Blog https://www.ascensionmckinney.org Sun, 08 Mar 2026 21:12:36 -0500 http://churchplantmedia.com/ The High Church vs. Low Church Conundrum https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/the-high-church-vs-low-church-conundrum https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/the-high-church-vs-low-church-conundrum#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2025 13:04:15 -0500 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/the-high-church-vs-low-church-conundrum There is a rising fascination with historic forms of Christianity in the online sphere. While the on the ground data shows that non-denominational churches are still growing the fastest it's hard to ignore the fact that thanks to the internet many people are discovering that there are far more people interested in historic forms of church than was once assumed. It's sort of a "man bites dog" scenario meaning it’s unexpected so it drives clicks. However, I think Catholic apologist Trent Horn in a recent video about the trend was right in saying that the gulf between a self-directed spiritual journey online and visiting a local flesh and blood parish is still pretty big. I find it funny to read comments and see people now identify as Roman Catholic before they've ever been to Mass. I digress, but what I wanted to address is the biggest misconception about historic Christianity which is the high church vs. low church distinction. In common parlance the term "high church" is associated with ornate cathedrals, intricate vestments, and elaborate choreography (also known as sacramentals) that take place during worship. This is not really what makes someone high church. The real distinction between elaborate cathedrals with golden chalices and pipe organs and a plainer parish really comes down to money. Does the community have the resources to buy and pay for all these things? Someone can still be very high church and worship in a very plain space. And as someone who considers himself low church Anglican, I wanted to briefly defend why even someone like me would actually be considered high church relative to non-denominational and Baptist churches. The real distinction between high church and low church is whether or not you have a high or low ecclesiology AKA theology of the Church.

A good litmus test to find out where you end up on the candle stick is to reflect on your response to the statement, “There is no salvation outside the church.” By my estimation the Christian group that has the highest ecclesiology would be the Eastern Orthodox who would say without hesitation that no one can be saved apart from membership in the earthly Orthodox institution to the point where they won’t even pray with Roman Catholics or Protestants. On the far other end of the spectrum would be non-denominational Christians who would say that the church and the sacraments play absolutely no role in your salvation and are optional and all that matters is the individual faith of the person. Any participation in a worship service or a sacrament is simply an exercise of obedience to Jesus. There is no real cosmic reality to the Church beyond it being a collection of individual believers. There is no one in the Anglican continuum who would go that far, not even Reformed Low Church Anglicans like me.

Whether your priest wears jeans and a stole or a thousand-dollar cope during Sunday service all Anglicans have these bare minimum ecclesial commitments. We all share a belief in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. The Church has a spiritual reality to it. It is an institution founded by Jesus and the idea that a person can identify as a Christian and not be part of the institution in some form seems biblically and historically nonsensical. Second, all Anglicans believe in the historic episcopacy. We believe that in the days of the early church the Apostles played a unique role with unique authority. We also see them dispensing authority to others through something we call ordination. While we believe in the universal priesthood of all believers, we see that God distinguishes some people as having a real authority to teach and administer the sacraments that differs from lay people. As the apostles died off the bishops assumed this role to some degree and continue to act in ways the apostles did, and priests became the new second tier level of spiritual authority in the Church. Third, all Anglicans believe that the sacraments are generally necessary for salvation. We say generally because we do believe that ultimately Jesus’ atoning work is what saves us but that the normative way someone enters the church is through baptism and the normative way someone receives sustaining grace is through the Lord’s Supper. The frequency of Communion has varied throughout church history. In the Middle Ages and Reformation periods it usually only happened three times a year. In early American history the frequency was monthly with Morning Prayer being the primary Sunday Service and then post Vatican II and the liturgical renaissance many branches of the Church have returned the early church practice of weekly Communion. We do not admit people to the Lord’s Supper who have not been baptized. We believe the sacraments really do dispense grace from God they are not just acts of obedience.

Right away you can see that even if an Anglican Church appears rather simple in its expression it still blows the typical American church experience out of the water in terms of theology underneath. So, when someone is looking for that rather theatrical and ornate church experience, I typically chalk that up to taste in the same way someone might prefer loud music in the worship service. There is nothing wrong with this, but I think it is important for us to be self-aware and realistic. I look at guys like Joe from the Young Anglican YouTube channel who I would describe as a higher church Anglican based on his theology. But he truly loves the Anglican Church and wants to help serve her in whatever way God has for him and so I was surprised to learn that he worships and serves at an Anglican church plant whose worship expression is even more bare bones than what we do at Ascension. That reflects maturity.

So theologically what truly divides the high church from the low church in the Anglican spectrum? Low churchmen emphasize preaching over the Lord’s Supper as the main event for worship. High churchmen emphasize the Lord’s Supper. Low churchmen really only believe in two sacraments whereas high churchmen are keener to believe all seven are properly called sacraments. Low churchmen would view apostolic succession as primarily about the teachings of the Apostles while still probably recognizing the physical chain of succession through ordination. High churchmen would emphasize the tactile passing down of power first and foremost. Low churchmen tend to be more Reformed with a lower view of human free will and a higher view of God’s sovereignty in salvation. High Churchmen would have a higher view of human free will and would emphasize continued participation with God in our salvation. Basically, low churchmen are more monergistic and high churchmen are more synergistic in their view of salvation. Low churchmen would emphasize the need for a living faith in order to receive benefits from the sacraments while high churchmen would have a more automatic view of the sacraments. Low churchmen view the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist as heavenly by the Holy Spirit whereas High churchmen would lean closer to transubstantiation while not usually crossing that line. The low church view is more about reception of the Eucharist through faith while high church has a more local view of Christ’s presence and would view the consecration of the host to be the climax of the act. Low churchmen would view ordination more in terms of being authorized to preach and administer the sacraments while high churchmen would emphasize the reception of an indelible mark on the soul of the priest and a power to confect the Eucharist that lay people simply do not have. Low church is more emphatically sola scriptura whereas high church would place tradition on a higher level of interpretive authority with Scripture.

I do also want to note that the Oxford Movement (the movement towards higher church theology in Anglicanism) has had some lasting effects on the whole of Anglicanism. At the Reformation all priests would have worn a black scarf during worship but now we all wear colored stoles during Communion which at one point was viewed as a Roman Catholic practice. The Oxford Movement dreamed of a free church not associated with a human government and every American Anglican today believes in a separation of church and state. The reintroduction of services like Ash Wednesday is another victory. The use of holy oil in baptism and wedding rings is another. The use of the epiclesis during Communion would be another. Even I, a low churchman, reverently consume the left-over wine during Communion and we reserve the sacrament for use in visiting the sick and homebound.  

So, at Ascension is our worship style really a reflection of our view of the church or is it about something else? First, I would like to point out that Christ Church Plano, our sending church, would theologically be on the low church end of the spectrum. They self-identify as evangelical on their website, and they emphasize the sermon and teaching doctrine in their services and ministries. And yet, appearance wise they are very ornate. This once again goes back to my point about finances. Christ Church has been blessed with very generous people who live in the land of corporate headquarters and have been able to obtain many of these beautiful vessels and buildings for use in their worship. I truly enjoy worshipping there. But they are not high church simply because of the way they dress or because they have a stone altar in their sanctuary.

Church of the Ascension on the other hand is a church plant. We are a mobile church in a rented space in a land filled with Baptists. As I heard one priest put it, “You have to start where you are.” I have been told to my face by several different people that if our service was any more elaborate than it already is they simply would not have trusted us or given us a second chance. I even heard from one couple that my clergy collar was enough of a reason not to even give us a visit. And yet, we have people who would never had set foot in a Catholic church or Anglo Catholic Church out of fear of catching fire from heresy who are now making the sign of the cross and wanting to be confirmed. We are trying to make our worship service accessible and understandable to the people God has called us to reach: the unbaptized and the non-Anglican alike.

When I was receiving training for church planting the thing I was told over and over again was to be careful not to plant this church in my imagination. You might have in your mind an ideal church worship experience but then you have to face the reality of paying for it and seeing if anyone would actually come. Our church will always be about our mission. Our mission will always guide our decisions and our methods. Are we able to make converts? Our services are faithful to the Book of Common Prayer and theologically we are genuinely Anglican, but we are not interested in simply transferring Anglicans from one church to another…we want to make new Anglicans! And more importantly we want to make new Christians!!!

I have my own opinions about vestments. For example, if I had the power, I would require all clergy to have their clergy shirts tailored to fit them. I think that if you are going to wear your cassock everywhere you should treat it like a business suit and not (as I saw one high church Anglican do) keep it in the trunk of your car where it will get wrinkled. I like the surplice better than the Alb (especially the cassock-Alb) as it is a Reformation garment that emphasizes the teaching authority of the pastor, and I just think it looks better. And I think at the bare minimum you should wear a clergy collar during worship but not every Anglican does this. I also think Anglicans should mostly wear broad collars not tab collars as this is more reflective of our identity, but many priests prefer tab collars because they are more comfortable (and they’re right about that). But here’s the thing, all of these are just expressions of my personal taste. I am not dogmatic about them. Aside from basic fashion sense I think it is acceptable for Anglicans to dress in all sorts of ways. It’s also very hot in Texas so that comes into play as well.

In closing, it is very important to separate first tier issues from second tier issues. There are many gorgeous Episcopal Churches with elaborate liturgies and buildings, but their theology is heretical. If we want to see the orthodox Anglican communion in America grow, we must recognize we are in a building phase. The Episcopal Church got to have incredible architecture because they gave incredible sums of money to their churches. With only 1000 churches in the ACNA and a shoestring budget we must accept where we are and what our role is in this generation. Our role is to plant as many churches as we can, reach as many people as we can, and give as much as we can so the next generation can feel more established than we do now. We must build the ACNA in the world, not in our minds.

]]> There is a rising fascination with historic forms of Christianity in the online sphere. While the on the ground data shows that non-denominational churches are still growing the fastest it's hard to ignore the fact that thanks to the internet many people are discovering that there are far more people interested in historic forms of church than was once assumed. It's sort of a "man bites dog" scenario meaning it’s unexpected so it drives clicks. However, I think Catholic apologist Trent Horn in a recent video about the trend was right in saying that the gulf between a self-directed spiritual journey online and visiting a local flesh and blood parish is still pretty big. I find it funny to read comments and see people now identify as Roman Catholic before they've ever been to Mass. I digress, but what I wanted to address is the biggest misconception about historic Christianity which is the high church vs. low church distinction. In common parlance the term "high church" is associated with ornate cathedrals, intricate vestments, and elaborate choreography (also known as sacramentals) that take place during worship. This is not really what makes someone high church. The real distinction between elaborate cathedrals with golden chalices and pipe organs and a plainer parish really comes down to money. Does the community have the resources to buy and pay for all these things? Someone can still be very high church and worship in a very plain space. And as someone who considers himself low church Anglican, I wanted to briefly defend why even someone like me would actually be considered high church relative to non-denominational and Baptist churches. The real distinction between high church and low church is whether or not you have a high or low ecclesiology AKA theology of the Church.

A good litmus test to find out where you end up on the candle stick is to reflect on your response to the statement, “There is no salvation outside the church.” By my estimation the Christian group that has the highest ecclesiology would be the Eastern Orthodox who would say without hesitation that no one can be saved apart from membership in the earthly Orthodox institution to the point where they won’t even pray with Roman Catholics or Protestants. On the far other end of the spectrum would be non-denominational Christians who would say that the church and the sacraments play absolutely no role in your salvation and are optional and all that matters is the individual faith of the person. Any participation in a worship service or a sacrament is simply an exercise of obedience to Jesus. There is no real cosmic reality to the Church beyond it being a collection of individual believers. There is no one in the Anglican continuum who would go that far, not even Reformed Low Church Anglicans like me.

