Captain Thin

Here’s a nice reflection from Kelsey May (via Converge Magazine) on why so many young Evangelicals are turning towards liturgy:

“Grandeur hooked me, but it wasn’t what made me stay. The initial mystique of traditional churches may enchant or repulse us — but we need to look deeper. The aesthetic of traditional churches appeals to me, but the substance behind it anchors me…. The liturgical service doesn’t answer for my sufferings; it draws my attention to the suffering of Christ.”

Read the whole thing here: “Finding Faith Through Liturgy.”

Incidentally, if any of you are looking to connect with that kind of church—a church with liturgy and real substance behind that liturgy—give me a shout. I know a guy who works for Lutheran Church-Canada who can probably hook you up. :)

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“The Lamb hath alone died for us, the Lamb only hath shed his blood for us: the Lamb only hath redeemed us; these things hath he done alone; now, if these be sufficient, then hath he alone made satisfaction, and is alone worthy to be our Redeemer and Justifier.” – Only Faith Justifieth Before God (Robert Barnes, English martyr)

On this day, we remember the Rev. Dr. Robert Barnes, martyred for the faith July 30, 1540. Barnes, Prior of the Augustinian monastery in Cambridge, preached a Christmas Eve sermon in 1526 which expressed criticism of ecclesiastical abuses. This sermon is often credited as the beginning in earnest of the English Reformation. Not coincidentally, Barnes is also considered one of England’s first Lutherans. He was a member of the group which met at the White Horse Inn.

Barnes was not executed alone. Reflecting the politically-charged nature of the Reformation in England, he was executed along with five others: two of them Evangelicals (ie, Protestants) and three of them conservatives (ie, Roman Catholics). All were executed without the benefit of a trial. Shortly before the execution, the three Protestants (Barnes, William Jerome, and Thomas Garrett) had been invited to preach at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The three Catholics (Thomas Abel, Richard Fetherston, and Edward Powell) had all supported Queen Catherine when Henry VIII sought to have the marriage annulled. The Protestants were executed for heresy; the Catholics for treason.

While we thank God for the faithful witness of Robert Barnes, we also pray for the day when Christian division would cease, according to the prayer of Jesus. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17: 20-23).

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Divisions in Anglicanism finally resulted yesterday (June 22, 2009) in the creation of a new Province as conservatives ratified the constitution of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). Representing 100,000 Anglicans in 700 parishes across Canada and the United States, the new body stands as a biblically sound alternative to the liberalism sweeping the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada. Nine provinces in the Worldwide Anglican Communion have sent official representation to the convention (The Southern Cone, Jerusalem and the Middle East, West Africa, Nigeria, Ugana, Kenya, Myanmar, South East Asia, and Rwanda), and church leaders from other denominations are also present, including Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church, Bishop Walter Grundorf of the Anglican Province of America, Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, Bishop Kevin Vann of the Roman Catholic Church, and Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS)’s own Rev Dr. Samuel Nafzger.

This announcement is truly grounds for celebration. It’s churches like the ACNA that confessional evangelicals in LCMS and Lutheran Church – Canada (LCC) should be pursuing ecumenical ties with – churches that hold fast to Scripture as the the instrument of grace and the rock of faith. Why we continue to speak pointlessly to groups like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) or its Canadian counterpart completely mystify me. They might be Lutheran in name but are certainly not so in practice. The cornerstone of Lutheran theology is an adherence to Scripture as the final authority in all matters of life and faith. As the Book of Concord states, we must “not let the authority of anyone prevail more than God’s Word,” (The Power and Primacy of the Pope). The ELCA would seem to disagree. If LCMS and LCC want to pursue ecumenical relations with other Christian denominations (and they should), we could do worse than to start with the ACNA.

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Follow the events of the ACNA’s inaugural assembly here.
For up-to-date news about world Anglicanism from a conservative theological perspective visit VirtueOnline.