Photos from the Consecration of Bishop William Francis Burns (ACC)

The priest associate at my parish, Fr. Don Edelmann, is a first generation continuing Anglican priest. He recently gave me some photos that scanned of his bishop's consecration. The bishop is the Rt. Rev'd William Francis Burns of the ACC's Diocese of the Resurrection.

A friend told me that there is an old legend that a prominent "Episcopalian turned Continuing Church priest" who was expecting to be elevated to this position and was passed over decided at that point to go to Rome, where he is now a noted traditionalist convert who is featured on EWTN from time to time!

Anyway, I have attached the photos of the consecration of Bp. Burns here along with a later photo of some of the clergy of that diocese with Bishops Burns and Kleppinger. Enjoy!

“I had rather be a door-keeper…” (Psalm 84:10) – A Word on Ushers.

I often say to folks that if I could be paid full time with benefits just to be a thurifer, I would. But then, for some monks and for some gentlemen in bowler hats at Oxford and Cambridge their whole lives they spend as “porters”, doorkeepers. Doorkeeper is an ancient minor order, no less than a lay reader, or an acolyte. It is something that should be taken seriously and, for the most part is. But how can it be done better? I remember in high school going to the local Pentecostal mega-church. There was a closet not unlike where the acolyte robes are kept where every gentleman had in his size a maroon usher’s blazer. I was impressed. I have heard raving reviews of the ushers at St. Michael’s in Charleston. Again, what can we do to do a better job?

After all, it’s the first contact. “You never have a second chance to make a first impression.” It doesn’t just take skill to take up the collection (repressing the urge to check out how much is going in or who is giving). It takes far more skill to gauge the person coming into church, not simply to press a bulletin into his or her hand and mumble a greeting, but to figure out exactly what is needed, where they would like to be seated.

It takes prayer. Just as the priest prepares before going to the altar and hopefully the acolytes, just as the altar guild prays before their holy duties are engaged upon, perhaps even more so should the usher saturate himself with prayer, that is, if we are to take evangelism seriously. How are you, after all, to make sure the proper welcome is given, the bulletin is pressed, the nursery is pointed out, the best place for the hearing impaired is hinted at, or the warmest or coolest places for the chilly or warm looking, all in about 5 seconds?

The Usher should be well aware of the latest procedures concerning how evangelism is to take place. How important is your guest registry? Is there a place for email on it? How is your “email capture” as the sales world calls it? How do you point out where the Nursery is without making the young family think that you don’t welcome young people at the worship service? This takes tact indeed! And only prayer, I think, will pull it off. That and practice.

I was always impressed with the ushers growing up. They were serious, usually men of military experience, conscious of the importance of their task. Yet as they grow older, have they passed on their skills and the tricks of their trade to a younger generation? I wonder. Mentoring, too, is important if these traditions are to continue.

Finally, consider having a few of Our Prayer and Praise on hand to hand to young people. It may be out of print (I am not sure). It may be hiding somewhere in the parish library, but it is a fabulous version of the 1928 Prayer Book for children. There are other great resources like that. Whatever it is, it does no good just sitting in the parish library not being used and, perhaps if we start using them again, some continuing Anglican jurisdiction will think of republishing it. Have some kids inserts from the Traditional Anglican Resources available or some coloring books. Also, think about having a few of the large print 1928 BCPs on hand for those who look as if they might need them – and this, again, must be done with care after much prayer. The large print 1928 (for weakening eyes) is now available through the Anglican Province of America.

Fr. Peter Geromel is Assisting Priest at Church of the Incarnation and an adjunct professor of Philosophy at Northampton Community College. Educated at Virginia Military Institute, Hillsdale College, Reformed Episcopal Seminary and the University of Dallas, Fr. Peter has authored Sublime Duty: Its Emphasis in The Anglican Way, Christ & College: A Guide from The Anglican Way, and Frankincense & Mirth on High. He manages Traditional Anglican Resources.