Whether your priest wears jeans and a stole or a thousand-dollar cope during Sunday service all Anglicans have these bare minimum ecclesial commitments. We all share a belief in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. The Church has a spiritual reality to it. It is an institution founded by Jesus and the idea that a person can identify as a Christian and not be part of the institution in some form seems biblically and historically nonsensical. Second, all Anglicans believe in the historic episcopacy. We believe that in the days of the early church the Apostles played a unique role with unique authority. We also see them dispensing authority to others through something we call ordination. While we believe in the universal priesthood of all believers, we see that God distinguishes some people as having a real authority to teach and administer the sacraments that differs from lay people. As the apostles died off the bishops assumed this role to some degree and continue to act in ways the apostles did, and priests became the new second tier level of spiritual authority in the Church. Third, all Anglicans believe that the sacraments are generally necessary for salvation. We say generally because we do believe that ultimately Jesus’ atoning work is what saves us but that the normative way someone enters the church is through baptism and the normative way someone receives sustaining grace is through the Lord’s Supper. The frequency of Communion has varied throughout church history. In the Middle Ages and Reformation periods it usually only happened three times a year. In early American history the frequency was monthly with Morning Prayer being the primary Sunday Service and then post Vatican II and the liturgical renaissance many branches of the Church have returned the early church practice of weekly Communion. We do not admit people to the Lord’s Supper who have not been baptized. We believe the sacraments really do dispense grace from God they are not just acts of obedience.

Right away you can see that even if an Anglican Church appears rather simple in its expression it still blows the typical American church experience out of the water in terms of theology underneath. So, when someone is looking for that rather theatrical and ornate church experience, I typically chalk that up to taste in the same way someone might prefer loud music in the worship service. There is nothing wrong with this, but I think it is important for us to be self-aware and realistic. I look at guys like Joe from the Young Anglican YouTube channel who I would describe as a higher church Anglican based on his theology. But he truly loves the Anglican Church and wants to help serve her in whatever way God has for him and so I was surprised to learn that he worships and serves at an Anglican church plant whose worship expression is even more bare bones than what we do at Ascension. That reflects maturity.

So theologically what truly divides the high church from the low church in the Anglican spectrum? Low churchmen emphasize preaching over the Lord’s Supper as the main event for worship. High churchmen emphasize the Lord’s Supper. Low churchmen really only believe in two sacraments whereas high churchmen are keener to believe all seven are properly called sacraments. Low churchmen would view apostolic succession as primarily about the teachings of the Apostles while still probably recognizing the physical chain of succession through ordination. High churchmen would emphasize the tactile passing down of power first and foremost. Low churchmen tend to be more Reformed with a lower view of human free will and a higher view of God’s sovereignty in salvation. High Churchmen would have a higher view of human free will and would emphasize continued participation with God in our salvation. Basically, low churchmen are more monergistic and high churchmen are more synergistic in their view of salvation. Low churchmen would emphasize the need for a living faith in order to receive benefits from the sacraments while high churchmen would have a more automatic view of the sacraments. Low churchmen view the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist as heavenly by the Holy Spirit whereas High churchmen would lean closer to transubstantiation while not usually crossing that line. The low church view is more about reception of the Eucharist through faith while high church has a more local view of Christ’s presence and would view the consecration of the host to be the climax of the act. Low churchmen would view ordination more in terms of being authorized to preach and administer the sacraments while high churchmen would emphasize the reception of an indelible mark on the soul of the priest and a power to confect the Eucharist that lay people simply do not have. Low church is more emphatically sola scriptura whereas high church would place tradition on a higher level of interpretive authority with Scripture.

I do also want to note that the Oxford Movement (the movement towards higher church theology in Anglicanism) has had some lasting effects on the whole of Anglicanism. At the Reformation all priests would have worn a black scarf during worship but now we all wear colored stoles during Communion which at one point was viewed as a Roman Catholic practice. The Oxford Movement dreamed of a free church not associated with a human government and every American Anglican today believes in a separation of church and state. The reintroduction of services like Ash Wednesday is another victory. The use of holy oil in baptism and wedding rings is another. The use of the epiclesis during Communion would be another. Even I, a low churchman, reverently consume the left-over wine during Communion and we reserve the sacrament for use in visiting the sick and homebound.  

So, at Ascension is our worship style really a reflection of our view of the church or is it about something else? First, I would like to point out that Christ Church Plano, our sending church, would theologically be on the low church end of the spectrum. They self-identify as evangelical on their website, and they emphasize the sermon and teaching doctrine in their services and ministries. And yet, appearance wise they are very ornate. This once again goes back to my point about finances. Christ Church has been blessed with very generous people who live in the land of corporate headquarters and have been able to obtain many of these beautiful vessels and buildings for use in their worship. I truly enjoy worshipping there. But they are not high church simply because of the way they dress or because they have a stone altar in their sanctuary.

Church of the Ascension on the other hand is a church plant. We are a mobile church in a rented space in a land filled with Baptists. As I heard one priest put it, “You have to start where you are.” I have been told to my face by several different people that if our service was any more elaborate than it already is they simply would not have trusted us or given us a second chance. I even heard from one couple that my clergy collar was enough of a reason not to even give us a visit. And yet, we have people who would never had set foot in a Catholic church or Anglo Catholic Church out of fear of catching fire from heresy who are now making the sign of the cross and wanting to be confirmed. We are trying to make our worship service accessible and understandable to the people God has called us to reach: the unbaptized and the non-Anglican alike.

When I was receiving training for church planting the thing I was told over and over again was to be careful not to plant this church in my imagination. You might have in your mind an ideal church worship experience but then you have to face the reality of paying for it and seeing if anyone would actually come. Our church will always be about our mission. Our mission will always guide our decisions and our methods. Are we able to make converts? Our services are faithful to the Book of Common Prayer and theologically we are genuinely Anglican, but we are not interested in simply transferring Anglicans from one church to another…we want to make new Anglicans! And more importantly we want to make new Christians!!!

I have my own opinions about vestments. For example, if I had the power, I would require all clergy to have their clergy shirts tailored to fit them. I think that if you are going to wear your cassock everywhere you should treat it like a business suit and not (as I saw one high church Anglican do) keep it in the trunk of your car where it will get wrinkled. I like the surplice better than the Alb (especially the cassock-Alb) as it is a Reformation garment that emphasizes the teaching authority of the pastor, and I just think it looks better. And I think at the bare minimum you should wear a clergy collar during worship but not every Anglican does this. I also think Anglicans should mostly wear broad collars not tab collars as this is more reflective of our identity, but many priests prefer tab collars because they are more comfortable (and they’re right about that). But here’s the thing, all of these are just expressions of my personal taste. I am not dogmatic about them. Aside from basic fashion sense I think it is acceptable for Anglicans to dress in all sorts of ways. It’s also very hot in Texas so that comes into play as well.

In closing, it is very important to separate first tier issues from second tier issues. There are many gorgeous Episcopal Churches with elaborate liturgies and buildings, but their theology is heretical. If we want to see the orthodox Anglican communion in America grow, we must recognize we are in a building phase. The Episcopal Church got to have incredible architecture because they gave incredible sums of money to their churches. With only 1000 churches in the ACNA and a shoestring budget we must accept where we are and what our role is in this generation. Our role is to plant as many churches as we can, reach as many people as we can, and give as much as we can so the next generation can feel more established than we do now. We must build the ACNA in the world, not in our minds.

]]> No...WE Don't a Have Pope (How the Church Can Be One) https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/no-we-dont-a-have-pope-how-the-church-can-be-one https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/no-we-dont-a-have-pope-how-the-church-can-be-one#comments Tue, 13 May 2025 10:14:31 -0500 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/no-we-dont-a-have-pope-how-the-church-can-be-one             Many of you have probably seen the Latin phrase Habemus Papam floating around social media right after the new bishop of Rome was selected in the Roman Catholic Conclave. This Latin phrase means, “We have a pope.” It’s sort of tradition to say this after the selection of a new pope. I am happy for my Roman brethren that they have a new leader and I pray that this pope will be a good one because he is a world leader and a representative of the Christian faith to the world. However, as an Anglican I cannot and will not say Habemus Papam…what I can say is Habent Papam which means, “They have a pope.” As Anglicans, we (like the majority of the world’s Christians) do not answer to or follow the bishop of Rome. Our unity is not found through the leader of a single earthly institution but through the Bible, the Sacraments, and our shared doctrine as laid out in the Anglican formularies.

            People usually get this wrong when they talk about the Anglican Communion. For example, I recently saw an article from conservative news pundit Matt Walsh, who is a Roman Catholic, reflecting on the new pope. By the way, Robert Prevost (who has taken the name Pope Leo XIV), is relatively unknown and until he has actually done anything significant no one knows what kind of leader he will be. It is also pretty impossible to use the metrics of American partisan politics to evaluate and judge a church leader. But in Walsh’s article titled “The Left Discovered The New Pope Is Actually Catholic And They’re Horrified” he begins not by talking about his church but about Anglicans. He writes,

There’s quite a mystery unfolding right now at the highest levels of one of the largest churches on the planet. And it’s a pretty confounding question: Where exactly is the archbishop of Canterbury, the senior bishop of the Church of England? No one has any idea. To be clear, this isn’t a missing persons case. The post has been vacant for more than four months. And yet, to this day, the position still hasn’t been filled. As of May 12th, 2025, there is still no archbishop of Canterbury. And at least on paper, this is something of a head-scratcher. Here you have a Protestant church with something like 26 million baptized members all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of active members, by some estimates. It’s known as the “mother church of the Anglican tradition.” And yet, as of right now, there’s no clarity whatsoever as to when they’ll pick a new archbishop to lead the church. There doesn’t seem to be any urgency, either. Lawyers are reportedly getting involved for one reason or another. The latest estimate is that it’ll be several more weeks, at a minimum, until the Church of England decides who’s in charge. And it’s not as if this vacancy was a surprise. The previous archbishop didn’t die suddenly or anything like that. Instead, it was announced months in advance that the archbishop would resign, before he finally stepped down in January. But here we are. It’s now May, and the church of England still has no archbishop. The contrast with the Catholic Church, especially after the election of Pope Leo the 14th, could not be any more clear. 

All of this displays a complete misunderstanding of Anglicanism and how the Anglican Communion works. I also take issue with the triumphalist tone that Walsh displays here as if the speed at which they selected the new pope is evidence of their correct theology. The longest conclave in Roman Catholic history took THREE YEARS (1268-1271) to elect Pope Gregory X. So, either you’ve correctly interpreted Scripture or you haven’t, speed and efficiency are not really markers of superiority. Nevertheless, the reason Walsh gets this wrong is because the Archbishop of Canterbury is the Archbishop of the Church of ENGLAD not the entire Anglican Communion. In fact, bishops from around the world met in Kigali in 2023 and made a statement saying, “We have no confidence that the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the other Instruments of Communion led by him (the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates’ Meetings) are able to provide a godly way forward that will be acceptable to those who are committed to the truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The Instruments of Communion have failed to maintain true communion based on the Word of God and shared faith in Christ… This renders his leadership role in the Anglican Communion entirely indefensible.” This document known as the Kigali Commitment also says, “Anglican identity is defined by [doctrine] and not by recognition from the See of Canterbury.”

