For my former Roman Catholics...

Do you sometimes feel guilty about leaving Catholicism? I have to admit, I do at times. 90% of the time there is this voice that keeps yelling at me, saying, "You're not Catholic; you're going to burn in Hell forever."

It's hard to shake off the idea. Even when I rationally reject certain doctrines, the emotional weight of leaving can still be overwhelming. Do any of you feel the same way? How do you deal with it?

The truth is... I'm still very Catholic.

I accept all Marian doctrines, I accept transubstantiation, the 73 canonical books, and many other uniquely Catholic Doctrines.

The only things I truly reject are total papal supremacy, papal infallibility, and the rejection LGB marriages. Yet, I still feel like that because I am "rejecting parts of the Faith" I'm going to go to Hell because of it.

I think this has already been asked before in this sub, but I was having some trouble finding the post and figured it might be worth asking again.

Does anyone here know of any Anglican/Episcopal convents or monasteries that sell rosaries online?

The Episcopal Church celebrates “Lesser Feasts” for saints and notable people outside of the major Holy Days prescribed by the Revised Common Lectionary. Though these fall on non-Sundays, and thus may be lesser known since many Episcopal churches do not hold weekday services, they can nonetheless be an inspiration to us in our spiritual lives.

Monday, February 3rd

Anskar, Bishop and Missionary, 865

As Archbishop of Hamburg, Anskar was papal legate for missionary work among the Scandinavians. The immediate result of his devoted and perilous labors was minimal: two churches established on the border of Denmark and one priest settled in Sweden. He also participated in the consecration of Gotbert, first bishop in Sweden. Nevertheless, it was the seed from which a fruitful mission would bear fruit over one hundred years later, when Viking devastation, weakness in the Frankish Church, and the lowest ebb of missionary enthusiasm came to an end. The rich harvest of conversion was three generations away. Nevertheless, Anskar is now looked upon by Scandinavians as their apostle.

Keep your church from discouragement in the day of small things, O God, in the knowledge that when you have begun a good work, you will bring it to a fruitful conclusion, just as you did for your servant Anskar; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Tuesday, February 4th

Manche Masemola, Martyr, 1928

Manche Masemola was born around 1913, in Marishane, South Africa, where she worked with her family on their farm. Her family was not Christian, but rather followed traditional local religious practices. In 1919 Fr. Augustine Moeka of the Anglican Community of the Resurrection established a mission at Marishane, where Manche Masemola first heard Moeka preach. Eager to learn more, she began attending worship services at the mission twice a week and soon expressed a desire to be baptized. Her parents tried to forbid her, and when their prohibitions failed to dissuade her, she was beaten. On a number of occasions, Manche Masemola remarked that she would die at her parents’ hands and be baptized in her own blood. Then, on or near February of 1928, her mother and father took her away to an isolated place and killed her, burying her by a granite rock on a remote hillside. Although she was not yet baptized, the church has historically recognized catechumens who died before they could be baptized as being baptized by their desire for baptism. In 1935 a small group of Christians first made a pilgrimage to her grave. Larger groups followed in 1941 and 1949. Now, hundreds visit the site every August. In 1975 her name was added to the calendar of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa.

Almighty and Everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love in the heart of your faithful martyr Manche Masemola: Grant to us your servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in her triumph may profit by her example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday, February 5th

Agatha of Sicily, Martyr, 251

Agatha of Sicily was one of the most highly venerated virgin martyrs from the early church. It is believed that she was born around 231 to a rich and noble family. From a very young age, she chose to dedicate her life to God as a consecrated virgin, but this did not stop men from making unwanted advances toward her. One of those men was Quitianus, the local Roman prefect, who thought that he could use his status and power to compel her to give up her vow. He tried to blackmail her by threatening to expose her as a Christian, but she would not yield to him. As a result, he denounced her as a Christian during the Decian persecution. When she came to the trial, she learned that he was both her accuser and her judge. In spite of this, Agatha refused to change her mind, and so Quitianus sentenced her to be imprisoned in a brothel. While there she never wavered in her resolve that she would never willingly give herself to him or to any other man. Eventually Quitianus grew impatient with her fortitude and sentenced her to be tortured to death. She was killed in the year 251. Counted as a virgin martyr because of her refusal to consent, she is regarded as the patron of all those who are subjected to sexual harassment or assault. Because of her popularity, she was one of the very few saints who were retained on the calendar of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer after the Reformation.