Reflections on Parish Ministry

One thing that our suffragan bishop told me years ago that I have never forgotten was that it takes thick skin to make it in parish ministry. He was commenting on a priest he knew who excelled in academic gifts and personal holiness, but who, in his opinion, would probably never make it so well in parish ministry due to his thin skin and lack of worldly experience.

Parish ministry....

Curacies are pretty easy in my opinion. I have served two of them. The main thing about being a curate is knowing your place. The curate's job is support the rector who is his direct boss. The rector is the only person in the parish that the curate has to worry about keeping happy. And whenever anyone asks the curate of his opinion on some matter at the parish the curate's only response should be, "My opinion is that of the rector." The only problem a level-headed curate may have to deal with is a rector who is nuts or who is unfair and unethical. Thanks be to God, that is not a problem in the APA.

Being the rector or priest-in-charge is another ball game. The buck stops with you. Managing the personalities, eccentricities, and expectations of your people can be highly difficult... even annoying. One group people thinks the service is too long, others say it is fine, some say it is not long enough. Some people love incense, others like it sometimes, some hate sometimes, and others hate it all the time. One group loves chant, another hates it. Still others - lifelong Episcopalians - are not familiar with the word "chant." The same goes with music, sermon length, activities, politics, etc. While most Anglican parishes are small they are incredibly diverse, so managing that type of diversity, while keeping your eye on the prize of leading people to salvation in Jesus Christ, and keeping the place afloat, can be incredibly complex. Needless to say, not everyone is cut out to handle this.

Rectors need to develop a vision for their parish and have the guts to chart the course and make it happen, while keeping as many people on board as possible, and also, most importantly, maintaining fidelity to the words of the Ordinal. Some rectors are too heavy-handed, and their "my way or the highway" attitude ends up undermining them and hurting their parish and the ministry of the gospel. Others are too mamby-pamby and let cliques of people, or deep-pocketed parishioners run the show. He has to be focused on his mission and what is needed in his parish and chart the course and remain steady with it, despite criticism and even hatred and anger. That is what Jesus did in his ministry! So rectors, who minister in his person, must do the same.

Hardship and Inspiration

It is no secret that being a pastor and parish priest, especially in the Anglican tradition, is very difficult… especially these days in a rabidly secular culture where hostility to Christianity is becoming more and more prevalent. Beyond this, being a continuing Anglican clergyman brings with it unique challenges. I mean, let’s face it: we are not looked at with favor and admiration by most other Christians, whether they be episcopalians (liberal or conservative), ACNA types, Evangelical Protestants, and Roman Catholics. Most of these people misunderstand us (at best) or (at worse) openly revile us. One guy - a priest in a more so-called “evangelical” Anglican jurisdiction was amazed to discover that a continuing Anglican parish he visited actually had some real Christians in it! (That is almost an exact quote.) That people think this of us and our churches is very disheartening, especially without any firsthand knowledge of them. Then there is our liturgy and tradition: it is difficult to pass on to people in our dumbed-down “American Idol” world, so our churches are smaller than most. This is discouraging as well. I could go on, but you get the idea… you know the drill. It is tough being a continuing Anglican… and especially a continuing Anglican priest. This vocation is beautiful and rewarding, but it is not for everyone. It is hard, and for as many rewards as there are in this life, there are equally as many disappointments.

Often I have been tempted to throw in the towel. But then I think of my colleagues in the diocese and all that they have gone through and suffered, and how they are still going strong, and that helps me keep going. My diocesan bishop and his suffragan are huge inspirations to me. I know what they have had to go through in their ministries and personal lives, and yet every time I see them or talk to them they have only great things to say about what God is doing in their lives and in the Church! They always smile and laugh, and they never slander others or come across as being bitter or disappointed. They are true inspirations to me. Also inspirational to me are some of the many senior clergy in our diocese. If I could only tell some of these people's stories. Their dedication to our Lord and the ministry are a huge example and encouragement to me, and I am thankful to God for them, and lift them up in prayer. I know that there are other great churches and jurisdictions in the continuum and elsewhere, but I certainly feel blessed to be a priest in the APA serving among such fine men.