            Since the Reformation, Anglicans have never had the same style of Church government as the Roman Catholic Church. The English Reformers were accused of “Greek and Bohemian Heresies”. What were these “Greek Heresies”? It was doing things like allowing clergy to marry, giving wine to communicants, and not recognizing the pope as the Vicar of Christ like the Greek Orthodox also practice and have practiced for over a thousand years. The way the Church around the world has traditionally been setup is you have the individual local parish/church led by a presbyter (also commonly called a priest), then you have a region of parishes led by a bishop called a diocese, and then you have a region of dioceses which is called a province. Examples of provinces would be the Anglican Church in North America, the Church of Nigeria, the Church of Rwanda, the Church of England, etc. One of the bishops in that province is elected to be the archbishop making him the first among equals. The bishops are held accountable by the synod which is made up of laity and clergy alike. In the ACNA our archbishop serves for a five-year term and may be elected to serve a second term and then after that he is done. Our bishops also meet in a conclave to elect the next AB. But the Archbishop of one province does not have authority to make decisions or influence another province. The Archbishop of the ACNA cannot make decisions for Rwanda or vice versa. And yet, people talk as if the Archbishop of Canterbury is essentially our pope. Where did this idea originate?

            As higher criticism infiltrated the Anglican Seminaries of the west it eroded faith in Scripture. As Protestants, we believe the Bible is our only infallible rule of faith, but slowly many of the clergy in the Episcopal Church, Church of England, Church of Canada, Church of Australia, and Church of New Zealand began to use German Higher Criticism to rethink the Bible and in many cases stopped believing that even it was infallible or that the miracles and historic events in the Bible were real. They looked at Christianity as a philosophy that teaches people how to be good but the truth value of the virgin birth and resurrection were not important. As stated above, Anglican unity comes from doctrine…so what happens when a bunch of provinces stop believing the doctrine? How can they be called Anglican? This is when they pivoted (and this was taking place during the last century not any time before it) to using ecclesial authority as the marker of church unity. So long as Canterbury gave you a thumbs up, you got to keep calling yourself an Anglican (even if you were essentially just a Unitarian Universalist). This is not how Anglicanism works…it’s also not how Eastern Orthodoxy works…nor Presbyterianism…nor Lutheranism.

            So, what I would say to Matt Walsh is, “I don’t care.” The selection of the new Archbishop of Canterbury does not affect me as a presbyter in the ACNA. It actually hasn’t mattered since the Revolutionary War when the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America was formed because American clergy could not swear fealty to the King of England. But then this leads many critics both in the Roman Catholic Church a well as in various Protestant groups to say that without a central figure Protestantism will just continue to fracture into smaller and smaller groups. If Christ’s prayer was for his church to be one then how can we do that without something like a pope?

            First, I do not accept the premise that Protestantism is as horribly divided as people claim. It’s also important to note that there is no such thing as the Protestant Church. There are churches that would call themselves Protestant but there is no single ecclesial body called the Protestant Church. It is also not true that there are 40,000 Protestant Denominations. The same encyclopedia that says there are 40,000 Protestant Denominations says there are over 300 Roman Catholic Denominations. So basically, any time someone starts a new 501c3 that counts as a new denomination. In reality, there are essentially 7 main Protestant groups: Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Charismatic/Pentecostal, and Anabaptist. Both Global Methodist and United Methodist are Methodist…they are just different institutions. Both Southern Baptist and Missionary Baptist are Baptist…They’re just different conventions. And yes, I am including non-denominational with Baptists because their theology lines up pretty much perfectly with Baptists. If not then they would be in the Charismatic group. I am comfortable with this diversity because as Rick Warren said, “It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.” And Article 18 in the 39 Articles of Religion says this, “They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.” Translation, you are not saved because you join the right denomination you are saved because you are united to Christ through salvation. It is interesting that the Articles do not explicitly define the Invisible Church as other confessions at that time did. It does define the Visible Church in article 19 as a gathering of believers where the pure Word of God is preached and the sacraments are administered but this article comes right after a lengthy exposition of salvation which means the logic of the Articles is that membership in the Invisible Church is just the same thing as getting saved (to use some Baptist language). So then, if we do not have a pope and we do not believe that you must be a confirmed Anglican to be saved…how do we fulfill Christ’s prayer that we all might be one?

            Christ gave us tools of unity along with his prayer for unity. Namely, the Word of God, Baptism, and Communion. I was recently interviewed by a Catholic Apologist who goes by the username Iron Inquisitor (his real name is Randall) and the subject of the Episcopal Church came up. The ACNA was formed as a place for faithful Anglicans who had left the Episcopal Church but Randall viewed this division as evidence that Sola Scriptura does not work because everyone has their own interpretation. But that’s missing the point of what happened. Those who went astray in the Episcopal Church had abandoned Scripture. They did not believe that Scripture is our only infallible rule of faith, it is fallible. So that’s where the disagreement started. What I find amazing is that when Christians plainly read the pure of Word together and do their best to interpret its grammatical-historical sense they come up with the same answers to questions. There might be disagreement on the finer points of doctrine but the path of salvation is very clear in Scripture and Christians across denominations study the same Bible and conclude the same things. When you believe the Bible is true and study it and try to conform your life to it then the Church will be one.

            Baptism and Communion are also tools of church unity. Ephesians 4:5 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Christians share in the one baptism of Christ. All orthodox Christians are baptized with water in the name of the Trinity. This is something we all share and in Romans the Apostle Paul says we are baptized into Christ. Thus, through baptism we all become members of his body. Then when we take Communion we are being reminded that we are living members of Christ’s body. It is THE tool of ongoing fellowship that Christ ordained. It is interesting that with all the claims of division amongst Protestants that with only a few exceptions all Protestants welcome other Protestants to receive Communion at their churches. Presbyterians and Anglicans can commune at each other’s churches. Meanwhile, Protestants of all stripes are forbidden to commune at Roman and Greek churches. You might also note that I frequently refer to Roman Catholics as just Roman and Eastern Orthodox as just Greek because I don’t accept that the Roman church is THE Catholic (which means entire) church or that the Eastern Orthodox Church is THE orthodox (which means correct) church.

            As far as how Anglicans find unity within our tradition specifically, we have not typically looked for a single unifying figure to bind us together. Instead, the Anglican formularies have been our tools of unity. The Anglican formularies are those documents which form us as Anglicans in particular. They are the Book of Common Prayer 1662, the 39 Articles of Religion in their plain sense, the Ordinal (the liturgy used to ordain people), and the Book of Homilies (a book of official sermons used to exposit Protestant doctrine during the English Reformation). In the canons of the ACNA it asserts that the 39 Articles are authoritative for Anglicans today. Despite some who wish to reformulate our doctrine to make us more Romish they must still submit to this formulary. For example, it is not correct for a confirmed Anglican to believe in Transubstantiation or to pray to saints. It is also not permitted to rewrite the Baptism liturgy or Eucharistic liturgy to reinterpret it into something else. When we use the same confessions and same liturgy that’s where we find a unified Anglican identity not dependent upon a single leader living in London.

            In conclusion, I am happy that my Roman friends have a new pope. He seems like a great guy and it was nice to see him vested in the traditional vestments. It is also pretty amazing to see the first American pope in my lifetime. I pray he does an awesome job. But it does not affect me directly in the slightest. My archbishop’s name is Steven Wood and we pray for him by name every Sunday. What Archbishop Wood does affect me and all Anglicans in the ACNA. True unity comes from the Word of God, the Sacraments, and for Anglicans it comes from adherence to our historic formularies. It is Archbishop Wood’s job to enforce that and protect our doctrine. May the Church be one!

]]>             Many of you have probably seen the Latin phrase Habemus Papam floating around social media right after the new bishop of Rome was selected in the Roman Catholic Conclave. This Latin phrase means, “We have a pope.” It’s sort of tradition to say this after the selection of a new pope. I am happy for my Roman brethren that they have a new leader and I pray that this pope will be a good one because he is a world leader and a representative of the Christian faith to the world. However, as an Anglican I cannot and will not say Habemus Papam…what I can say is Habent Papam which means, “They have a pope.” As Anglicans, we (like the majority of the world’s Christians) do not answer to or follow the bishop of Rome. Our unity is not found through the leader of a single earthly institution but through the Bible, the Sacraments, and our shared doctrine as laid out in the Anglican formularies.

            People usually get this wrong when they talk about the Anglican Communion. For example, I recently saw an article from conservative news pundit Matt Walsh, who is a Roman Catholic, reflecting on the new pope. By the way, Robert Prevost (who has taken the name Pope Leo XIV), is relatively unknown and until he has actually done anything significant no one knows what kind of leader he will be. It is also pretty impossible to use the metrics of American partisan politics to evaluate and judge a church leader. But in Walsh’s article titled “The Left Discovered The New Pope Is Actually Catholic And They’re Horrified” he begins not by talking about his church but about Anglicans. He writes,

There’s quite a mystery unfolding right now at the highest levels of one of the largest churches on the planet. And it’s a pretty confounding question: Where exactly is the archbishop of Canterbury, the senior bishop of the Church of England? No one has any idea. To be clear, this isn’t a missing persons case. The post has been vacant for more than four months. And yet, to this day, the position still hasn’t been filled. As of May 12th, 2025, there is still no archbishop of Canterbury. And at least on paper, this is something of a head-scratcher. Here you have a Protestant church with something like 26 million baptized members all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of active members, by some estimates. It’s known as the “mother church of the Anglican tradition.” And yet, as of right now, there’s no clarity whatsoever as to when they’ll pick a new archbishop to lead the church. There doesn’t seem to be any urgency, either. Lawyers are reportedly getting involved for one reason or another. The latest estimate is that it’ll be several more weeks, at a minimum, until the Church of England decides who’s in charge. And it’s not as if this vacancy was a surprise. The previous archbishop didn’t die suddenly or anything like that. Instead, it was announced months in advance that the archbishop would resign, before he finally stepped down in January. But here we are. It’s now May, and the church of England still has no archbishop. The contrast with the Catholic Church, especially after the election of Pope Leo the 14th, could not be any more clear. 

All of this displays a complete misunderstanding of Anglicanism and how the Anglican Communion works. I also take issue with the triumphalist tone that Walsh displays here as if the speed at which they selected the new pope is evidence of their correct theology. The longest conclave in Roman Catholic history took THREE YEARS (1268-1271) to elect Pope Gregory X. So, either you’ve correctly interpreted Scripture or you haven’t, speed and efficiency are not really markers of superiority. Nevertheless, the reason Walsh gets this wrong is because the Archbishop of Canterbury is the Archbishop of the Church of ENGLAD not the entire Anglican Communion. In fact, bishops from around the world met in Kigali in 2023 and made a statement saying, “We have no confidence that the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the other Instruments of Communion led by him (the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates’ Meetings) are able to provide a godly way forward that will be acceptable to those who are committed to the truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The Instruments of Communion have failed to maintain true communion based on the Word of God and shared faith in Christ… This renders his leadership role in the Anglican Communion entirely indefensible.” This document known as the Kigali Commitment also says, “Anglican identity is defined by [doctrine] and not by recognition from the See of Canterbury.”