Almighty and everlasting God, who strengthened your martyr Agatha with constancy and courage: Grant us for the love of you to make no peace with oppression, to fear no adversity, and to have no tolerance for those who would use their power to abuse or exploit; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Thursday, February 6th

Martyrs of Japan, 1597

The introduction of Christianity into Japan in the sixteenth century, first by the Jesuits under Francis Xavier, and then by the Franciscans, has left records of heroism and self-sacrifice in the annals of Christian witness. After a period of ambiguous support by shoguns Nobunaga and Hideyoshi in the last half of the century, the Christian enterprise began to suffer cruel persecution and suppression, culminating in nationwide edicts banning Christianity under the Tokugawa shogunate at the beginning of the Edo era in 1603. The first victims were six Franciscan friars and twenty of their converts, who were crucified at Nagasaki, February 5, 1597. By 1630, what was left of Christianity in Japan was driven underground. Yet it is remarkable that two hundred and fifty years later there were found many men and women, without priests or sacraments, who had preserved through the generations a vestige of Christian faith.

O God our Father, who brought the holy martyrs of Japan through the suffering of the cross to the joys of eternal life: Grant that we, encouraged by their example, may hold fast to the faith we profess, even unto death itself; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Saturday, February 8th

Bakhita (Josephine Margaret Bakhita), Monastic, 1947

Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan. As a child, she said that she experienced God in her heart without ever having been evangelized. She said, “Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself: Who could be the Master of these beautiful things? And I felt a great desire to see him, to know him and to pay him homage.” Enduring twelve years as a slave in Sudan, she eventually landed in Italy as the nanny of a politically connected family. Accompanying their daughter to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, she found herself drawn to Christianity. She was baptized as Josephine in 1890. Due to the hardships in her life, she did not easily express her joy. But she often expressed the joy she experienced through Christ at the font where she was baptized, kissing it and saying: “Here I became one of the daughters of God!” Josephine entered religious life in 1896 as a Canossian Daughter of Charity. In 1902, she went to the city of Schio where she served her religious community. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters’ school and by the local citizens. By the end of her life, Josephine was renowned across Italy for her loving, spiritual wisdom. Josephine knew the reality of being a slave, an immigrant, and a spiritual seeker. Even today, countless children, women, and men continue to be victimized and trafficked into slavery. Josephine serves as an inspiration to those who work to free girls and women from oppression and violence, and to return them to their dignity in the full exercise of their rights. Not only is she a model of resistance, Josephine also reminds us of our obligation to strive against the evil and injustice of human trafficking and uphold the dignity of every human person.

O God of Love, who delivered your servant Josephine Margaret Bakhita from the bondage of slavery to the true freedom of your service; Grant to the wounded your healing grace in mind, body, and spirit and to your church the zeal to combat exploitation and slavery in all its forms; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hello friends.

TL:DR; My priest has recommended that I seek out a spiritual director. I have reached out to several people I know of in my community, but have not had any luck. The last options that I have found locally are Catholic, and I would feel much more comfortable with someone who is openly and unreservedly LGBTQ+ affirming and preferably a fellow Episcopalian. Do y'all have any recommendations?