Is General Confession enough? - A Shrove Tuesday Reflection

Often enough I have heard the response to offers of (Private) Confession that “It’s already in our service”. Is this strictly speaking the case? What is the effectiveness of General Confession versus Private?

Reading Fr. Baring-Gould’s The Golden Gate on the subject of General versus Private Confession opened up this subject in a new and enlightening way for me. (He is, on the whole, fairly open to the basic usefulness and effectiveness of the Absolution given in General Confession as many good and sound Anglican theologians are.)

To be fair, the Anglican Churchman can find plenty of refuge in a classical Anglican approach to this matter and avoid the confessional. He can find it, but is he the healthier for it? Is he the more biblical for it? More startling, is he actually forgiven? This is where Baring-Gould is helpful. He provides a “proof text” for Private Confession in Ezra 10, where the men of Israel are called upon to give up their strange wives. The confrontation begins,

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange [pagan/foreign] wives. Then all the congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast said, so must we do. (verses 10-12)

Now here we have an example of General Confession and, arguably, Covenant Renewal. Yet it does not stop there. The Israelites continue,

But the people are many, and it is a time of much rain, and we are not able to stand without, neither is this a work of one day or two: for we are many that have transgressed in this thing. Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them which have taken strange wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter be turned from us. Only Jonathan the son of Asahel and Jahaziah the son of Tikvah were employed about this matter: and Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levite helped them. (verses 13-15)

This is the really intriguing part; the elders and the judges were brought in to hear “confession”, whatever that means, and some Levites were also involved. What was it that they were engaged in on an individual basis?

As one might imagine, adjudicating hundreds of divorces, where children and property was involved could not have been easy. Each case would be a bit different. Was the “General Confession” itself effective? Yes, in a sense. However, there was a sense in which it was incomplete if not individually adjudicated, for obvious reasons. It wasn’t so much the individual person saying “I’m sorry” that made “Private Confession” in this instance more effective, but rather the nitty-gritty of separating the individual from “strange wives”.

So likewise we can say of General versus Private Confession today. Is General Confession “valid”? Maybe – that is a debate that can and does rage. Is it effective? That depends on what is going on. Does it actually separate you from your sin, from your “strange wives”? Do you need more, perhaps a “plan of action” for separating yourself from your sins on a permanent basis? That’s what Advice and Penance are for. A divorce (Absolution) and “plan of action” (Advice & Penance) doesn’t mean that you won’t go back to your “strange wife” – but nobody can take you seriously about leaving her if you don’t even have a plan.

There was nothing about the General Confession of Israel before Ezra that was invalid, per se, but there was something about it that was plainly and ridiculously useless if not followed up with a proper case-by-case assessment, adjudication and reconciliation before Almighty God. Sin is like a bad marriage. It takes root. It takes up residence in our hearts. It bears (bad) fruit/children. It takes over our lives. It destroys the Faith and the life of Grace in the Soul. (Since Jewishness descends through the wife, a strange wife literally kills off the inheritance and seed of God, just as sin strangles out the life of Grace.) Overcoming this is not the “work of one day or two” but takes a long time working with a counselor and spiritual surgeon to make permanent and effective that separation.

So when we ask if “General Confession” is enough, we aren’t really asking the right question or asking it in the right way. This is because, at the end of the day when we realistically assess the glue that binds us to sin like a bad marriage and bears fruit, that we have to ask ourselves again in a fresh and honest way, “Is General Confession really enough?” Well, is it? 

Fr. Peter Geromel is Assisting Priest at Church of the Incarnation and an adjunct professor of Philosophy at Northampton Community College. Educated at Virginia Military Institute, Hillsdale College, Reformed Episcopal Seminary and the University of Dallas, Fr. Peter has authored Sublime Duty: Its Emphasis in The Anglican Way, Christ & College: A Guide from The Anglican Way, and Frankincense & Mirth on High. He manages Traditional Anglican Resources.