            Since the Reformation, Anglicans have never had the same style of Church government as the Roman Catholic Church. The English Reformers were accused of “Greek and Bohemian Heresies”. What were these “Greek Heresies”? It was doing things like allowing clergy to marry, giving wine to communicants, and not recognizing the pope as the Vicar of Christ like the Greek Orthodox also practice and have practiced for over a thousand years. The way the Church around the world has traditionally been setup is you have the individual local parish/church led by a presbyter (also commonly called a priest), then you have a region of parishes led by a bishop called a diocese, and then you have a region of dioceses which is called a province. Examples of provinces would be the Anglican Church in North America, the Church of Nigeria, the Church of Rwanda, the Church of England, etc. One of the bishops in that province is elected to be the archbishop making him the first among equals. The bishops are held accountable by the synod which is made up of laity and clergy alike. In the ACNA our archbishop serves for a five-year term and may be elected to serve a second term and then after that he is done. Our bishops also meet in a conclave to elect the next AB. But the Archbishop of one province does not have authority to make decisions or influence another province. The Archbishop of the ACNA cannot make decisions for Rwanda or vice versa. And yet, people talk as if the Archbishop of Canterbury is essentially our pope. Where did this idea originate?

            As higher criticism infiltrated the Anglican Seminaries of the west it eroded faith in Scripture. As Protestants, we believe the Bible is our only infallible rule of faith, but slowly many of the clergy in the Episcopal Church, Church of England, Church of Canada, Church of Australia, and Church of New Zealand began to use German Higher Criticism to rethink the Bible and in many cases stopped believing that even it was infallible or that the miracles and historic events in the Bible were real. They looked at Christianity as a philosophy that teaches people how to be good but the truth value of the virgin birth and resurrection were not important. As stated above, Anglican unity comes from doctrine…so what happens when a bunch of provinces stop believing the doctrine? How can they be called Anglican? This is when they pivoted (and this was taking place during the last century not any time before it) to using ecclesial authority as the marker of church unity. So long as Canterbury gave you a thumbs up, you got to keep calling yourself an Anglican (even if you were essentially just a Unitarian Universalist). This is not how Anglicanism works…it’s also not how Eastern Orthodoxy works…nor Presbyterianism…nor Lutheranism.

            So, what I would say to Matt Walsh is, “I don’t care.” The selection of the new Archbishop of Canterbury does not affect me as a presbyter in the ACNA. It actually hasn’t mattered since the Revolutionary War when the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America was formed because American clergy could not swear fealty to the King of England. But then this leads many critics both in the Roman Catholic Church a well as in various Protestant groups to say that without a central figure Protestantism will just continue to fracture into smaller and smaller groups. If Christ’s prayer was for his church to be one then how can we do that without something like a pope?

            First, I do not accept the premise that Protestantism is as horribly divided as people claim. It’s also important to note that there is no such thing as the Protestant Church. There are churches that would call themselves Protestant but there is no single ecclesial body called the Protestant Church. It is also not true that there are 40,000 Protestant Denominations. The same encyclopedia that says there are 40,000 Protestant Denominations says there are over 300 Roman Catholic Denominations. So basically, any time someone starts a new 501c3 that counts as a new denomination. In reality, there are essentially 7 main Protestant groups: Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Charismatic/Pentecostal, and Anabaptist. Both Global Methodist and United Methodist are Methodist…they are just different institutions. Both Southern Baptist and Missionary Baptist are Baptist…They’re just different conventions. And yes, I am including non-denominational with Baptists because their theology lines up pretty much perfectly with Baptists. If not then they would be in the Charismatic group. I am comfortable with this diversity because as Rick Warren said, “It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.” And Article 18 in the 39 Articles of Religion says this, “They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.” Translation, you are not saved because you join the right denomination you are saved because you are united to Christ through salvation. It is interesting that the Articles do not explicitly define the Invisible Church as other confessions at that time did. It does define the Visible Church in article 19 as a gathering of believers where the pure Word of God is preached and the sacraments are administered but this article comes right after a lengthy exposition of salvation which means the logic of the Articles is that membership in the Invisible Church is just the same thing as getting saved (to use some Baptist language). So then, if we do not have a pope and we do not believe that you must be a confirmed Anglican to be saved…how do we fulfill Christ’s prayer that we all might be one?

            Christ gave us tools of unity along with his prayer for unity. Namely, the Word of God, Baptism, and Communion. I was recently interviewed by a Catholic Apologist who goes by the username Iron Inquisitor (his real name is Randall) and the subject of the Episcopal Church came up. The ACNA was formed as a place for faithful Anglicans who had left the Episcopal Church but Randall viewed this division as evidence that Sola Scriptura does not work because everyone has their own interpretation. But that’s missing the point of what happened. Those who went astray in the Episcopal Church had abandoned Scripture. They did not believe that Scripture is our only infallible rule of faith, it is fallible. So that’s where the disagreement started. What I find amazing is that when Christians plainly read the pure of Word together and do their best to interpret its grammatical-historical sense they come up with the same answers to questions. There might be disagreement on the finer points of doctrine but the path of salvation is very clear in Scripture and Christians across denominations study the same Bible and conclude the same things. When you believe the Bible is true and study it and try to conform your life to it then the Church will be one.

            Baptism and Communion are also tools of church unity. Ephesians 4:5 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Christians share in the one baptism of Christ. All orthodox Christians are baptized with water in the name of the Trinity. This is something we all share and in Romans the Apostle Paul says we are baptized into Christ. Thus, through baptism we all become members of his body. Then when we take Communion we are being reminded that we are living members of Christ’s body. It is THE tool of ongoing fellowship that Christ ordained. It is interesting that with all the claims of division amongst Protestants that with only a few exceptions all Protestants welcome other Protestants to receive Communion at their churches. Presbyterians and Anglicans can commune at each other’s churches. Meanwhile, Protestants of all stripes are forbidden to commune at Roman and Greek churches. You might also note that I frequently refer to Roman Catholics as just Roman and Eastern Orthodox as just Greek because I don’t accept that the Roman church is THE Catholic (which means entire) church or that the Eastern Orthodox Church is THE orthodox (which means correct) church.

            As far as how Anglicans find unity within our tradition specifically, we have not typically looked for a single unifying figure to bind us together. Instead, the Anglican formularies have been our tools of unity. The Anglican formularies are those documents which form us as Anglicans in particular. They are the Book of Common Prayer 1662, the 39 Articles of Religion in their plain sense, the Ordinal (the liturgy used to ordain people), and the Book of Homilies (a book of official sermons used to exposit Protestant doctrine during the English Reformation). In the canons of the ACNA it asserts that the 39 Articles are authoritative for Anglicans today. Despite some who wish to reformulate our doctrine to make us more Romish they must still submit to this formulary. For example, it is not correct for a confirmed Anglican to believe in Transubstantiation or to pray to saints. It is also not permitted to rewrite the Baptism liturgy or Eucharistic liturgy to reinterpret it into something else. When we use the same confessions and same liturgy that’s where we find a unified Anglican identity not dependent upon a single leader living in London.

            In conclusion, I am happy that my Roman friends have a new pope. He seems like a great guy and it was nice to see him vested in the traditional vestments. It is also pretty amazing to see the first American pope in my lifetime. I pray he does an awesome job. But it does not affect me directly in the slightest. My archbishop’s name is Steven Wood and we pray for him by name every Sunday. What Archbishop Wood does affect me and all Anglicans in the ACNA. True unity comes from the Word of God, the Sacraments, and for Anglicans it comes from adherence to our historic formularies. It is Archbishop Wood’s job to enforce that and protect our doctrine. May the Church be one!

]]> What You Miss Out on By Not Being Part of a Church Start Up https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/what-you-miss-out-on-by-not-being-part-of-a-church-start-up https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/what-you-miss-out-on-by-not-being-part-of-a-church-start-up#comments Thu, 02 May 2024 11:45:02 -0500 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/what-you-miss-out-on-by-not-being-part-of-a-church-start-up               When people are looking for a new church, they rarely ever consider a church plant as an option and that really is sad. Established churches have a lot going for them. They have full ministries and programs along with regular worship services. Church plants on the other hand are works in progress. They usually don’t have regular worship services at the outset and they don’t have the wide array of programs that established churches have. Yet, every church plant eventually turns into an established church (Lord willing) and so the start up phase is only temporary. I believe that every Christian should consider being part of the start up phase of a new church.

                Every church you’ve ever attended began as a church plant. And while the story of every church is unique what they have in common is a group of people who boldly say, “We believe in the Great Commission, we believe in Jesus and his Church, and we want to get our hands dirty for his Kingdom!” You might take a church like Christ Church Plano for example. Today Christ Church Plano is one of the largest Anglican churches in America. But when it was planted in 1985 Plano was not the bustling suburban city it is today. In those days Plano was still mostly farmland with few housing developments and many people thought it was crazy to start anything out there. But vision led the way empowered by the Holy Spirit to start something new. Christ Church, which now has a massive sanctuary that seats hundreds of people, started in a garage in a home. Few of us would pick a garage as our first choice for our church home but that’s where it began. There was no other way to do it, in order for Christ Church to be what it is today it had to start in a home and then move to a school and then move to its current location which was built in phases over many years.

                There will always be many reasons why someone would not choose a church plant but I wanted to highlight what you would miss out on by waiting until a church plant becomes a big established church. There are three reasons I want to highlight.

#1- You miss out on deep friendships.

                People might choose a church because of the preaching or music but they ultimately stay for the relationships. Regardless of the quality of the worship service, most people won’t stick around unless they make some connections with the other people in the pews. Established churches do this through small groups and volunteer teams but a church plant has a greater advantage for relationship over established churches. Naturally, church plants are small and so you get to know all the other people on the team. Not just that, you become friends with the other people on the team. And you don’t just become friends but you go through some pretty incredible experiences together which bolsters that friendship even more. Even as the church grows you share memories and experiences with those people that never fade. And as new people join the fellowship you become an ambassador for the culture of your new church. You get to turn around and tell the stories of the early days and welcome others the same way you were welcomed to the church. In fact, church plants are engineered to reach new people so they are more thoughtful about how to reach out to new people and integrate them into the life of the church. Those folks who boldly say they want to be part of the start gain new friends that enrich their everyday lives.

#2- You miss out on drawing closer to God.

                James 1:22 says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” Programs, retreats, Bible studies, conferences, and sermon series are all fantastic tools for discipleship. But if we think that it stops with us hearing the Word then we are mistaken. When you feel yourself slowing down in your faith or losing the spark of your relationship with God you might be inclined to seek out a spiritual retreat or buy a ticket to a conference. You might even be tempted to blame your pastor for not “bringing the heat” on Sunday morning from the pulpit. But until the words you hear are put into practice you won’t feel a deepening relationship with God. In order to walk with Jesus, you must go to where he is and Jesus is out in the fields. When I was a kid, my father was always asking me to help with projects around the farm and, as a teen, I was naturally resistant to manual labor. But one day my mother informed me that my dad wants to do these projects with me to get closer to me and bond. I realized that if I wanted a closer walk with my dad, I needed to join him in his work. And while this is possible at an established church it is far too easy to become a spectator and not do the work. At a church plant that’s pretty much impossible. Church plants are all-hands-on-deck and so everyone shares in the labor.

#3- You miss out on seeing lives changed.

                Growing up I would hear testimonies of people who met Jesus in their darkest hour. Maybe they were involved in crime or their marriage was sinking or they were racked with depression. They were at the end of their rope and then in walks Jesus to save the day! Those stories captivated me and I longed to experience it for myself. Until you see someone come to know Jesus for the first time for yourself you don’t truly appreciate the power of the Gospel to change lives. Established churches are able to make one new convert a year for every 89 members they have but church plants that are less than 10 years old are able to make one new convert a year for every 3 members they have. And on average 42% of church plants are made up of people who were not churched less than a year ago. Church plants are powerhouses for life change and the great part is that this work is spread out through the entire church. Instead of your pastor doing all the heavy lifting of changing lives you get trained to do it for yourself and so you are intimately involved in discipleship and life change by being part of a church plant.

