Introductions

[Karen L.]

Oops! In post #51 I spelled Fro's name wrong, It is Froilan, sorry!

[Karen L.]

Hi David,
Welcome!How nice to have another new member join the Anglican group.Please feel free to tell us about your interest in Anglicanism and your journey of faith, right here in this thread of introductions.

[David]

Hello all, I am David-Anselm and a retired Episcopal priest. I hope this is in the right place for introductions. I have no dog in the "traditional"/"liberal" fight within
Anglicanism/Episcopalianism fight. Served churchesin Mississippi, Indiana, Virginia and Tennessee. My wife and I attend an ELCA/Episcopal fellowship in North Carolina. Look forward to some good discusions of books pertaining to our Faith.

[Karen L.]

Hi David,

Thanks for sharing a little about yourself with the group. If you would like to post on any of our book discussions, or start a new one, go for it. Any group member can start a book discussion. Please feel free to add any favorite faith books to our group bookshelves. If you are not sure how the technology works, just fire away any question. There is always someone who has an answer how to do things.

Again, great to have you with us!
Blessings,
Karen

[Karen L.]

Hi Marianna! Welcome to the Anglican group. Take a look at the last post in this thread, #57 and make yourself at home in the group.

Blessings,
Karen

[Karen L.]

New Group members:
Most all of the group members stories are posted throughout this thread, called "introductions." My into is very early on in the introduction and so I will give a more updated intro. I have been in the Anglican Communion since 1993, starting out at a little Episcopal Church that closed after 10 years and ending up in a sweet Anglo Catholic Church, that I absolutely love. I had a conversion experience way back in 1977 and fell in love with Jesus! Since that time my journey went from a Roman Catholic upbringing to a Presbyterian Youth group, to a Non Denominational Church and eventually to where I am now. I love C.S Lewis and so many other Anglican authors. I love experiencing the Eucharist and worshiping in a liturgical fashion. I have been married to my high school sweetheart (who is my best friend) for 25 years and have three wonderful kids that are teens with the oldest on her way to her 20th birthday. I have home-schooled them all.

I am a people person, yet an introvert. I know that is strange. I go from lots of people activity to hiding with a book and being quite hermit like :) I love caring for people and being an instrument for unity in the body of Christ.

I love books and that is why is love goodreads! Our house is practically held up by the books inside of it. Look at the group photos and you can see one of my favorite reading spots. It is fun getting to know all of you. I hope to hear from you newbies soon!

Blessing,
Karen

[Karen L.]

Hi Cindy, thanks for taking me up on the invite and joining the Anglican Group. I hope you enjoy browsing the group bookshelves and discussions. Please feel free to share a little about your faith in this discussion thread. If you want to add any books to our shelves, go for it. Also if you want to talk about a book of faith, fiction or non fiction or even poetry...go right ahead and post your thoughts in this group.

[Karen L.]

Hi Group members, Here is a link to author and fellow sister in Christ, Cindy Erlandson's book of poetry, These Holy Mysteries
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96...

[Karen L.]

Hi Guy! Welcome to the Anglican group.

[Guy]

Karen L. wrote: "Hi Guy! Welcome to the Anglican group."

Glad to be here with you all

[Karen L.]

Guy, we'd love to hear a little bit about your faith story and what kind of books you'd like to read.

[Karen L.]

Hi Robb! Welcome to the Anglican group.

[Karen L.]

Hi friends,

Robb, who recently joined is a family friend. It is so nice to have him in our group. I really miss his sweet family and hope maybe the others will join this group too and we can talk about the faith we love as well as good books!

[Robert]

I miss you guys too! I am new to this whole goodreads thing but it seems pretty cool.

[Karen L.]

Hi Robb, Goodreads IS cool. I have learned so much from being on goodreads. It really spurs me on to read more and to read more challenging literature. Explore it and have fun. Did you know that Elizabeth C. & Catherine F. are on goodreads?

The book on Korea that you are reading sounds good. Are you reading any faith based books while you are on your Christmas holiday?

[Karen L.]

Hi Aoife! Welcome to the Anglican Group. Hope you enjoy the group. :)

[Karen L.]

Hi John, welcome to the group. Please make yourself at home in the group. We'd love it if you could take a few moments and introduce your self to the group. Do you have any favorite Anglican or Christian authors?

[Karen L.]

Hi Cole! Welcome to the Anglican Group. I took a peak at your blog. It looks interesting. I also attend an Anglo Catholic Church. It is a small church with a very sweet community of believers. My church is also evangelical, so it is a nice mix. In this group, we come from a variety of Anglican traditions, but share a love of Christ and worshiping in the via media. So glad to have you with us. I hope you feel welcome and share a little about your faith journey here.

