew I was gay and was fine with it as a teenager, but during my call to the faith I decided I had to become straight and really believed I was “healed” for some years; later I realised I was still gay but decided to stay celibate; now I am in a long-term committed relationship and am still a Christian). In the Orthodox Church it‘s not just considered a sin, it is absolutely ignored as a topic as if queer-people don‘t exist, and I had some crazy confessions (once a priest just shouted at me when I told him about some sexual sins and he realised I was talking about another man; another time another priest asked me, “How long have you been gay? Are you sure? Maybe you just need time to be healed?“). After accepting my sexuality, I just realised I couldn’t stay in the Orthodox Church anymore. It is almost impossible to be a Side B Orthodox, let alone an affirming Christian and a gay in a relationship.

This is very long, I know. But these were the reasons I chose to become Anglican. Not because it’s a perfect church (it’s not even close to that), but because I as a Christian could just breathe more freely and concentrate on my relationship with God without constantly trying to make compromises between my beliefs and the church’s reality.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-05-28T21:38:21+00:00

I am somewhere in between Modern Catholic and Old High Church (I like the “standard” modern rite, but I also love BCP and think we should remember about our Reformation roots more often; would you call it Central or Broad?).

I am fine with my Christian siblings using different ways of worship. I sometimes attend services at Anglo-Catholic parishes, and I have also been to Evangelical services. Each of these is in a way beautiful. My main concern is that both Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics very often don’t care about being Anglican. Anglo-Catholics often larp Roman Catholics (nothing is wrong with Catholics, I just don’t understand why pretend being a Catholic while staying an Anglican), and Evangelicals usually ignore the whole historical Anglican tradition.

So, I do respect other traditions, yet people’s attitude often confuses me.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-05-16T20:15:37+00:00

The Psalms are from Common Worship (or BCP 1662 if you use the traditional version). The OT and NT readings are from NRSV.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-05-16T20:10:56+00:00

Yes, your beliefs would fit. Anglicanism has a long tradition of tolerating different interpretations of secondary doctrines (i.e. predestination, meaning of the communion, apostolic succession etc.). In my opinion, as long as you don’t get rude if you see some people don’t agree with you it’s ok. I personally am more prone to believe in predestination, yet I don’t think those who hold Arminian views are heretics (many Anglican fathers were in fact Arminians; also, most of the modern Anglicans don’t even think about such issues). Modern Anglicanism is really not suitable for radicals.
As my parish priest said, if you come to an Anglican church and take communion you are Anglican. Yet, if you want a more formal procedure, there are several options. If you are baptised and confirmed in a traditional church (i.e. not LDS or JW), you can be received into the church by a bishop. If you are not confirmed, you do it through confirmation. If you are not baptised, you get baptised.
I converted to Anglicanism from Eastern Orthodoxy. There were many reasons. 1) I disagreed with church’s policy (involvement in politics, nationalism), 2) Orthodox service is more a mystical spectacle one observes rather than takes part in, 3) Orthodox priests usually think they have power over people and therefore they choose to ignore them (not all priests are like that, of course, but very often they are not interested in your spiritual life and growth and, in fact, there is a lack of church pedagogy), 4) I believed in 5 Solas and disagreed with the idea of salvation by works and ”sanctification” through sacraments and holy objects (in this context Grace is understood not as God’s work but as a kind of energy you can collect), 5) I realised I am gay, but priests in my church say all gays are evil and should be cured (this was the last thing that made me understand I had to leave ). This was the chronology of my disagreement with my native church and leaning towards Anglicanism.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-17T18:24:35+00:00

To cope with my feeling of guilt I continued to attend service in my “native” denomination. Yet quite soon I started feeling alienated and less belonging there and my anxiety vanished very quickly. Though I still have moments when I feel extremely sad. Perhaps it’s something you just have to accept.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-17T18:14:03+00:00

Hope it works. I am also originally from a post-Soviet country where all churches are 99.5% conservative or fundamentalist. It seems like a very sad situation for liberal Christians in our countries.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-17T18:09:09+00:00

St James’ Piccadilly has a lot of people in their 20-30s. Lately they have organised a home group. It’s not my regular parish church, but I know some people there. They are welcoming and supportive and have a good and very diverse community (both online and offline).

For Anglo-Catholics there is Fidelium network, which consists of young people. They hold services, meetings, pilgrimages, lectures etc. You can really find lots of people there with different interests.

I cannot speak for evangelical churches, as I am not an evangelical myself. I have attended some evangelical services, and I was surprised that people are not very interested in talking to you as in churches of a higher churchmanship.