So I'm looking to get out and take a Southern route across the United States to kind of wake America up and show people that the truth is among Us and nature. And not in their phone or the government. I grew up strict Southern Baptist and am no longer that anymore. I thought I was atheist, but I have had too much in my life to not see a divine plan for me

So God wants me to walk across America and bring his message with me. I'm looking to see if there are churches along to Southern route that would let me put my tent in their parking lot as I passed through different cities. I'm kind of just spitballing ideas here. Is that something that the churches would be open to

I thought this reflection on how we talk about desire, and what the church might have to say to it, really hit a big concept spot on.

https://bencrosby.substack.com/p/on-crucifying-the-desires-of-the

Do you subscribe to fideism? What are your thoughts on it? Can Anglican/Episcopalians subscribe to it? It's heresy in the RCC.

I subscribe to Richard Beck's "Experimental Theology" substack, and today's email punched me right in the gut, especially in light of Bishop Budde's sermon:

"We all have famous prayers and reflections from the tradition that we keep coming back to. For my part, I revisit Isaac of Nineveh's reflections upon the merciful heart:

What is a merciful heart? It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, for demons, and for every created thing. And at the recollection and sight of them, the eyes of a merciful person pour forth tears in abundance. By the strong and vehement mercy that grips such a person’s heart, and by such great compassion, the heart is humbled and one cannot bear to hear or to see any injury or slight sorrow in any in creation.

Isaac's description echos Jesus' own description of the heart of God and his call to emulate this love:

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

'He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.' That line always haunts me."

I pray for a merciful heart in myself and for all of us.

I am starting a new post daily.

As comments have slowed down I am changing this to a weekly megathread. I will review next week to see if it still needs to stay up to keep the timeline clean.

ANYONE BEING RUDE OR TROLLING WILL HAVE THEIR COMMENTS REMOVED AND WILL FACE A TEMPORARY BAN

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Keep it civil please.

Thank you!

My church is looking for ideas for adult formation topics and activities. Has anyone had a great and enriching time doing an adult formation small group and want to share? Thanks!

Dearest Reddit Episcopalians,

I have made so many wonderful friendships and connections (and a few enemies) over my time here. As many of you know, I am a seminarian graduating in May, anticipating ordination sometime before (deacon) and then sometime after (priest) then (sorry I have to be cagey about dates - I’ll announce that when I can!)

In the mean time, you may or may not know that priests seeking employment fill out what’s called an OTM (Office of Transition Ministries) profile, where short answers are provided to a number of questions of relevance to people hiring priests, like vestries and search committees.

One question involves talking about how I’m engaging with the future of the church, and I’m considering writing about this here subreddit. After all, I feel like I’ve actually done a good amount of ministry here, and Reddit trends younger than the church so it’s arguably the future (I mean listen, I’m not a skibidi zoomer so I really don’t know what the future is like).

But, I’m curious how that would be received, given that Reddit is still kind of a “niche” platform and doesn’t always have the best reputation.

Clergy of r/Episcopalian, have any of you ever talked about your posts here in the context of call discernment/hiring?

Vestry/search committee type folks, what would you think of someone talking about Reddit on a clergy OTM profile?

Everyone else, how do I explain Reddit to boomers? (No offense, boomers here - but you know what I mean)

Discuss!

P.S., how much will you pay me to get a personal shoutout in my OTM profile? Jkjk

My diocese (Minnesota) just had a great gathering with Mike Moynagh, an English priest and theologian. He's a key leader of the Fresh Expressions movement, we're calling them "New Christian Communities here." It's a flexible way to listen to people outside the church, gather communities through service and connection, and, when appropriate (and without manipulation) introduce spiritual practices and Christian faith. These small communities would be the primary "church" for some and would remain connected (with two-way relationships) to a local parish/interited model of Sunday-morning-focused church. 

While the idea of an "Episcopal Evangelist" may sound a little odd, I believe this is a way to authentically introduce people to Jesus/faith. It can also help revitalize congregations and connect with the large number of people who would never come into the church itself. Check out some of the resources from the recent training and let me know what you think! 