                So yes, church plants are not glamourous. You might be meeting on a weird night of the week. You might hold services in a garage or a living room or a bar. You put in more hours and you rarely get the recognition you feel like you deserve. But church plants don’t happen as often as they should. Each year 8000 churches close down in the U.S. and not enough are being started to take their place. Anyone can join an established church but only a few can say they helped start one. It’s the difference between watching the moon landing on TV and actually being on the shuttle. If you happen upon a church plant in your community and you discern that they are healthy and wise then you should strongly consider joining their work. They will greatly appreciate you for your service and you will get to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity to make new friends, draw closer to God, and see lives get changed. This not meant to disparage established churches, they are awesome too! But you should weigh what you might miss out on by not taking the chance while you have it.

If you're ready to learn what it takes to be part of the work of Ascension McKinney just click this link and fill out the form.

]]>               When people are looking for a new church, they rarely ever consider a church plant as an option and that really is sad. Established churches have a lot going for them. They have full ministries and programs along with regular worship services. Church plants on the other hand are works in progress. They usually don’t have regular worship services at the outset and they don’t have the wide array of programs that established churches have. Yet, every church plant eventually turns into an established church (Lord willing) and so the start up phase is only temporary. I believe that every Christian should consider being part of the start up phase of a new church.

                Every church you’ve ever attended began as a church plant. And while the story of every church is unique what they have in common is a group of people who boldly say, “We believe in the Great Commission, we believe in Jesus and his Church, and we want to get our hands dirty for his Kingdom!” You might take a church like Christ Church Plano for example. Today Christ Church Plano is one of the largest Anglican churches in America. But when it was planted in 1985 Plano was not the bustling suburban city it is today. In those days Plano was still mostly farmland with few housing developments and many people thought it was crazy to start anything out there. But vision led the way empowered by the Holy Spirit to start something new. Christ Church, which now has a massive sanctuary that seats hundreds of people, started in a garage in a home. Few of us would pick a garage as our first choice for our church home but that’s where it began. There was no other way to do it, in order for Christ Church to be what it is today it had to start in a home and then move to a school and then move to its current location which was built in phases over many years.

                There will always be many reasons why someone would not choose a church plant but I wanted to highlight what you would miss out on by waiting until a church plant becomes a big established church. There are three reasons I want to highlight.

#1- You miss out on deep friendships.

                People might choose a church because of the preaching or music but they ultimately stay for the relationships. Regardless of the quality of the worship service, most people won’t stick around unless they make some connections with the other people in the pews. Established churches do this through small groups and volunteer teams but a church plant has a greater advantage for relationship over established churches. Naturally, church plants are small and so you get to know all the other people on the team. Not just that, you become friends with the other people on the team. And you don’t just become friends but you go through some pretty incredible experiences together which bolsters that friendship even more. Even as the church grows you share memories and experiences with those people that never fade. And as new people join the fellowship you become an ambassador for the culture of your new church. You get to turn around and tell the stories of the early days and welcome others the same way you were welcomed to the church. In fact, church plants are engineered to reach new people so they are more thoughtful about how to reach out to new people and integrate them into the life of the church. Those folks who boldly say they want to be part of the start gain new friends that enrich their everyday lives.

#2- You miss out on drawing closer to God.

                James 1:22 says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” Programs, retreats, Bible studies, conferences, and sermon series are all fantastic tools for discipleship. But if we think that it stops with us hearing the Word then we are mistaken. When you feel yourself slowing down in your faith or losing the spark of your relationship with God you might be inclined to seek out a spiritual retreat or buy a ticket to a conference. You might even be tempted to blame your pastor for not “bringing the heat” on Sunday morning from the pulpit. But until the words you hear are put into practice you won’t feel a deepening relationship with God. In order to walk with Jesus, you must go to where he is and Jesus is out in the fields. When I was a kid, my father was always asking me to help with projects around the farm and, as a teen, I was naturally resistant to manual labor. But one day my mother informed me that my dad wants to do these projects with me to get closer to me and bond. I realized that if I wanted a closer walk with my dad, I needed to join him in his work. And while this is possible at an established church it is far too easy to become a spectator and not do the work. At a church plant that’s pretty much impossible. Church plants are all-hands-on-deck and so everyone shares in the labor.

#3- You miss out on seeing lives changed.

                Growing up I would hear testimonies of people who met Jesus in their darkest hour. Maybe they were involved in crime or their marriage was sinking or they were racked with depression. They were at the end of their rope and then in walks Jesus to save the day! Those stories captivated me and I longed to experience it for myself. Until you see someone come to know Jesus for the first time for yourself you don’t truly appreciate the power of the Gospel to change lives. Established churches are able to make one new convert a year for every 89 members they have but church plants that are less than 10 years old are able to make one new convert a year for every 3 members they have. And on average 42% of church plants are made up of people who were not churched less than a year ago. Church plants are powerhouses for life change and the great part is that this work is spread out through the entire church. Instead of your pastor doing all the heavy lifting of changing lives you get trained to do it for yourself and so you are intimately involved in discipleship and life change by being part of a church plant.

                So yes, church plants are not glamourous. You might be meeting on a weird night of the week. You might hold services in a garage or a living room or a bar. You put in more hours and you rarely get the recognition you feel like you deserve. But church plants don’t happen as often as they should. Each year 8000 churches close down in the U.S. and not enough are being started to take their place. Anyone can join an established church but only a few can say they helped start one. It’s the difference between watching the moon landing on TV and actually being on the shuttle. If you happen upon a church plant in your community and you discern that they are healthy and wise then you should strongly consider joining their work. They will greatly appreciate you for your service and you will get to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity to make new friends, draw closer to God, and see lives get changed. This not meant to disparage established churches, they are awesome too! But you should weigh what you might miss out on by not taking the chance while you have it.

If you're ready to learn what it takes to be part of the work of Ascension McKinney just click this link and fill out the form.

