If you ever feel like spirituality  (the lived experience of faith) and theology (the study or knowledge of God, especially as articulated by scholars and intellectuals) inhabit two entirely separate worlds, you might be interested in an upcoming conference.

The Episcopal School for Ministry and the Diocese of Missouri will hold the third annual Making Disciples conference on Saturday, September 13, at Christ Church Cathedral. The conference will feature the Rev. Mark A. McIntosh, Ph.D., on the theme of “Discerning God’s Delight: A Theological Life of Spiritual Discernment.” More information, including registration details, fees, and deadlines, is available on the Dicoese’s website.

The Rev. Dr. McIntosh is an Episcopal priest, scholar, and a longtime theology professor at Loyola University. His numerous books and articles include Christology from Within and Mystical Theology: The Integrity of Spirituality and Theology. As that subtitle indicates,bringing the spheres of spirituality and theology back into contact with one…

The Irish Times is reporting that “a conciliatory statement is expected at the end of the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury,”which concludes today. Others are predicting that the whole endeavor will have been a waste or even a sham, a kind of desperate stall for time. The British paper the Telegraph has a particularly depressing article out today, found here, about bishops pressuring “the Archbishop of Canterbury to declare a split in the Anglican Communion for the sake of orthodox Christianity.”

For my own part, I am sure only that it will take time, perhaps a very long time, to understand with any clarity the actual results of the Lambeth Conference. It is almost unAmerican to spend two weeks following an event and not have some definite sense of resolution or closure when it is over. Who won? Who lost? What was the score? Can we give it “two thumbs up”? Our…

We’re falling apart at the seams. That would be the general impression I get of the Anglican Communion in most media reports of the last several years.

Not that I’m blaming the media, mind you. The conflicts within the Anglican Communion are real, painful, and profound. And of course priests and bishops and lay people who are all storming around and slamming doors behind them like one big dysfunctional family make good press. So be it.

The war drums (or death knells, depending upon whom you read) seemed to get louder and louder in the weeks leading up to the Lambeth Conference. Lambeth is a once-a-decade gathering of Anglican leaders (archbishops, bishops, and presiding bishops from around the globe), and the conference received oodles of press attention from the moment it was announced. The stories that streamed forth about the fractious, potentially schismatic state of the third largest Christian group in…

“How can you pray for someone you don’t know?”

The question was asked candidly, without rancor, and with genuine interest. The person asking the question was seriously ill and I was the chaplain assigned to the floor of the hospital where she was being treated. I had not even offered prayer; I had simply introduced myself and explained that I was a chaplain. Her question brought me up short.

The recent Pew religion poll found that more than half of all Americans report praying regularly. The number is impressive, but it leaves me wanting to know so much more. I wonder what and for whom people pray, what they even mean by prayer, what they understand to be happening when they pray, how it feels to them. Religion in America is a little like sex: media portrayals of other people’s spiritual practices can seem calculated to shock or offend (preachers damning our…

According to the Episcopal News Service, “Traces of the Trade” will air on the PBS show POV tonight.  I have been hearing good “buzz” about this documentary ever since it was previewed at the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 2006, but I have not had an opportunity to see it myself.  I believe it will air tonight at 9:00.  I hope to post more on the topic after seeing it and would encourage readers to respond to it here (in the comments section) if they so desire.  Here’s part of the ENS story for those who haven’t heard about the documentary:

“Traces” […] tells the story of the DeWolf family, the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history and also a prominent part of the Episcopal Church in Rhode Island. James DeWolf Perry was the 18th Presiding Bishop.

In the film, Katrina Browne, a DeWolf descendant and the documentary’s producer…

I was listening to a piece on NPR’s Morning Edition about the wedding of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon when the following lines caught my attention:

Outside City Hall, hundreds of supporters and some opponents of gay marriage gathered. Those protesting carried signs that said “Re-criminalize Sodomy” and “God Hates Lying Sinners.”

Ugh. I hardly know what to do with such language. “God hates lying sinners.” Really? Even if I could accept that all gay couples who choose to marry in a legal ceremony are “lying sinners” (and, let me be clear, I find that assertion scandalous), how does one justify saying that God hates anyone? Where is the charity, not to mention the humility and compassion, that Christians claim as the hallmarks of their faith?

I recognize that that protester and his sign are not a fair representation of all or even most people who oppose gay marriage. The sad truth…

I’ve tried two or three times to write about women’s ordination, but I keep deleting my efforts rather than posting them. Too much baggage, too complicated a topic to address in a blog. The last thing I want is to play “dueling denominations.” I decided that in the spirit of ecumenism and keeping things “civil” I would refrain.

And then something happened that I just had to write about in order to begin to make sense of it. I don’t know how helpful personal anecdotes are in addressing a topic like this one; perhaps instead I should write about the Episcopal Church’s history of ordaining women. But for the moment this is what I have to offer.

My grandmother died last month. She was one of those matriarchs whose passing can shake a family to its foundation. When I was little I called her my “double mother” because she was more like a…

When I became a postulant for the priesthood, my bishop reminded me that I would need to be in contact with him on Ember Days. “Do you want me to write a real letter?” I asked, miming a hand moving across paper. He laughed and replied that e-mail would work just fine.

I promptly went home and began researching everything I could about Ember Days and the letters that accompany them, since I wasn’t terribly sure what was expected of me. Clergy friends offered everything from “oh, it’s not that big a deal” to “yes, you should take this very seriously.” Okey-dokey, then. My favorite comment was the advice not to write a “having-a-good-time, wish-you-were-here, postcard-from-summer-camp kind of letter.” At least that began to give me the hint of a direction.

The Prayer Book, usually the first place I turn for the inside scoop, told me when Ember Days were (more on…

Have you ever seen a movie or read a book or eaten a meal that was so fantastic that you couldn’t help but talk about it? Your spouse, your friends, your coworkers, your hairdresser–anyone and everyone seems like the perfect person to talk to about that spine-tingling film or life-changing novel or mouth-watering grilled salmon. If you’re like me, an enthusiastic sort, you can even drive people a little crazy with the topic, at least until the Next Big Thing comes along to capture your fancy.

So then why are so many of us so hesitant to talk about our faith? Why is it that when I hear an energizing and insightful sermon or am delighted by a soaringly beautiful hymn, or for that matter when I witness an inspiring act of sacrificial service to others–all of which happen with astonishing frequency in my parish–I rarely think to chat about it…