And the things presented as sayings of Jesus in Matthew and Luke were instead in a text or several texts presenting them as teachings received by the power of the spirit.

How important would they be to you? How do you think you would evaluate them relative to other new testament literature? If you currently hold Pauline literature and the Gospels in different lights, where would these texts fit into that?

Hi all! I hope it is ok to post this here. Trinity Church in Boston is hiring a full-time Director for Early Childhood Ministries. (The Director) is responsible for planning and implementing all ministries that encourage the faith development of our youngest members and their families from birth to third grade. Learn more and apply here, or visit trinitychurchboston.org/jobs.

If you are interested in monastic life check this out (or send the link to someone who might be interested.) We have been doing it for decades, and it has been of benefit to many people.

https://www.saintgregorysthreerivers.org/about/july-program/

I’d like to ask for prayer from my brothers and sisters here, and if you’re not a Christian, please send some positivity. I was molested when I was 5 (or raped, I don’t really understand the difference between the two either way) by an evil and mean woman who babysat me once. And even tho I’m 32 now, I still have flashbacks which then send me spiraling into panic attacks and paranoia. I’m not feeling fully present right now, and just would appreciate the thoughts and prayers I’ve been praying but it hasn’t been much help lately, and I’m not sure why

I am starting a new post daily.

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Please post articles, comments, etc. here.

Keep it civil please.

Thank you!

Hi! I‘m a baptized Christian and I recently started attending an Episcopalian church.

Is recieving communion different than Catholics?

As a raised Catholic, I was told to put my non-dominant hand over my dominant one and shape them like I‘m holding a cup and when I recieved the body of Christ I would say "amen" and than do the sign of the cross?

How different is it with Episcopalian churches? Should I do the same thing? Does it matter? In the Episcopalian church I‘m attending we also have to dip the Eucharist in the wine, should I say or do anything after that?

Idk if it doesn‘t matter or if I just have Catholic trauma lol but I don‘t want to be disrespectful to the priest and to God when recieving the body and blood of Christ. What do ya‘ll do when you do communion in your Episcopalian church?

If the church is to grow, it will necessarily mean bringing in people who are different than current Episcopalians. Which do you think is most important in the integration of them?

View Poll

Episcopal Migration Ministries is offering information on scheduled Zoom sessions

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMlfu6qqjIpHdav-xm_G83OMLdkNV7YKZas#/registration

I am starting a new post daily.

ANYONE BEING RUDE OR TROLLING WILL HAVE THEIR COMMENTS REMOVED AND WILL FACE A TEMPORARY BAN

Please post articles, comments, etc. here.

Keep it civil please.

Thank you!

I love Catholicism, but it's not liberal enough for me. I've loved everything I've learned about episcopalians and their church. Any other catholics come to the Episcopal church?

From yesterday's homily:

"We are the Episcopal church. We will not sit down and we will not shut up. We will continue to welcome the stranger and care for the captive. We will show mercy, and we will receive mercy, and all for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ."

In my diocese, by canon, the Rector is the chair of the vestry unless they delegate that to someone else, usually a warden. What does your church do?

Hey r/Episcopalian.

I want to share with you my personal convictions regarding my faith-journey, and hopefully gather some insight into what I can do to progress against these seemingly impossible obstacles.

First, I want to highlight that I was not born into faith, nor was I raised in a Christian household. I was agnostic for my whole life, despite being baptised in the Catholic church (which was a traditional happening in my family more than a religious one).

A few months ago, I had the urge to pursue God after a mound of trauma emerged within my family, including loss. As I work at a Catholic institution, was baptised Catholic, and my wife’s family are also Catholic, I started to pursue that and dived deeply into Catholicism, trying to live a ‘Catholic life’ thenceforth. I have even enrolled into the RCIA process and was considering paying for my marriage convalidation. I also attended my first confession.

