Introductions

[Karen L.]

Anybody out there from this group?

[Poppy]

Yes. Just back from spring break. What's happening?

[James]

Heyo. I'm not Anglican, but I'm an orthodox Christian. I wouldn't mind learning about Anglican literature. Could you name a few? I'm assuming C.S. Lewis is on the list. Anymore?

[Karen L.]

Welcome back from Spring break. Hi I'm Karen and new to this group. I am a conservative Christian and Anglican. I love reading C.S.Lewis. I had a conversion experience in 1977, coming into a deeper knowledge of Christ. Went from Roman Catholic to a Non Denominational Church to (since 1993) the Episcopal Church, attending a small Episcopal Anglo-catholic church which is also very evangelical. I love serving the Lord in this sweet church. I have been happily married for 23 years and have three wonderful children. LOL! Hope this isn't too long!

[Karen L.]

Welcome James, I myself, and I'm sure the others will post some good Anglican Lit for you soon. Again, welcome.

[Skylar]

I'm an evangelical Anglican and interested in discussing Christian works in general. Anglican writers I have read and enjoyed include C.S. Lewis, T.S. Eliot, and Jon Stott. I very much want to read some N.T. Wright, who is a leading New Testament scholar an author of non-fiction, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. His work looks like it would promise to be interesting. I'm told he writes from a "moderately evangelical" perspective, so I think I would probably appreciate his insights. I'd like to read his "What St. Paul Really Said," "The Last Word: Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture," "Evil and the Justice of God," and "Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense." I'm not sure which I'll start with - whichever one is at the library I suppose.

[Poppy]

Hi, I'm Poppy, a cradle Episcopalian living in Chicago (and singing in the choir of St. James Cathedral.)

I've been married for almost 20 years and have two children. In that way, I'm sort of an anomaly at my big city church. I'm more conservative than most of the people at the cathedral.

I veer between an Evangelical outlook (which is my default, since I was raised very low-church) and a more Anglo-Catholic one, depending on how tired out I am of ritual, LOL. (Because I'm in the choir I take part in every service, and Holy Week is exhausting--I'm in church six days out of seven--so usually by the Easter Vigil, I'm thinking "enough with the incense, already" ... but that's just me.)

As I suggested in another thread, I'd love to do an on-line book club.

I've never been interested in joining a book club before, since I couldn't care less about books like Memoirs of a Geisha and that ilk. But if the books were _interesting_, it would be a different matter altogether.

[James]

I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm James and I'm from NYC. I guess I'm into Reformed Theology...I used to attend a Baptist Church but now I go to a Presbyterian one called Redeemer. I'm not sure when exactly the Lord made me His, but I believe somewhere in Catholic school He reached out to me. I grew deeper in the faith and my walk with Christ in my second year of College and I am part of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in my school. I'm about to finish a Bachelor's degree and I'm looking forward to "popping the question" to my lady very soon.

and I LOVE HYMNS! I'm sure you guys sing the same hymns that we do. They're just beautiful poetry that praises and worships God.

[Poppy]

James, I love hymns, too. Sometimes when the speakers aren't working correctly and I can't hear the sermon, I read the BCP or the hymnal instead of pretending to listen to the sermon. Otherwise I just have to sit there wearing my Nancy Reagan isn't-this-fascinating face!

There's a great poem in the hymnal by Richard Wilbur, so I guess he should be added to our list of Anglican poets.

Re: Anglican poets--I brought up Herbert and Donne because they wrote a lot of Christian poetry. Donne's sermons were also published and widely read--I don't know about Herbert's. At any rate, their poetry, being in the public domain, is available on line.

Should we include John Bunyan?

I already have a copy of Chesterton's Orthodoxy and am ready to start whenever the group says "when."

[Karen L.]

So glad you all like hymns! Ah, kindred spirits :) Sweet!

[Katharine]

Hi everyone! I've said hi to a couple of you, but I will make a formal introduction. My name is Katharine, and Katharhino (my online handle generally) is what my dad used to call me when I was little.

I am a PK (pastor's kid), raised in the Presbyterian church, homeschooled 2nd grade through high school, and voracious reader almost my whole life. I am passionately fond of Jane Austen, but I also like classic BritLit of all kinds, and well-written fantasy, especially young adult fantasy. I'm a graphic designer and artist and currently have my own freelance design business.