]]> What Does it Mean to be a Global Anglican Today? https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-global-anglican-today https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-global-anglican-today#comments Sun, 19 Nov 2023 17:11:42 -0600 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-global-anglican-today I'm very excited to announce that I won second place in the Archbishop's essay contest this year. The prompt for this year's contest was to write a sermon on the topic: What does it mean to be a global Anglican today? You can read what I wrote below.
*********
"Great Commission Anglicans"
I am an Anglican priest living in Texas trying to plant a new church and one of my favorite pass times is to show people Bishop Miguel’s church in Brazil on Instagram. Allow me to explain. We are committed to the Prayer Book and the other Anglican formularies. We desire to honor our bishops and walk in the Old Paths of our tradition. However, we minister in a land filled with non-denominational churches. The folks who attend these churches are in the lineage of people who have made conscious decisions to not have bishops, not have a written liturgy, and to be as casual as possible to attract new guests. I have no animosity in my heart for these brothers and sisters but when they meet me their antenna goes up and they are on the defensive. I wear a collar, I have vowed obedience to a bishop, and pray words written by someone else.
Whenever people hear the word “Anglican” what do they imagine? If they even know who we are they usually imagine big cathedrals with stained glass and golden pipe organs. They imagine complex rituals and British accents. They imagine progressives who have more degrees than they have sense. So, when they meet me, a former Baptist turned Anglican church planter, they are usually confused. And to add to this confusion I like to show them Bishop Miguel’s church on Instagram. If you have never seen his church let me describe it to you. It’s a warehouse type building with seats instead of pews. They have a big LED screen in the background, they wave flags and dance during their worship, they sing the latest releases from CCM artists, and the right reverend Miguel usually preaches in skinny jeans and an untucked clergy shirt. My Texas compadres look at this and scratch their heads, “This is an Anglican church?” And I just smile. It is certainly something they are not expecting. It breaks the mold of what they have come to predict. And yet, this church in Brazil is indeed a faithful, Prayer Book, Anglican church.
As Global Anglicans today we too live in a state of confusion. We are confused about the identity of Global Anglicanism. Canterbury has betrayed us, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America has left the straight and narrow, and now we have this new kid on the block known as the Anglican Church in North America made up of a bunch of former Episcopalians as well as cradle Presbyterians, Baptists, and Charismatics. For centuries it seemed easy enough to know who an Anglican was. Their clergy wore surplices, they answered to Canterbury, and their churches smelled like incense. But now all that is in question, and we all want to know, “Who are we?” So that is what I aim to do today. I aim to help you with this confusion and tell you what it means to be a Global Anglican today. And in order to do that I would like you turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 28:16-20…Matthew 28:16-20.
In this passage Jesus has just risen from the dead. His disciples, who had previously run for their lives, were now gathered together once again. After 27 chapters of Matthew discussing the nature of the Kingdom of God the Apostle is ready to close his writings with this final story. The story that proceeds the Church coming on to the scene. As we go through this passage today it is important to remember that above all else, Anglicans are just Christians. And so, we are going to look at the text, then discuss its theology, and then apply it to our lives. Hopefully, this will clear up any confusion.
So first, what did Matthew write to his contemporaries? The Risen Jesus commissioned his faithful followers to make new disciples…The Risen Jesus commissioned his faithful followers to make new disciples. Let’s look at verses 16-17, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.” So Matthew is giving us some important details about the state of the disciples at this point in time. First, he reminds us that only 11 disciples remain after his Gospel has unfolded. Judas betrayed Jesus. Instead of living for the Kingdom of Heaven he chose money and worldly political power. Judas had been baptized, he had spent three years under the tutelage of Jesus, and even after all that he chose 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave, over the eternal Kingdom of God. Not everyone made it to this mountain. And even now some were still doubting. Matthew is honest about how hard it is to follow the risen Jesus. Even after seeing him rise there were still some who were skeptical. So essentially Matthew is telling us there are two groups in the Church: those who believe and thus obey and those who doubt and thus betray.
Now that Jesus has them all gathered together, he says this in verses 18-20, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” In the previous passages we see Jesus resurrected from the dead. He has taken the penalty for the sins of all mankind, he drank fully of death, but now he is back. He bears fatal wounds and yet will never die again. And because of what he has done the Father has bestowed upon him all authority. There is no greater authority in heaven or on earth higher than Jesus. Not the pope, not science, not psychology, not your buddy, not your daddy, not some bishop, not your own opinions. Jesus is the final say for the entire cosmos. He is it. So, all of Creation should now give their full attention to what he is about to say next. What does he say? Does he tell us to go and become political activists? Does he tell us to write a bunch of books? Does he tell us to mind our own business? No, he tells us to go and make more disciples. And the means by which we do that is by the Word of God and Holy Baptism. From this point forward these 11 disciples would go out and make so many disciples that they would outnumber the stars in the sky and the sand on the beach. They would do that by baptizing them in water in the name of the Triune God and then teaching them everything Jesus taught them which the Apostles summed up in the writings of the New Testament. Is it really that simple? Yes, it really is that simple.
And it might be simple, but it certainly is not easy. Judas didn’t make it and many others didn’t either. When we look across the Global Communion of Anglicans, we see many have decided to accept a slave’s wage instead of inheriting the Kingdom of God. They have chosen political expediency, new philosophies, and comfortable lives over the way of the Cross. When Anglicans choose to teach that marriage can be anything they have left the teachings of Jesus. When Anglicans choose to criticize and doubt the Scriptures they criticize and doubt the Word made Flesh. When they choose to let people follow false gods in the name of tolerance, they have cast off baptism. They have chosen lesser authorities…but to be a Global Anglican today means to submit to the authority of the risen Son of God.
And that’s the theological meaning of this passage: Faithful disciples make new disciples. Faithful disciples make new disciples. When we unpack what Matthew wrote we see that there really is no other way to be a faithful follower of Jesus. Faithful followers tell others what Jesus did. Jesus did not come simply as a moral teacher. He cast out demons and healed the sick. He did not come as a political revolutionary. He resisted his disciples when they tried to place Herod’s crown upon his head. Jesus came to live the life we could not live and die the death we should have died. He came to fulfill the law and set captives free. He came to usher in a new way of life that would fulfill the longings of every human heart. And as faithful followers of Jesus we must be convinced that every word Jesus spoke was good news. When Jesus told us that marriage is between one man and one woman until death, we must view this as good news. When Jesus told us that a good neighbor gives aid to his enemy, we must view this as good news. When Jesus told us that we should store up treasure in heaven, we must view this as good news. When Jesus told us to take up our crosses, leave our farms, leave our families, and follow him we must view this as good news. Why? Because a new Kingdom is coming, and he is the new King. We have the very words of life. The 66 books of the Old and New Testament are the greatest treasure to ever grace the face of this planet and because Protestants translated and mass-produced Bibles, we have shed salt and light unto the nations of this planet. No other philosophy or political revolution can claim that. Faithful followers tell others what Jesus did.
Faithful followers also baptize people in the name of the Triune God. Baptism is many things. It is first and foremost a promise from God to a sinner of a new birth. A birth made possible only by the power of the Spirit not the flesh. A new birth empowered by the resurrection of Jesus. It is also a renouncing of the flesh, the devil, and the world. It is turning your back on loyalty to any other name but the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those who accept the promises of God, signified in baptism, by faith are made new. They die with Jesus and now live a new life like his. It is the most radical act a person can undertake in their entire lives. In India it is fine if you believe in Jesus as a God amongst gods but once you get baptized then your house will be burned down, and you are an untouchable. Baptism means something, it means you are done with this world and now are part of a new regime. We are not looking for tepid commitment to some abstract notion of love and kindness but an abandonment of the ways of this world and an adoption of a new identity in Jesus Christ. Faithful disciples baptize.
Faithful disciples also teach others to obey Jesus. It is not enough to know what Jesus did or who he was you must also obey him. Jesus came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. On the night he was betrayed Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, “Love others the way I have loved you.” On its face this command does not sound new but when you look at how he qualified it you realize that Jesus has deepened the meaning and implications of the Law in a profound and radical way. Disciples are not just to “love”. They are not just to be nice, stay out of the way, and cheer you on. No, that is not the love of Jesus. Jesus sought the wellbeing of his neighbor. He followed the will of the Father all the way to the cross where he laid his life down for the salvation of his enemies. Obeying Jesus is to love others with this same kind of love. It is a call to come and die. A radical love that shines brighter than any other love in the universe. Disciples do not just learn a list of rules, they learn about the love of Jesus and obey him. That is what it means to obey Jesus, even to the point of death.
At this point you might be a tad bit frustrated with me. I have not tried to settle the debate between wearing an alb, a cassock, or jeans during the Eucharist. I have not praised pipe organs or decried guitars. I have not said whether a priest should be called Father, Pastor, Parson, or Reverend. I have not taken a position on which Prayer Book is best. The reason is because at this point in history these issues are not as important to the question of our identity as we would like to make them out to be. The Book of Common Prayer, our greatest contribution to the world as a movement, was written so that ordinary men and women could encounter the living Christ. It was written so that people might place their faith in Jesus and not in their own works of righteousness. The Articles of Religion allow room for local adaptation to the practices of our Church. Here’s the point: You might have all the outer trappings of an Anglican Church with all its glory, beauty, and influence…but if you do not have Jesus you amount to nothing at all. What is Global Anglicanism today? Global Anglicanism today is Great Commission Anglicanism.
So go make disciples around the globe. Make disciples around the globe. Great Commission Anglicans should be making converts all around the globe. We should be calling individuals to repent of their sins and believe the Gospel. Baptizing them and teaching them to obey Jesus. Great Commission Anglicans should be planting churches all around the globe. Building up new outposts of God’s Kingdom where the Word is preached and the Sacraments are administered. Great Commission Anglicans should be establishing new dioceses all around the globe. We should have so many converts and so many churches that our bishops are so overwhelmed that they make more bishops who have new dioceses that can provide pastoral care to God’s children all around the globe.
Disciples who are all in for Jesus will reproduce themselves through Gospel ministry; baptizing new converts and teaching them to obey Jesus. Global Anglicans are Great Commission Anglicans. Imagine a world where Anglicans are known not for their cathedrals but for their commitment to Jesus and his teachings. Where the stories told about us are not about our choirs but about the ordinary men and women who have touched lives with the Gospel and the love of Jesus. What a world that would be. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
]]> I'm very excited to announce that I won second place in the Archbishop's essay contest this year. The prompt for this year's contest was to write a sermon on the topic: What does it mean to be a global Anglican today? You can read what I wrote below.
*********
"Great Commission Anglicans"
I am an Anglican priest living in Texas trying to plant a new church and one of my favorite pass times is to show people Bishop Miguel’s church in Brazil on Instagram. Allow me to explain. We are committed to the Prayer Book and the other Anglican formularies. We desire to honor our bishops and walk in the Old Paths of our tradition. However, we minister in a land filled with non-denominational churches. The folks who attend these churches are in the lineage of people who have made conscious decisions to not have bishops, not have a written liturgy, and to be as casual as possible to attract new guests. I have no animosity in my heart for these brothers and sisters but when they meet me their antenna goes up and they are on the defensive. I wear a collar, I have vowed obedience to a bishop, and pray words written by someone else.
Whenever people hear the word “Anglican” what do they imagine? If they even know who we are they usually imagine big cathedrals with stained glass and golden pipe organs. They imagine complex rituals and British accents. They imagine progressives who have more degrees than they have sense. So, when they meet me, a former Baptist turned Anglican church planter, they are usually confused. And to add to this confusion I like to show them Bishop Miguel’s church on Instagram. If you have never seen his church let me describe it to you. It’s a warehouse type building with seats instead of pews. They have a big LED screen in the background, they wave flags and dance during their worship, they sing the latest releases from CCM artists, and the right reverend Miguel usually preaches in skinny jeans and an untucked clergy shirt. My Texas compadres look at this and scratch their heads, “This is an Anglican church?” And I just smile. It is certainly something they are not expecting. It breaks the mold of what they have come to predict. And yet, this church in Brazil is indeed a faithful, Prayer Book, Anglican church.
As Global Anglicans today we too live in a state of confusion. We are confused about the identity of Global Anglicanism. Canterbury has betrayed us, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America has left the straight and narrow, and now we have this new kid on the block known as the Anglican Church in North America made up of a bunch of former Episcopalians as well as cradle Presbyterians, Baptists, and Charismatics. For centuries it seemed easy enough to know who an Anglican was. Their clergy wore surplices, they answered to Canterbury, and their churches smelled like incense. But now all that is in question, and we all want to know, “Who are we?” So that is what I aim to do today. I aim to help you with this confusion and tell you what it means to be a Global Anglican today. And in order to do that I would like you turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 28:16-20…Matthew 28:16-20.
In this passage Jesus has just risen from the dead. His disciples, who had previously run for their lives, were now gathered together once again. After 27 chapters of Matthew discussing the nature of the Kingdom of God the Apostle is ready to close his writings with this final story. The story that proceeds the Church coming on to the scene. As we go through this passage today it is important to remember that above all else, Anglicans are just Christians. And so, we are going to look at the text, then discuss its theology, and then apply it to our lives. Hopefully, this will clear up any confusion.
So first, what did Matthew write to his contemporaries? The Risen Jesus commissioned his faithful followers to make new disciples…The Risen Jesus commissioned his faithful followers to make new disciples. Let’s look at verses 16-17, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.” So Matthew is giving us some important details about the state of the disciples at this point in time. First, he reminds us that only 11 disciples remain after his Gospel has unfolded. Judas betrayed Jesus. Instead of living for the Kingdom of Heaven he chose money and worldly political power. Judas had been baptized, he had spent three years under the tutelage of Jesus, and even after all that he chose 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave, over the eternal Kingdom of God. Not everyone made it to this mountain. And even now some were still doubting. Matthew is honest about how hard it is to follow the risen Jesus. Even after seeing him rise there were still some who were skeptical. So essentially Matthew is telling us there are two groups in the Church: those who believe and thus obey and those who doubt and thus betray.
Now that Jesus has them all gathered together, he says this in verses 18-20, “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” In the previous passages we see Jesus resurrected from the dead. He has taken the penalty for the sins of all mankind, he drank fully of death, but now he is back. He bears fatal wounds and yet will never die again. And because of what he has done the Father has bestowed upon him all authority. There is no greater authority in heaven or on earth higher than Jesus. Not the pope, not science, not psychology, not your buddy, not your daddy, not some bishop, not your own opinions. Jesus is the final say for the entire cosmos. He is it. So, all of Creation should now give their full attention to what he is about to say next. What does he say? Does he tell us to go and become political activists? Does he tell us to write a bunch of books? Does he tell us to mind our own business? No, he tells us to go and make more disciples. And the means by which we do that is by the Word of God and Holy Baptism. From this point forward these 11 disciples would go out and make so many disciples that they would outnumber the stars in the sky and the sand on the beach. They would do that by baptizing them in water in the name of the Triune God and then teaching them everything Jesus taught them which the Apostles summed up in the writings of the New Testament. Is it really that simple? Yes, it really is that simple.
And it might be simple, but it certainly is not easy. Judas didn’t make it and many others didn’t either. When we look across the Global Communion of Anglicans, we see many have decided to accept a slave’s wage instead of inheriting the Kingdom of God. They have chosen political expediency, new philosophies, and comfortable lives over the way of the Cross. When Anglicans choose to teach that marriage can be anything they have left the teachings of Jesus. When Anglicans choose to criticize and doubt the Scriptures they criticize and doubt the Word made Flesh. When they choose to let people follow false gods in the name of tolerance, they have cast off baptism. They have chosen lesser authorities…but to be a Global Anglican today means to submit to the authority of the risen Son of God.
And that’s the theological meaning of this passage: Faithful disciples make new disciples. Faithful disciples make new disciples. When we unpack what Matthew wrote we see that there really is no other way to be a faithful follower of Jesus. Faithful followers tell others what Jesus did. Jesus did not come simply as a moral teacher. He cast out demons and healed the sick. He did not come as a political revolutionary. He resisted his disciples when they tried to place Herod’s crown upon his head. Jesus came to live the life we could not live and die the death we should have died. He came to fulfill the law and set captives free. He came to usher in a new way of life that would fulfill the longings of every human heart. And as faithful followers of Jesus we must be convinced that every word Jesus spoke was good news. When Jesus told us that marriage is between one man and one woman until death, we must view this as good news. When Jesus told us that a good neighbor gives aid to his enemy, we must view this as good news. When Jesus told us that we should store up treasure in heaven, we must view this as good news. When Jesus told us to take up our crosses, leave our farms, leave our families, and follow him we must view this as good news. Why? Because a new Kingdom is coming, and he is the new King. We have the very words of life. The 66 books of the Old and New Testament are the greatest treasure to ever grace the face of this planet and because Protestants translated and mass-produced Bibles, we have shed salt and light unto the nations of this planet. No other philosophy or political revolution can claim that. Faithful followers tell others what Jesus did.
Faithful followers also baptize people in the name of the Triune God. Baptism is many things. It is first and foremost a promise from God to a sinner of a new birth. A birth made possible only by the power of the Spirit not the flesh. A new birth empowered by the resurrection of Jesus. It is also a renouncing of the flesh, the devil, and the world. It is turning your back on loyalty to any other name but the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Those who accept the promises of God, signified in baptism, by faith are made new. They die with Jesus and now live a new life like his. It is the most radical act a person can undertake in their entire lives. In India it is fine if you believe in Jesus as a God amongst gods but once you get baptized then your house will be burned down, and you are an untouchable. Baptism means something, it means you are done with this world and now are part of a new regime. We are not looking for tepid commitment to some abstract notion of love and kindness but an abandonment of the ways of this world and an adoption of a new identity in Jesus Christ. Faithful disciples baptize.
Faithful disciples also teach others to obey Jesus. It is not enough to know what Jesus did or who he was you must also obey him. Jesus came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. On the night he was betrayed Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, “Love others the way I have loved you.” On its face this command does not sound new but when you look at how he qualified it you realize that Jesus has deepened the meaning and implications of the Law in a profound and radical way. Disciples are not just to “love”. They are not just to be nice, stay out of the way, and cheer you on. No, that is not the love of Jesus. Jesus sought the wellbeing of his neighbor. He followed the will of the Father all the way to the cross where he laid his life down for the salvation of his enemies. Obeying Jesus is to love others with this same kind of love. It is a call to come and die. A radical love that shines brighter than any other love in the universe. Disciples do not just learn a list of rules, they learn about the love of Jesus and obey him. That is what it means to obey Jesus, even to the point of death.
At this point you might be a tad bit frustrated with me. I have not tried to settle the debate between wearing an alb, a cassock, or jeans during the Eucharist. I have not praised pipe organs or decried guitars. I have not said whether a priest should be called Father, Pastor, Parson, or Reverend. I have not taken a position on which Prayer Book is best. The reason is because at this point in history these issues are not as important to the question of our identity as we would like to make them out to be. The Book of Common Prayer, our greatest contribution to the world as a movement, was written so that ordinary men and women could encounter the living Christ. It was written so that people might place their faith in Jesus and not in their own works of righteousness. The Articles of Religion allow room for local adaptation to the practices of our Church. Here’s the point: You might have all the outer trappings of an Anglican Church with all its glory, beauty, and influence…but if you do not have Jesus you amount to nothing at all. What is Global Anglicanism today? Global Anglicanism today is Great Commission Anglicanism.
So go make disciples around the globe. Make disciples around the globe. Great Commission Anglicans should be making converts all around the globe. We should be calling individuals to repent of their sins and believe the Gospel. Baptizing them and teaching them to obey Jesus. Great Commission Anglicans should be planting churches all around the globe. Building up new outposts of God’s Kingdom where the Word is preached and the Sacraments are administered. Great Commission Anglicans should be establishing new dioceses all around the globe. We should have so many converts and so many churches that our bishops are so overwhelmed that they make more bishops who have new dioceses that can provide pastoral care to God’s children all around the globe.
Disciples who are all in for Jesus will reproduce themselves through Gospel ministry; baptizing new converts and teaching them to obey Jesus. Global Anglicans are Great Commission Anglicans. Imagine a world where Anglicans are known not for their cathedrals but for their commitment to Jesus and his teachings. Where the stories told about us are not about our choirs but about the ordinary men and women who have touched lives with the Gospel and the love of Jesus. What a world that would be. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
]]> The Religion Boogeyman https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/the-religion-boogeyman https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/the-religion-boogeyman#comments Thu, 10 Aug 2023 12:40:27 -0500 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/the-religion-boogeyman                 When people look at our tradition the number one thing they say about it is that we are engaged in “dead religion”. They assume that anyone who willingly prays prayers written by someone else, recites something in unison, or uses their body in worship to kneel or make the sign of the cross cannot possibly have the Holy Spirit. To many in the non-denominational world the Holy Spirit is random and deeply personal. There is no way to know where he is going to turn up. And the only way to know you are really saved is if everything you say comes straight from the heart. It has be to individualized, personalized, and not part of a larger whole. However, there are a number of flaws in this logic.