[Karen L.]

Hello Sister Pam, welcome to the Anglican group.

[Karen L.]

Hello Penny, welcome to the Anglican group. This is the place for folks to introduce themselves to others in the group.

[Kristin]

Hello group!
I've been on goodreads for a few months and finally decided to explore the groups section.
To introduce myself, I am an Anglican (sort of). I studied theology at Trinity Western University (near Vancouver BC) and attended an Anglican church for a few years while I was a student there. Having grown up in evangelical churches, I was very excited to discover the liturgical side of theology, and also to attend a church where my academic interest in theology did not label me as "lacking in faith".
Studying theology has been instrumental to my (continuing) decision to remain a Christian- specifically, reading Kierkegaard and C.S. Lewis have been life-changing.
I now live in a smaller community with my husband and I dearly miss my old church- the eucharist, engaging sermons, and lively debates after church over a pint and pizza.
I am hoping this group will be a place I can still share in a form of Christian community. I would love to be able to read books along with fellow members and discuss them, and receive recommendations.
Hope to get to know you all better!

[Karen L.]

Hi Special K! Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself to the group. Cool story. Many of us in the group love Lewis as well as many other Anglican Christian authors. My husband feels like he has been discipled by Lewis. I feel like I am visiting an old friend when I read any of his books. Anglicanism is a beautiful way of worship, because it is the "Via Media." It is the bridge between the Roman Catholic and Evangelical worlds. It is such a wonderful blend of Liturgy & praise
, yet not overly religious, but definately showing our need for a relatioonship with Christ.


I hope you find our bookshelves helpful. Feel free to add any books to our shelves. In fact if you want to read a particular book with others, just go for it and start a discussion.

May God bless you as you fellowship with our Anglican group members.

[Karen L.]

Hi Lisa, welcome to the Anglican group.

[Karen L.]

Hi Amanda & Kyle! Welcome to the Anglican group. I hope some of you new members can tell us a little bit about yourselves :)

[Karen L.]

Hi Katherine, Do you still go by Kat? Glad that you accepted my invite to join the Anglican goup. Have fun and jump into any book discussion you want at any time. Our only group rule is that no discussion is ever closed. So have fun and dig through our old disscussions. You never know what treasure you will find :)

[Karen L.]

Hi Carol! Welcome to the Anglican group. I hope you will find this group a refreshing oasis. Explore our bookshelves and post questions to the group or post on any books of faith that interest you.

[Karen L.]

Isn't it nice to meet people who have a shared faith in Christ and appreciate the liturgy and Anglicanism? I love it :) I'm so hoping to hear from some of you newer members. Don't be shy.

[Sue]

Hello,
I am a UK Anglican, currently living in a village in southern England where I am our church organist. I have been a Christian for more than thirty years, and it all began when I was searching for some meaning in life after the death of my brother in a road accident in 1976. I needed some guidance but had no idea where to look. Then I discovered C.S.Lewis whose work I revisit regularly.His lucid use of language, his unassailable logic, and the warmth of his humanity gave me the rational base for my faith. Praise the Lord for Lewis. Now God has called me in another direction and I have written a trilogy of Christian fiction - a rare enough thing in modern Britain, though there are indeed others at work. The third title in my series is about to be published and anyone interested is invited to visit my website www.slrussell.co.uk. I mention this not so much because I want to advertise my work (honest!) but because maybe there are members of this group who would be interested in British contemporary realistic Christian fiction. Meanwhile I look forward to entering into discussions of mutual interest with like-minded people. Good to be here!Leviathan with a Fish-hookThe Monster Behemoth

[Karen L.]

Hi Sue,

Welcome to the Anglican group. Thank you so much for sharing a little about yourself. I love the writing of Lewis. I feel like he has discipled me.

How difficult to loose a sibling at what must have been a young age. C.S. Lewis addresses issues of loss so well. I found his book ,"A Grief Observed," to be so helpful in processing the loss of loved ones.

I really want to visit the U.K. someday and visit the "Kilns," where Lewis lived. Also to go to the Pub where he and his "Inkling," friends shared their hearts and stories.

Again, it is great to have you with us. Feel free to make yourself at home amongst our bookshelves and discussions and start any book discussions that you would like :)

[Karen L.]

Welcome Joshua. Nice to have you with us. :)

[Joshua]

Hi all,

My name is Josh. I am also a recent convert "officially" to Anglicanism, but have felt that I was an Anglican since I was in college. Like John, I grew up in fundamentalist/charismatic circles and eventually landed in the non-denominational mega-church. Now, I consider myself anglo-catholic.