Uninformed Christians

At two recent meals with some dear Christian friends it was driven home to me just how many intelligent, engaged, and well-meaning believers there are who actively attend church and are very involved in their parish communities and all the rest of it, and yet are significantly under informed about some of the most important religious and cultural issues of our day.

One of the issues we discussed was the unrest in the Middle East, the scourge of ISIS, and other acts of terrorism committed by certain Moslems around the world. My friend suggested that the real problem that we in the modern, civilized world are facing in all of this is not Islam per se but rather fundamentalism. I think in an effort to be open-minded and charitable he was trying to draw a distinction between Moslems of the ISIS variety and those of, say, the CAIR variety. And at the same time I think he was proposing that Christian, Buddhist, or any other type of fundamentalism could be just as dangerous. But as our conversation progressed it became apparent to me that this person just did not know much about Islam and its history as it was warlike and imperialistic from the outset with Mohammed himself leading battles, authorizing raids, and so on. And recently some scholars have noted that, based on verifiable UN statistics and polls, most Moslems throughout the world are not moderate in any western sense, as they affirm that it is okay for husbands to beat their wives, parents to engage in honor killings of their children, and more. When I mentioned some of this my friend was genuinely surprised, and so I believe that he had never heard this before or considered studying the religion and its cultural and history.

With another friend I discussed homosexuality and the church. I was very much surprised that on such a hot-button and devise issue - both in the Church and the world - he was woefully uniformed about the major issues surrounding homosexual behavior, such as health concerns related to it, whether people are born with those inclinations (and whether that even matters), how problematic its underlying gnostic anthropological assumptions are for Christians and for anyone for that matter, and more. He was not even aware of what the Church really objects to in the whole debate (homosexual acts not “homosexuals”) and why (because that behavior is contrary to nature). That the findings of science usually affirm what the Church teaches in moral matters (e.g. abortion) seemed totally lost on my friend.

Both discussions were refreshing and eye-opening. The former because we were able to have a decent conversation without condemning each other or arguing, and the latter because I thought these people - both very intelligent, engaged, and active Christians - whether they agreed with me or not on these issues - would be much more familiar with the subject at hand and all of its nuances and related issues. But they were not, at least not in my opinion.

This is something that pastors should keep in mind. We sometimes think that our people know a lot more than they really do on a given subject and are much more informed about spiritual and moral matters than they really are. But not necessarily. Don't assume that the people in the pews understand even basic Christian doctrines or language, even if they've sat in pews their whole lives. I have met many people in continuing Anglican parishes whom I would basically describe as ethical Unitarians... not orthodox, Trinitarian Christians! It is important for us to know this, and to know them well and to be patient teachers and shepherds to them in spiritual matters… teaching, teaching again, and reteaching.

Hiring a New Church Organist

Hiring a decent organist can be a major challenge these days, especially if you are a small church. Our church was faced with this challenge this year. But I am happy to report that it is possible for a small Anglican parish (ASA about 65 between two services, and membership about 125) to find and hire a talented and enthusiastic candidate. I want to share the story to give hope to other small, cash strapped Anglican churches who need decent musicians.

When I was in my 20’s, before I was ordained, I worked for what was at the time the nations fifth-largest IT consulting firm. This company had “five principles of productivity management.” These were basic guidelines and rules that, if followed, generally lead to success in a project. One of the principles was “get the right people involved.” A project would not be a success if the wrong people were involved.

This principle applies to parish churches as well. The ministry will not be a success if the right people are not involved. Music ministry is one area where this is the case. And in an Anglican parish it is especially the case, because our tradition is known for great music and beautiful, solemn worship. Bad music drives people away from church. Every continuing Anglican parish that is large and successful has great music - at least in my jurisdiction. But what is a small, cash-strapped church to do about hiring a competent organist? How do we attract such candidates, and how do we pay for them?