                First, every denomination (with the exception of the Quakers) engages in some form of the above. Baptists do pray in unison; they just do it through song. Non-denominational folks do pray prayers written by someone else such as the Lord’s Prayer or the Sinner’s Prayer. They use devotional books that tell them what passages of Scripture to read and what to pray that day. The fact of the matter is that trying to reinvent the whole of Christianity every time someone gets saved is exhausting and foolish. And the Holy Spirit is not random and he certainly is not just indwelling in you personally. He fills the whole Church with the SAME Spirit. I Corinthians 14:33 says, “For God is not characterized by disorder but by peace. As in all the churches of the saints…” This verse teaches us two things. First, God is not disordered. So, for a church to have a structure for church leadership like deacons, priests, and bishops is pleasing to God. It is a sign of God’s presence not his absence. Having your worship services written in a book is pleasing to God. It is a sign of God’s presence not his absence. Second, this happens in “all the churches of the saints” so this means each church’s goal is not to reinvent the wheel but to be faithful to church tradition.

                For decades religion has been pitted against having a relationship with God. As if having religious practices is a sign that you do not love God. However, everyone has some form of religion in their life. They have a workout routine they do not miss. They have a favorite show they watch with devotion (over and over again). They make time to go on dates with their spouse and throw a ball with their kid. If a husband told his wife, “I know we never hang out except for random times when the mood strikes me and I pretty much do my own thing and never take your wishes into account when planning my day but you have to understand this is actually a sign that I love you more than husbands who religiously spend time with their wives” he would be considered a bad husband not a pure and loving husband.

                The reason American Christians hate the word religion is twofold. First, the Puritans were the first Europeans to call America home. They left England not to spread religious freedom but to enforce their strict set of doctrines in their own Christian society. They considered things like Christmas, wedding rings, and the colorful sanctuaries of the Church of England to be evil. That sort of thing was dead religion and popism. So, there is a Puritan reflex in American Christianity that rejects anything that smells like a set religious form and not the pure faith of the Puritans. Second, Americans are libertine and rebellious and do not want to submit to any authority no matter how good it is for them. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Why do Christians submit to their priests and bishops? Because it is our job to take care of you as spiritual fathers. It is to your advantage to obey spiritual leaders. The other good thing is that we have a rigorous process to become a spiritual leader with canon law and lots of accountability. In the anti-religious form of Christianity anyone can claim that God spoke to them and now they get to tell everyone else what to do. I think we can all see the danger in that.

                So, there is no conflict between religion and relationship. Your religion is an outworking of your relationship with God not an absence of it. Many of us do not know how to pray as we should. Some people have a talent for spontaneously coming up with right words to say to God in way that is beautiful and correct. Most people do not have that gift so having pre-written prayers is a mercy not a burden. The liturgy, vestments, church calendar, and lectionary are not a burden but a tool for unity. It unites Christians around the Bible and the person of Jesus in order to keep us on the same page. The worst thing a Christian can do is go off by himself and try to do it all alone. This is not good and sets him up to be tempted by the Devil.

                Instead of using the world religion like a slur we should be honest that what Christians do is a religion. And it needs to be a pure religion that cares for the least of these. Having rituals and practices is not opposed to have a personal and intimate relationship with God. The Holy Spirit is not random but can be found in the Church and in the Sacraments. We should rejoice that Christianity has developed this form over 2000 years and embrace our roots instead of trying to cut off our nose to spite our face.

]]>                 When people look at our tradition the number one thing they say about it is that we are engaged in “dead religion”. They assume that anyone who willingly prays prayers written by someone else, recites something in unison, or uses their body in worship to kneel or make the sign of the cross cannot possibly have the Holy Spirit. To many in the non-denominational world the Holy Spirit is random and deeply personal. There is no way to know where he is going to turn up. And the only way to know you are really saved is if everything you say comes straight from the heart. It has be to individualized, personalized, and not part of a larger whole. However, there are a number of flaws in this logic.

                First, every denomination (with the exception of the Quakers) engages in some form of the above. Baptists do pray in unison; they just do it through song. Non-denominational folks do pray prayers written by someone else such as the Lord’s Prayer or the Sinner’s Prayer. They use devotional books that tell them what passages of Scripture to read and what to pray that day. The fact of the matter is that trying to reinvent the whole of Christianity every time someone gets saved is exhausting and foolish. And the Holy Spirit is not random and he certainly is not just indwelling in you personally. He fills the whole Church with the SAME Spirit. I Corinthians 14:33 says, “For God is not characterized by disorder but by peace. As in all the churches of the saints…” This verse teaches us two things. First, God is not disordered. So, for a church to have a structure for church leadership like deacons, priests, and bishops is pleasing to God. It is a sign of God’s presence not his absence. Having your worship services written in a book is pleasing to God. It is a sign of God’s presence not his absence. Second, this happens in “all the churches of the saints” so this means each church’s goal is not to reinvent the wheel but to be faithful to church tradition.

                For decades religion has been pitted against having a relationship with God. As if having religious practices is a sign that you do not love God. However, everyone has some form of religion in their life. They have a workout routine they do not miss. They have a favorite show they watch with devotion (over and over again). They make time to go on dates with their spouse and throw a ball with their kid. If a husband told his wife, “I know we never hang out except for random times when the mood strikes me and I pretty much do my own thing and never take your wishes into account when planning my day but you have to understand this is actually a sign that I love you more than husbands who religiously spend time with their wives” he would be considered a bad husband not a pure and loving husband.

                The reason American Christians hate the word religion is twofold. First, the Puritans were the first Europeans to call America home. They left England not to spread religious freedom but to enforce their strict set of doctrines in their own Christian society. They considered things like Christmas, wedding rings, and the colorful sanctuaries of the Church of England to be evil. That sort of thing was dead religion and popism. So, there is a Puritan reflex in American Christianity that rejects anything that smells like a set religious form and not the pure faith of the Puritans. Second, Americans are libertine and rebellious and do not want to submit to any authority no matter how good it is for them. Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Why do Christians submit to their priests and bishops? Because it is our job to take care of you as spiritual fathers. It is to your advantage to obey spiritual leaders. The other good thing is that we have a rigorous process to become a spiritual leader with canon law and lots of accountability. In the anti-religious form of Christianity anyone can claim that God spoke to them and now they get to tell everyone else what to do. I think we can all see the danger in that.

                So, there is no conflict between religion and relationship. Your religion is an outworking of your relationship with God not an absence of it. Many of us do not know how to pray as we should. Some people have a talent for spontaneously coming up with right words to say to God in way that is beautiful and correct. Most people do not have that gift so having pre-written prayers is a mercy not a burden. The liturgy, vestments, church calendar, and lectionary are not a burden but a tool for unity. It unites Christians around the Bible and the person of Jesus in order to keep us on the same page. The worst thing a Christian can do is go off by himself and try to do it all alone. This is not good and sets him up to be tempted by the Devil.

                Instead of using the world religion like a slur we should be honest that what Christians do is a religion. And it needs to be a pure religion that cares for the least of these. Having rituals and practices is not opposed to have a personal and intimate relationship with God. The Holy Spirit is not random but can be found in the Church and in the Sacraments. We should rejoice that Christianity has developed this form over 2000 years and embrace our roots instead of trying to cut off our nose to spite our face.