To be honest with you, I did not like it one bit. Whilst my relationship with God has grown exponentially, my relationship with the church that I am trying to pigeonhole myself into is stagnant and uneasy. I don’t feel anything during mass, and I don’t enjoy the idea of a $200 payment to ‘save my marriage from sin’, nor do I enjoy certain doctrines and the loud right-wing Catholics that are currently obsessed with a certain someone.

I have teetered with the idea of becoming Episcopalian before, and I even attended holy communion (and was able to receive it), and it was an amazing experience. The people, the hymns, the catching sermons, and the life advice given to me regarding marriage and family-life from a priest that was also a married family man was great.

Here’s my issue, though. I feel like I have come so far in my journey to Catholicism that I feel idiotic about abandoning it now. I feel like I am letting my community down by not being Catholic, and I am worried about being alienated. In all senses of the word, I feel like a traitor. If being Catholic has taught me anything so far, it’s that being Catholic means being guilty. Robin William’s said that “being Episcopalian is like being Catholic but with half the guilt”, and I love that.

So, what are some ways that I can make my conversion from Catholicism to Episcopalian without feeling like a traitor to not only the church and its people, but to God? How do you not feel guilty when that church teaches you that it is the true church?

I’d love some advice into this.

Thank you!

I'm from Germany, 18 years old, and lately, I've been wanting to work on my faith. I've never been religious; I wasn't raised in any religious way and never attended any kind of religion class in school or anywhere. I know very little about even just the basics of the christian faith, or any faith, for that matter.

I apologize if I accidentally say something offensive or phrase something in an offensive/wrong way, I really don't mean to do so and I'm trying to learn to get rid of this ignorance.

Mainly, it's a curiosity as well as feeling as though religion and faith could help me live a happier and more fulfilled life. Right now, I don't have the slightest idea or concept of how 'truly believing' feels like. I really do hope it isn't offensive when I explain it like this; as said, I haven't ever been religious so far. Because of that, I haven't ever believed in God. This way, I don't have any perspective on truly and genuinely believing in God and His presence. I know that there's many people who have such a genuine and true faith that they truly feel connected to God and as though He's with them, able to feel as though speaking to God when praying and actually being heard.

But right now, for me, it feels a little silly when I try to pray. I don't feel as though anyone is there or as though I'm being heard, because I've never been taught that way. It's really my first time doing anything like that. Right now, it feels like I'm just really trying to convince myself of something I 'know' isn't real. I don't genuinely think that way, but seeing as I've never been religious, it just feels that way as of right now.

Again, I hope this isn't offensive. I just want to share my perspective and exactly what I wish to achieve.

I would like to genuinely have faith and believe in God in such a way. I wish to be able to pray and feel that I'm being heard. I wish to be able to gather hope and courage from feeling and experiencing such a relationship to God, being able to actually feel loved by Him. Apart from that, I'd also like to learn more about the episcopalian faith, especially because of people such as Father David on YouTube (a retired episcopalian priest). The way he conveys his beliefs speak to me, and I suppose I wish to believe the same.

My main issue with faith, from my very, very limited, thus ignorant and likely even bigoted perspective, is that I have this association with faith being something oppressive rather than liberating. And I don't want to continue to feel that way. As said, I'm very much in agreement with a lot of the beliefs Father David has conveyed and expressed so far, especially regarding his beliefs on transgender people. I myself am a transgender man, so I often felt opposed to faith because I had this association of faith generally being against that, and of course, I didn't and don't want to believe, think, or feel that I'm wrong or sinful. Neither my body, nor my soul. But Father David simply opened my eyes to the fact that I don't need to believe in something like that. Rather, I can believe in a God who has created me the way I am and loves me the way I am- not as a 'woman', but as a transgender man. And that it isn't wrong or sinful to change my body to be in accordance to my inner self.

I hope this isn't too confusing or convoluted, and please do correct me if I said anything offensive at any point, even if it's 'just' the phrasing. I also hope that my request or post in itself aren't offensive.