It became apparent to me over this past year that it was time to part ways with our former organist of 20+ years. Although she was very faithful in her duties, and well known in the community for her Christian service and ministry (to the homeless), the church was at the point where we needed to move to the next musical level, so to speak. More important, I felt as though the level of her playing and overall approach and enthusiasm were actually hurting the parish, and probably had been for a number of years. This is where “getting the right people involved” comes in. If there is a great preacher, and a wonderful hospitality team at the church, but terrible music… or the preaching horrible, but music good, and etc., then the whole mission of the parish will be derailed. Everything - the whole team - has to be good.

So for those reasons I decided we needed to step out in faith and try to hire a new musician. But I knew that I couldn’t just “fire” the organist. Even though that is my prerogative as rector, only a fool would just fire a sweet old lady organist who’d been there for 20+ years. What I had to do was try to get her and my people on the same page… to get them to see things as I saw them. I believed passionately about what needed to be done, so I had to sell them on it.

The first step was to meet with the organist. So I scheduled a lunch meeting with her to discuss the matter. In advance of it I prayed and prayed that God would help the meeting to go well and that his will would be done in this important matter. These matters must always be brought before the Lord in prayer. I also sought some godly counsel from the previous rector and some other experienced and godly clergy. We met, and I shared my concerns with her in as gentle and non-accusatory a way as possible. Though I was determined at the outset what the course of action was going to be, and made that clear to her, I did not in any way want to be rude to her. This was about business. It was not personal. She took it very well, and as it turned out, agreed that it would probably be a good thing for her to move on given all that I wanted the church to do and become, and also because of her own work and family schedule. So in short, while she was not necessarily chomping at the bit to go she was definitely not turning it down. In the end, she agreed to retire from the post and be made “organist emeritus.” As I had not even begin to advertise, we established a timeline for her to step down. She would keep playing through the end of the year, thus giving her plenty of time to slowly pull back from the organist’s bench.

The next step was to consult with some talented, big city church organists to get some advice on how to find a candidate. Being in the metro Baltimore area I figured there would be plenty of organists around. But how would we attract one to our small parish? An organist from a large Roman Catholic parish who also played with several Episcopalian parishes met with me and said the key was two things: write a good job description to really sell the position, and advertise in the right places. He also said that we needed to try to add at least $50/month in pay to get someone. He assured me that there would be a number of organists who would love to play at a church like ours. Many of them are very devout believers who want to have a sincere ministry in music for the Lord. And they tend to like the high church Anglican liturgy, and not having to lead a contemporary praise band in addition to playing the organ. It helped, of course, that my predecessor had spent over 20K on a very nice electronic organ. While not all organists insist on playing pipe organs, a church must have a decent instrument. The organist who was guiding me told me that our organ was a very good, respectable organ, especially for a church our size.

So with all of that in mind I worked for about two weeks writing a detailed and enticing job description. When I was done I sent it to the organist with whom I’d met so he could vet it. He said it looked good and then said to advertise with the AGO, the American Choral Directors Association, and with the Peabody Conservatory. I also sent the job description out to some other organists whom I knew so they could keep their ears to the ground for any possible candidates. And then I prayed, prayed, prayed.

In the meantime, some very good-hearted and generous people at church stepped up and offered to cover the extra expense of the organist. How we were going to finance our new person was a major question. The key things was to talk about the need for a new organist to the right people - people who were sympathetic and in a position to help contribute. So often churches don’t get what they need simply because they do not ask, or they do not ask the right people!

We got our man fairly quickly. A retired music teacher and lifelong church organist who had played at several of the most prestigious churches in Baltimore in his long and storied career. And believe me it makes all the difference in the world having a highly experienced and enthusiastic musician sitting on the organist’s bench who knows how to play this magnificent instrument, and understands the role music plays in glorifying God in worship. My prayer now is that in the long run this would be a great thing for our parish and ministry and that God would use his playing and enthusiasm to help bring our church to the next level.

I hope that other churches out there - particularly small, continuing Anglican ones - are inspired by this story. There is an organist for your church. You need to just pray, pay, and advertise in all of the right places. There are any number of great organists out there who would love to play at your church. Find them and hire them!