My husband grew up skipping between various non-denom, charismatic-leaning churches. We have visited dozens of churches together and never found one where we were completely satisfied, until now. We moved back to his hometown in April to be closer to family, and tried the Episcopal church on a whim. It's a teeny-tiny small town church, the friendliest church we've ever visited, and we just fell in LOVE with the liturgy. My husband, despite his charismatic background, has been searching for something with order and beauty like this. I love it too, but I've always liked tradition and classical music, so it's not surprising in my case.

[Skylar]

Katharhino, nice to have you hear!

[Karen L.]

Hi New Members,

I saw a few new faces. I want to extend a welcome to the group, to you all :-) Please feel free to post a little about yourself and perhaps your faith journey. Yet you don't have to say anything to be a member (the beauty of goodreads!) Hope you enjoy the group :-)

Blessings,
Karen

[Karen L.]

Welcome Julie, J & Norris!

[Karen L.]

Welcome TSB!

[Julie]

Hi, I'm Julie, a 30-something married for 15 years to Steve. We were both raised in a very conservative Baptist environment but it didn't "fit" somehow.

In our 20s we went to Regent College in Vancouver and were exposed to many denominations, plus other delightful things such as Christianity's interaction with the arts and culture. After finishing Masters degrees in those two fields, we began attending an Anglican church and eventually realized a "call" to become priests. We then moved to Toronto to attend Wycliffe College and get our MDiv degrees.

Now we're both priests, ordained 2 years ago, and we're sharing the position of Priest-in-Charge at two small (20 people per week each) rural churches that are 80 miles/120 km apart in northern Saskatchewan, western Canada. The area is very isolated - our closest neighbours outside our little town of 1500 are wolves, bears, elk and deer. The city's about 4 hours away, so we urban folks are learning to adjust, slowly. ;-)

[Julie]

Hi Libby,
It sounds like you're not as "lapsed" as you think you are, if you're interested in sharing with the group. I'd love to hear more of your story - and about what you're reading - and I'm sure the rest of the group would, too! :-)

[Karen L.]

Hi Libby,

I am in agreement with Julie and would love to hear more of your faith journey and what you are reading. Are you reading any devotional books, or bible reading?

[Karen L.]

Hi Libby,

I love this web site for morning devotions. It is run by Mission St Clare. http://missionstclare.com/
On the homepage, click on "Daily Office," then "Click on "Today's Prayer Service." A sort of table of contents will come up on the right side and you can start clicking anywhere you like. Sometimes I do the whole morning prayer with Prayers and readings from the BOCP or sometimes I just do the Bible readings, and say my own prayers.

[Julie]

For prayers, the Lord's Prayer is what has worked best for me after experimenting with lots of different types of prayers. It's something you can pray anywhere, even if you're between tasks or in a line-up somewhere, because most of us already have it memorized. And you can personalize all the different parts, pausing after each line. For example, after "hallowed be your name" you can ask God to reveal his holiness (his character as God) through what you think and do today. And you can make it even more personal by mentioning particular things you need to do, where you need God to reveal himself (and therefore his holiness) to you and to others involved. Hope this helps...it's simple but it works.

[Karen L.]

Hi Julie,

Using the Lord's Prayer is a great suggestion for prayer. I do that when I pray for my family. It is a prayer that covers all the bases! Thanks for sharing that idea :-)

[Karen L.]

Hi Michelle,

I'm so glad you joined the Anglican Group! I know you, but the others don't, so please do tell us a little about yourself.

[Karen L.]

Hi Greg,

Please feel free to introduce yourself on this thread.

[Karen L.]

Thanks Michelle!

I hope you enjoy the group. We have some awesome people in the group, real kindred spirits. I miss you and your family terribly! This will be so nice to discuss good books and poetry together here.

[Greg]

Hi Everyone! I'm Greg. I also belong to the same parish of the Anglican Church of North American as Karen and am delighted to find Michelle here as a member. We miss her and her husband "Markus Deaconus" (he was our Deacon for a while before becoming rector of his current parish in the Reform Episcopal Church). I was raised a Methodist (before that denomination went "hip and liberal") and came to Christ through the ministry of successive clergy there, on the Mountain top in Jummonville church camp in Uniontown. As a young adult Christian, I began to feel something was missing from my spiritual life and worship. Discovering that John Wesley was an Anglican Priest and never intended to separate from the Anglican Church, I decided to explore it and fell in love on my first visit. For me, it was all about the centrality of the Eucharist and the particular Anglican window (through the Bible) on the world and worship and spirituality. I also have seminary training and a degree in philosophy and psychology, although these didn't seem to help me much on my first reading of the Four Quarters so I'll be very interested in hearing other's thoughts!