I have served as a kids and student pastor in a part-time in several non-anglican/episcopal churches. I am starting my discernment and ordination process in November to be a transitional deacon and then a priest.

I attend Advent // An Anglican Mission in downtown Atlanta. Like John, I am reading a lot of NT Wright's more academic work and really enjoying it. As for pleasure reading, I am working through the Chronicles of Narnia with my daughter (age 4 1/2).

Grace & Peace,

Josh W.

[Karen L.]

Hi A.L., Welcome to the Anglican group. Glad to have you with us! Also thanks for voting on one of our polls. This is a great way to find books and authors that we can read together as a group.

Many people today have blogs and websites, but I hope that you or any other newer members will share a bit about your journey of faith here in our "Introductions."

[A.L.]

Hi Karen and others,

I was very happy to find this group and list of books. The rule about being able to revisit old discussions sounds like it will fit with the timeline of my over-long list of books I want to read.

I came to Anglicanism while I was a college student for a semester in England. When I returned to the US, I joined the Episcopal Church. Through the decades I have found my faith deepened by trips to English churches and Anglican authors.

[Karen L.]

Hi A.L. Thanks so much for taking the time to share a bit about your journey of faith. So glad our rule of being able to revisit old book discussions is appealing to you. I think today our lives can get hectic and it is so nice to know that we have a group that centers around our faith, where we can drop in any time and find a stimulating book discussion or even a friend or two.

Who are some of your favorite Anglican authors?

[Elaine]

Hello everyone, although at the moment I don't go to an Anglican church , my Dad is an Anglican priest and so I was brought up that way. I am fairly non denominational now but to be honest a part of me will always be Anglican. If I move to a new area I always llook for an evangelical Anglican church first.I live in the North East of England.

[Karen L.]

Hi Elaine, welcome to the Anglican group. I hope this group can be a place for you to enter into that comfortable Anglican world of your upbringing. I hope you make friends here and find inspiration to grow deeper in your relationship with Christ. God Bless!

[Karen L.]

Elaine, what a lovely blog you have! Your father sounds like the kind of father my husband is to or children. So wonderful that you had such a great story telling father in your growing up years.

[Elaine]

Karen , thankyou for dropping by my blog. Its far too long since I have posted there. I have lots of good ideas floating around in my head but I don't get them down :) Yes I am very thankful for my lovely story telling Dad. We had no TV so books and stories were our family life

[Karen L.]

I popped into the group and noticed a new member. Welcome to the Anglican group, Writer! Hope you will tell us a little about yourself, such as your journey of faith, favorite author and any favorite books.

[Karen L.]

Hi, Let's welcome Patrick and our other new memebers to the Anglican group! So nice to have you join us. Please do share about any books you would like to read with others in the group.

[Karen L.]

Hi Caleb, welcome to the Anglican group!

[Caleb]

Thank you for the warm welcome! I'm looking forward to participating in the group.

[Karen L.]

Hey everyone, we have another Elaine in the group.

[Karen L.]

Caleb, I saw that you are from Nashota. There is a seminary there that my church'es former pastor went to. I believe he is teaching liturgics there. Have you ever visited this seminary?

[Caleb]

Karen,

Not only have I visited Nashotah House seminary, I'm a student at Nashotah House. What church do you call home?

Caleb

[Elaine]

Hi! I'm the other Elaine. I belong to an Anglican church in Fort Worth, TX. I'm looking forward to hearing what books other Anglicans enjoy.

Happy reading,
Elaine L

[Karen L.]

Hi "other" Elaine :) That might be a nick name that sticks in this group Lol! Right now I am reading Celebration of Discipline, with my church Adult Formation class. It is going well so far. I think I saw it on your reading list?? Did I?

What is your faith story Elaine? Were you raised Anglican, or did you discover Anglicanism on your journey of faith? My faith journey is told earlier in this "Introductions," disscussion.

[Karen L.]

My journey of faith is told in "message#4 & 59" of "Introductions."

[Elaine]

welcome "other Elaine" .I guess that makes me first Elaine but I feel far too new here to warrent that lol. Nice to meet you. I hope you will join in our "celebration of Discipline discussion

[Wanda]

Hello, new to Goodreads and happy to see an Anglican group. Miss having book clubs and a search for an online Anglican Christian group lead me here. This is my first online group after decades of doing book clubs in libraries I worked for or the churches I belonged to.

My husband is between churches so till we end up somewhere we have no permanent church home; we are Anglicans trying to find our way out of the battles and just serve the Lord.

I so want to read more classics with others, so this looks like it will be wonderful opportunity.