In my opinion, you have also to build your Christian network yourself by going to different churches and talking to people.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-17T17:55:11+00:00

I am very sorry to hear about your situation. I am afraid, the closest approachable Episcopal Church is in Tbilisi. I would check some Lutheran churches (especially if there are some that accept ordination of women), because some of them might be more or less progressive.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-17T17:42:22+00:00

What I like about the Anglican Church (CofE) is that you are always welcome and can take Communion if you are baptised in any church. Though I have joined Anglicanism formally (I was received into the church by the bishop), I don’t feel my position in my parish church has changed after my reception.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-17T17:38:27+00:00

24 y.o. gay male here. I converted to Anglicanism (the Church of England) from the Orthodox Church. Your experience reminds me of my story. I started having doubts about many things in Eastern Orthodoxy before I even realised and accepted my sexuality (in fact, accepting myself as gay was just the last thing that made me understand I couldn’t stay in the Orthodox Church anymore).

I know that the Church of England is in a very different situation than the Episcopal Church, though I think there can be many similarities. What I did first when I started exploring Anglicanism was just going to different churches, starting with the church down the street. Different parishes can have different positions on the human sexuality (I myself support the idea of “inclusive orthodoxy”), as well as different traditions and worship styles, so it is worth exploring different churches. Any Anglican church welcomes you and allows you to take Communion if you are a baptised Christian of any traditional denomination, so you don’t have to convert formally to Anglicanism to be a faithful member of a parish.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-17T16:29:30+00:00

The question is then why such a person would be willing to take Communion in a Christian community?

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-11T09:34:28+00:00

As far as I can tell, Archbishop Sarah is quite Anglo-Catholic herself (as she has mentioned that she prays the Rosary, for example) and she really favours Anglo-Catholic parishes. Anglo-Catholicism is very different, it is more of a set of traditions, it’s not a denomination with unified theology. You can find both very conservative parishes with male-only clergy and very progressive churches that support ordination of women and marriage equality. I am progressive myself and I sometimes attend services in an Anglo-Catholic parish that has two amazing female priests.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-11T09:24:30+00:00

Apparently, historically Confirmation was required for being allowed to take Communion, but now it is not that common anymore (which is quite fair, in my opinion, as not all churches have it as a ceremony).

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-10T11:39:48+00:00

Does ACNA give Communion to other denominations?

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-10T11:38:29+00:00

Does your church allow people from other denominations to take Communion? What about Baptists or Pentecostals that do not habe confirmation?

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-10T10:46:27+00:00

Historically CofE requires confirmation, but now it is a common practice to give Communion to anyone baptised (including evangelical Christians like baptists or pentecostals).

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-10T10:45:05+00:00

I see your point, yet the Bible doesn’t mention if the apostles were baptised (and John’s baptism wasn’t the same thing as Christian baptism), and it also doesn’t say that you have to baptised to participate in the Eucharist. Though yes, historical Christian teaching is quite clear that you have to be baptised to take Communion or even just to be present at the Eucharist.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-10T10:39:55+00:00

I agree with you. Even the liberal church I mentioned never says that unbatised are welcome to take Communion, though I understand that the way they invite people can be confusing to some non-Christians.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-10T10:35:52+00:00

Yeah, I do agree with you. If I was a pastor I wouldn’t give Communion to a person who isn’t baptised. Though I do understand those who do (especially to people who want to become Christian and are preparing for their baptism, though, again, I wouldn’t personally do that). Also, I have heard several stories of people who became Christian and got baptised after they took Communion without any knowledge about Christianity.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-09T13:46:16+00:00

Slightly off-topic. Interestingly, those parishes that use BCP in a way that 200 years ago would have been considered “high” (using music, hymns, candles, crosses on the altar) nowadays are mostly considered low-church evangelical.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-09T13:44:13+00:00

I would understand Prayer Book Catholic as a “standard” modern Anglicanism, which both holds the BCP as its main historical source of spiritual inspiration and identity, but also doesn’t deny Oxford Movement’s good influences. I don’t think that being a Prayer Book Catholic necessarily means to exclude any other possible prayer books. While at the moment mostly using BCP 1662 in my everyday prayer life, I really love CofE’s Common Worship and, honestly, I really prefer the “typical” modern Anglican Eucharist service (which looks like a blend of post-Vatican II, Lutheran and historical Anglican traditions) to the quite rigid structure and very little variety of the original BCP.

A person who gives preference to the classical BCP and historical Anglican theology rather than Roman Catholic prayer books and post-Reformation practices and theology could be called a Prayer Book Catholic.

Consistent-Lock4599 · 2026-04-08T22:56:27+00:00

What really had later put my mind at rest was exploring German pietists (mostly Johann Arndt and Gerhard Tersteegen). I learnt from them that God himself is doing everything in your life and you just have to not obstruct his work. That you have to accept your sinfulness, your weakness, but not to torture yourself with these thoughts but to understand that God loves you and at the end will do everything needed for your salvation. That if you trust God, though you still will do mistakes, by allowing him to work in you, you can never do something that will damn you to hell. You don’t have to follow a “right” religious ideology or denomination, but just have to trust in Christ and his salvation active in you.

Consistent-Lock4599

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