[Karen L.]

Hi Greg,

On behalf of the Anglican Group, I welcome you. Thanks for sharing and introducing yourself to the others. As sumer comes to an end, I have the feeling that more of the group will come out from the woodworks and join in in some good book discussions.

[Karen L.]

Hi Grace,

Welcome to the Anglican Group. Hope you will tell us a little about yourself and your interest in Anglicanism. It's so nice to meet new members :)

Blessings,
Karen

[Karen L.]

H Chris,

Welcome to the Anglican Group. Hope you will tell us about yourself and perhaps your favorite Anglican authors?

Blessings,
Karen

[Karen L.]

Hi Charity and other new members,

A warm welcome to you. We'd love to hear from you. What do you like about Anglicanism? Do you have any favorite Anglican or Christian authors.
I love the writings of C.S. Lewis.

[A.]

Hi everyone!
I was raised Roman Catholic but my mom is Quaker, so (pre-Vatican II days) when I left my hat at home, I'd go to Friends Meeting.
In college I participated in Bible Study and post-college, after some international travel, my husband and I finally went to a nondemoninational church which had a strong Adult Ed Sunday School. But after we moved to the DC Metro area, a few years ago, we ended up at The Falls Church (Anglican). We love the strength of tradition & liturgy in tandem with vital pastoring and preaching. We were CS Lewis Fellows (at the CS Lewis Institute) which we recommend for any serious disciple of Christ. I am a Fellows mentor this year.

[Karen L.]

Hi Charity!

Thanks for introducing yourself to the group. I had typed one post to you here, but it seems to have been vaporized! Anyhow it is great that you love C.S.Lewis. Pretty much all the the other members love Lewis too. Perhaps after the holiday if we get some enthusiasm, we can chose a Lewis book to discuss. So good to have you in the group :)

Blessings,
Karen

[Karen L.]

Hi Jack,

Welcome to the Anglican group. Hope you will take a moment and introduce yourself to the group here.

Blessings,
Karen

[Karen L.]

Hi Lacey,

Welcome to the Anglican group! Wow, you commented on a book already. Yay! so glad to find someone who read and wants to share their thoughts about the most recent Ann Rice book. Again, welcome, so glad to have you in the group. I hope you make yourself at home and browse our bookshelves. :)

Blessings,
Karen

[Lacey]

Hi, Karen. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm a cradle Episcopalian and was raised in a relatively low church. I suppose I always had a deep personal faith, but it wasn't particularly well formed in the church of my childhood, although if you grow up on the 1928 prayer book, you know a lot of the gospel up front. I first encountered evangelical Christianity in my teens, in a ministry with a lot of Anglican as well as Reformed influences, so it was pretty comfortable, and I fell right into it.

Since then, I've bounced all over the Anglican world, into and out of very high and very low churches. Occasionally, I've had to try to branch out into non-Anglican churches, but that is always only a stop-gap; I have to come home to the liturgy. Right now my family is going to an AMIA church. Oh, and I should say that I'm married, with a 7-year-old daughter.

[Karen L.]

Everyone,

I'd like to introduce to you all Chris, who will help as another group moderator. I have chatted a bit with Chris and think he'll be a great asset as a moderator for this group. I am relived not to be a solo moderator, since Fr. Bill has not been active with the group. Yay Chris!!!! Welcome aboard :) Take a look at Chris's blog on his profile page.

Chris, do tell us a bit about yourself and your journey of faith.

I am looking forward to working with Chris to make this a great group!

Blessings,
Karen

[Chris]

Thank you for the intro Karen!

To introduce myself, I'm Chris from the UK, married with two fantastic sons both at university. We're also foster carers so although my two have temporarily flown the nest the house is never empty!

So, in order to reveal a bit more about me here's my testimony!

I had little contact with church other than the usual baptisms, weddings and deaths right up until I was in my mid-thirties. In the early 90s the UK was going through a nasty recession. I lost my job and remained unemployed for 3 years out of a 4 year period. Complicated by a new baby, another on the way and a mortgage. When you're unemployed you can have a lot of time on your hands. So I spent a lot of time down the local library. I was finding the books on religion interesting, especially Islam. I read through a translation of the Koran and anything else related to Islam. I found it interesting and even fascinating. But that was it. Pure head interest. Once I ran out of Islamic books to read I thought I should at least give the Bible a go. Picked up a copy in the library and read it cover to cover. I found it also interesting and fascinating, but on a much deeper level. So I continued reading everything on Christianity that the library could offer. Once that source offered nothing new I felt I had to find out more. So I decided I should visit a church. But here's the problem, which one! With no knowledge of Christianity or church other than the Bible I had just read I had to choose carefully. I would ride round the local churches on my bike, reading their notice boards to try and get a grasp on who they were, their character. After all, there were a lot of fruitcakes in this religious world, had to be careful! Eventually I settled on a C of E church about half a mile from where I lived. So gathering up some courage I finally paid them a visit, not during a service but when I could get a chance to speak to whoever was running the show. And I managed to speak to the Curate in charge under the pretence of wanting to get my children baptised. That was my key to make an entrance but once in his office he twigged there was more to this. Questions I had like was Jesus Elijah and what about the Trinity made it plain that there was more to my being there. So he invited me to come along to the new course they were running for the first time, Alpha. And on that course my life started from a new point as Jesus became my Lord and Saviour. Shortly after that my partner attended the next Alpha course and she became a Christian as well.

So being a family in church we soon realised that we needed to get baptised and also married. Baptism was no problem and we were baptised together as a family during a lovely service. Marriage was a bit more difficult. We had no money with me being unemployed. So the church came together and the plans were made. Wedding cake - sorted, reception - sorted, honeymoon hotel - sorted, wedding dress - sorted, music for the service - sorted, photographer - sorted. All I had to pay was for the wedding licence! And in 1994 we were married before God.

We stayed at that church for a good few years, becoming involved in cell groups, worship and even preaching. But somewhere along the way I yearned for something more, something less restrained, something more 'powerful'. So we ended up moving to a small pentecostal fellowship and we're still there to this day. Now serving as a deacon and also leading worship. But there are regrets. With this 'less restrained' setting you are more on your own spiritually, and I look back at the Anglican tradition that I had left and can now see what it is and what it provides - continuity, comfort, community, a framework for growth, a rock on which you can be strongly anchored in times of trouble. And as I start to see the broadness of the Christian traditions through history and across the world I see much that inspires me, that strengthens my faith. I see the majesty of the Catholic church, the solid history, asceticism and liturgy of the Orthodox, the dynamism of the North American churches and the reliance on God of the churches in lands hostile to Christianity.

So hopefully that gives you a flavour of me and I hope to make more acquaintance as times goes on!

Chris

[Karen L.]

Chris,

Wow, thanks for sharing! That is an awesome story. I almost cried at the wedding part. What a beautiful example of the church showing love, how they threw the wedding!

Yay for the Alpha Course! Our church has held several. I went through one and helped in three others. For those of you who have never heard of Alpha, it is a course that introduces people to Christianity through lessons on who Jesus is and other topics, like evil in the world and so forth. Alpha always opens with a free meal first then has a teaching and small group time to discuss the teachings as well as ask questions.

Again, welcome to the group Chris. I know we will enjoy having you with us.

God is SO good!
Karen

[Karen L.]

Hi Cherlize! Welcome to the Anglican group. Are you an Anglican or do you, like many in the group, simply appreciate Anglicanism? I'd love to hear more about you, such as the kind of books you enjoy reading or a bit about your journey of faith. I'm so glad that you looked at the group photos and that you were touched by the one of Christ in the garden with the angel. I look at that picture every day and know that God is with me. Again it is great to have you in the group :)

Blessings,
Karen L.

[Karen L.]

Hi Nan,

Welcome to the Anglican group. This is the place to read about the other members in the group and share a little about yourself and what you like about Anglicanism. Great to have you with us!

Blessings,
Karen L.

[Nan]

Thank you for the welcoming letter, Karen! I wasn't expecting that! I'm a life-long Baptist from a long line of Baptists, but I attended an Anglican church on the shore of Lake Chapala in Mexico (St. Andrew's) when I lived there 2000-2007. Several thousand English-speaking ex-pats live in the area year-round, and as many live there seasonally, so there are several congregations of various stripes. I could've attended the Baptist church, but moving to such an exotic location seemed to call for stepping out of my accustomed rut in regards to worship, as well. And--I had read several of the Mitford series and was wondering what an Anglican/Episcopal service might be like. I found that I LOVE the liturgy, the way it rehearses the faith and presents the gospel at every mass. (I was amused to discover that the only remnant of the service that had come down to most of the Baptist churches I've been a member of is the singing of the Doxology as the offering is brought to the front!) I sang in the choir, served on the Altar Guild, and arranged the flowers. Now I live back in the States, in the hills of Arkansas, and am an active member of a little non-denominational church down the road, which has not too much in common with St. Andrew's except the love the congregation has for the Lord and for each other.

[Karen L.]

" I found that I LOVE the liturgy, the way it rehearses the faith and presents the gospel at every mass." -Nan

Oh me too! It is also such a comfort to know the prayers and have familiar hymns. When I have troubles on my mind I can come to the liturgy and do the familiar dance with God, which restores my soul.

[Karen L.]

Hi Matt, welcome to the group! Please browse our bookshelves and discussions and enter into any discussions that interest you. No book discussion is ever closed. Also feel free to introduce yourself to the group here and tell us a bit about yourself and the kind of books you enjoy.

Blessings,
Karen L.

[Karen L.]

Hi Greg G. and John!

Welcome to the group. Greg G., are you an Anglican priest or is that just a photo of a priest in your profile picture? Nice to have some new members joining. I hope you both enjoy the group. Do tell us a bit about yourselves. You can look at the other posts in this "introductions" thread to learn about others in the group. Again, welcome and God bless!

[Greg]

Thanks Karen. I'm Rector at Resurrection Anglican Church, Woodstock, Georgia (AMiA). I grew up in the free church world, and served as an ordained minister in the Evangelical Church Alliance. I was called into Anglicanism about eight years ago and ordained a priest in 2007. I guess my labels are evangelical (high church), reformational catholic, and theologically orthodox.

John R. and I lead a theological reading group once a month in our parish, and have read Surprised by Hope and After You Believe in that group. Thanks for setting up this group, very interested in participating.

[Karen L.]

To Greg:

Hi we have another Greg in the group, but he hasn't been active in the group for a while. Can I call you Father Greg? Or do you prefer Greg? So glad to have someone in the group who has lead a theological reading group. I say "Amen" to all those labels :) Again great to have you in the group.

[John]

Hello, all. I am fairly new to Anglicanism (just the last two years)and worship at Resurrection Anglican Church under the wise, able and august leadership Fr. Greg G. (oh, is he reading this, too?).

I grew up in fundamentalist circles in the southern United States and was ordained in an independent, evangelical church. I've served in a number of ministry positions in church and parachurch ministries and am beginning the process of reading for Anglican orders.

I'm trying to work my way through N.T. Wright's more academic works at the moment, while filling in some gaps on sacraments/liturgy.

Blessings,

John

[Karen L.]

Hi John!

Thanks for introducing yourself to the group. Your background is similar to my friend Michele Bleakley's who tells her story earlier in this thread.

My husband and I joined the Episcopal church 17 years ago. My journey into a more catholic faith has been gradual over the years, picking up more speed since our original church closed its doors and we ended up finding an Anglo Catholic church (I think like 6 years ago?) Over the years I have been falling in love with the Anglican "middle way," which is Protestant and Catholic all in one!

What para church ministries did you serve with? My husband and I did some short term missions with Operation Mobilization in Mexico City and served with Youth With A Mission in Grenada West Indies for 4 &1/2 years.

Well my middle son and husband are calling me to watch the rest of the movie "Braveheart," so I'd better get off the computer. I do hope you'll post some thoughts on any of the books that our group has read. Our book discussions are always open. Check out the few N.T. Wright books we've read and jump into any of the discussions. If you read anything good and want to talk about it, this is the place to do that :-)

Blessings,
Karen L.

[Karen L.]

Hi Girl4baluga!

Welcome to the Anglican group! This is the spot to read about the other group members and share your own story. Hope you enjoy the group :)

Blessings,
Karen L.

[Karen L.]

Hey everyone, let's welcome Froilin to the group. So nice to have new members.

Fro, this is the place where you can learn about others in the group and share your story of your faith journey. Hope you enjoy the group :)

Blessings,
Karen L

[Karen L.]

Fro, please feel free to add any good Christian books to our book shelves.