]]> Why Are We Called Ascension? https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/why-are-we-called-ascension https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/why-are-we-called-ascension#comments Thu, 18 May 2023 12:00:00 -0500 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/why-are-we-called-ascension This Thursday is the Feast of the Ascension, and we will be observing this feast Wednesday night at our house church meeting. Whenever a church is named after a Feast or a Person your church pays special observance for that day because that is OUR feast day. How have Christians celebrated the Ascension in the past? There is usually a three-day procession up a mountain and then a celebration on the day of but that’s not really our style at our church. Some other ways Christians celebrate is by eating birds (like chicken, turkey, pheasant, goose, etc) because Jesus “flew” to the Father. Christians also have hiked up mountains and for some they catch crickets… Of all those celebrations I think we are just going to settle for good old fried chicken at house church. But I want to talk about the importance of the Ascension and why we as a church took this event as our name.

So what’s the deal with the Ascension? In the Creeds we see that Jesus died, was buried, rose again, AND ascended to the Father. The fact that he is our ascended Lord is just as important as him being our crucified Lord. It is essential to Christian belief, and we cannot throw it out. Critical scholars and materialists have had trouble with the Ascension. Many academics get embarrassed by this scene. It seems so ridiculous and almost cartoony. It seems antiquated and mythic. So many tried to spiritualize this event or turn it into a metaphor. However, this is not how Scripture describes it. Luke is the author of the book of Acts, he was a physician and he spoke to eyewitnesses in order to write his Gospel. Nothing in his Gospel or Acts is to be seen as a metaphor. As orthodox Christians you must accept the fact that the Jesus you worship floated into the sky and disappeared behind a cloud. That really happened. So now that we established that did happen we should ask why Jesus did this. 

Jesus was going away and was leaving the Church to work in his absence. The Church would be empowered by the Holy Spirit who would only come after Jesus went back to the Father. Jesus did not want there to be any confusion as to where he went so he physically floated into the air (just like Elijah did) and disappeared into the heavens. Now, is heaven a physical place in the sky? I don’t know. And anyone who tries to give you some complicated explanation is saying more than the Bible has said about it. All I know is that it must have some form of physical space because Jesus is still embodied. And what is he currently doing? He is interceding for us before the Father as our Great High Priest. That is why he needed to return to the Heavenly realm. Furthermore, to say that Jesus came from the Father is to only take the word of the Virgin Mary but to see him fly away is to know for certain that he is a heavenly being. This event is so important. It means that Jesus is no longer just working amongst us one by one but is interceding for the entire Church and feeding us all with his power by the Holy Spirit. The angel in Acts 1 looks at the Apostles who don’t move a muscle after Jesus leaves and tells them there is no use waiting around, they have a job to do and they can’t just camp out until he comes back. He would return the same way he left. The book of Daniel tells us that at the end of days the Son of Man will come on the clouds with glory. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus disappeared into a cloud?

So that’s why Jesus had to ascend. But why did we adopt this event as our church’s identity? We are a highly missional church focused on fulfilling the Great Commission. And at the event of the Ascension a number of important things happened. Jesus told his Apostles to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. We are also to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the empowering of the Holy Spirit. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his Apostles to go unto the ends of the earth preaching the Gospel. We are the product of their ministry, and we carry on their work here in McKinney. And Jesus promised to come again soon. This is both comforting and terrifying. It is comforting because we know this age of sin and death will soon come to an end. Jesus will return to reign on this earth forever and set all things right. The dead will rise and all things will be healed. But it also terrifying because when Jesus returns if you are not right with God you will spend an eternity in torment in the Lake of Fire. This is the justice of God and while it is not pleasant it is good. And if this reality bothers us we should be working diligently to reach others for Jesus so they can have a chance to repent and be saved.

That is why the Ascension is important, that is why it is our name, and so let us celebrate! You can be part of the Ascension story by filling out the form below to learn more about our ministry.

 

Start the Discovery Journey Today

By filling out this form you will receive a series of emails that orient you to our mission and who we are as a church start up. You can unsubscribe at any point in the journey. Pastor Seth will also reach out to you.

]]> This Thursday is the Feast of the Ascension, and we will be observing this feast Wednesday night at our house church meeting. Whenever a church is named after a Feast or a Person your church pays special observance for that day because that is OUR feast day. How have Christians celebrated the Ascension in the past? There is usually a three-day procession up a mountain and then a celebration on the day of but that’s not really our style at our church. Some other ways Christians celebrate is by eating birds (like chicken, turkey, pheasant, goose, etc) because Jesus “flew” to the Father. Christians also have hiked up mountains and for some they catch crickets… Of all those celebrations I think we are just going to settle for good old fried chicken at house church. But I want to talk about the importance of the Ascension and why we as a church took this event as our name.

So what’s the deal with the Ascension? In the Creeds we see that Jesus died, was buried, rose again, AND ascended to the Father. The fact that he is our ascended Lord is just as important as him being our crucified Lord. It is essential to Christian belief, and we cannot throw it out. Critical scholars and materialists have had trouble with the Ascension. Many academics get embarrassed by this scene. It seems so ridiculous and almost cartoony. It seems antiquated and mythic. So many tried to spiritualize this event or turn it into a metaphor. However, this is not how Scripture describes it. Luke is the author of the book of Acts, he was a physician and he spoke to eyewitnesses in order to write his Gospel. Nothing in his Gospel or Acts is to be seen as a metaphor. As orthodox Christians you must accept the fact that the Jesus you worship floated into the sky and disappeared behind a cloud. That really happened. So now that we established that did happen we should ask why Jesus did this. 

Jesus was going away and was leaving the Church to work in his absence. The Church would be empowered by the Holy Spirit who would only come after Jesus went back to the Father. Jesus did not want there to be any confusion as to where he went so he physically floated into the air (just like Elijah did) and disappeared into the heavens. Now, is heaven a physical place in the sky? I don’t know. And anyone who tries to give you some complicated explanation is saying more than the Bible has said about it. All I know is that it must have some form of physical space because Jesus is still embodied. And what is he currently doing? He is interceding for us before the Father as our Great High Priest. That is why he needed to return to the Heavenly realm. Furthermore, to say that Jesus came from the Father is to only take the word of the Virgin Mary but to see him fly away is to know for certain that he is a heavenly being. This event is so important. It means that Jesus is no longer just working amongst us one by one but is interceding for the entire Church and feeding us all with his power by the Holy Spirit. The angel in Acts 1 looks at the Apostles who don’t move a muscle after Jesus leaves and tells them there is no use waiting around, they have a job to do and they can’t just camp out until he comes back. He would return the same way he left. The book of Daniel tells us that at the end of days the Son of Man will come on the clouds with glory. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus disappeared into a cloud?

So that’s why Jesus had to ascend. But why did we adopt this event as our church’s identity? We are a highly missional church focused on fulfilling the Great Commission. And at the event of the Ascension a number of important things happened. Jesus told his Apostles to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. We are also to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the empowering of the Holy Spirit. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his Apostles to go unto the ends of the earth preaching the Gospel. We are the product of their ministry, and we carry on their work here in McKinney. And Jesus promised to come again soon. This is both comforting and terrifying. It is comforting because we know this age of sin and death will soon come to an end. Jesus will return to reign on this earth forever and set all things right. The dead will rise and all things will be healed. But it also terrifying because when Jesus returns if you are not right with God you will spend an eternity in torment in the Lake of Fire. This is the justice of God and while it is not pleasant it is good. And if this reality bothers us we should be working diligently to reach others for Jesus so they can have a chance to repent and be saved.

That is why the Ascension is important, that is why it is our name, and so let us celebrate! You can be part of the Ascension story by filling out the form below to learn more about our ministry.

 

Start the Discovery Journey Today

By filling out this form you will receive a series of emails that orient you to our mission and who we are as a church start up. You can unsubscribe at any point in the journey. Pastor Seth will also reach out to you.

]]> How Do I Fearlessly Share My Faith? https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/how-do-i-fearlessly-share-my-faith https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/how-do-i-fearlessly-share-my-faith#comments Wed, 17 May 2023 11:36:19 -0500 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/how-do-i-fearlessly-share-my-faith It's About B.L.E.S.S.ING

Most Christians believe in the Great Commission but are intimidated by living it out. However, if you believe that following Jesus adds value to your life then that means sharing the Gospel enriches the lives of those you share it with. You're not some used car salesman you are a doctor bringing news that the cancer is gone. So follow these five steps...

Begin with Prayer

God is the one who draws people to Jesus and gives them saving faith. You should be talking to God about people more than you are talking to people about God. Select five people in your life who do not have an active relationship with Jesus and commit to praying for them everyday.

Listen with Care

Many of us worry what we will say when we share our faith but we should be more concerned about listening at first. Listening attentively and with care wins you the right to speak. As you listen to their story, their hopes, and fears you will begin to know how the Gospel can speak into their life.

Eat with Them

We're not saying you must prepare them a four course meal. This could something as simple as getting tacos together. But humans make bonds when they share a good meal together. How many times do we see Jesus eating with people in the Gospel? Sharing a meal shows you care and if you cook it yourself it means even more.

Serve Them

Offer to water their plants or watch their dog when they are out of town. Maybe their kids need a ride home from school. Maybe they got surgery and need their lawn mowed? Or maybe they need help distributing a resume. There are so many ways you can "put your money where you mouth is" and serve them as Jesus would.

Share Your Story

This is the moment when you finally get to tell them about Jesus and what he means to you. What would your life be without him? Focus on how he has changed you and that salvation is a free gift from God not something we earn. Then, invite them to meet the rest of your faith community.

Was this helpful to you? Make sure you share it with your friends. And if you are ready to learn how you can live on mission with us in McKinney you can fill out the form below

 

Start the Discovery Journey Today

By filling out this form you will receive a series of emails that orient you to our mission and who we are as a church start up. You can unsubscribe at any point in the journey. Pastor Seth will also reach out to you.

]]> It's About B.L.E.S.S.ING

Most Christians believe in the Great Commission but are intimidated by living it out. However, if you believe that following Jesus adds value to your life then that means sharing the Gospel enriches the lives of those you share it with. You're not some used car salesman you are a doctor bringing news that the cancer is gone. So follow these five steps...

Begin with Prayer

God is the one who draws people to Jesus and gives them saving faith. You should be talking to God about people more than you are talking to people about God. Select five people in your life who do not have an active relationship with Jesus and commit to praying for them everyday.

Listen with Care

Many of us worry what we will say when we share our faith but we should be more concerned about listening at first. Listening attentively and with care wins you the right to speak. As you listen to their story, their hopes, and fears you will begin to know how the Gospel can speak into their life.

Eat with Them

We're not saying you must prepare them a four course meal. This could something as simple as getting tacos together. But humans make bonds when they share a good meal together. How many times do we see Jesus eating with people in the Gospel? Sharing a meal shows you care and if you cook it yourself it means even more.

Serve Them

Offer to water their plants or watch their dog when they are out of town. Maybe their kids need a ride home from school. Maybe they got surgery and need their lawn mowed? Or maybe they need help distributing a resume. There are so many ways you can "put your money where you mouth is" and serve them as Jesus would.

Share Your Story

This is the moment when you finally get to tell them about Jesus and what he means to you. What would your life be without him? Focus on how he has changed you and that salvation is a free gift from God not something we earn. Then, invite them to meet the rest of your faith community.

Was this helpful to you? Make sure you share it with your friends. And if you are ready to learn how you can live on mission with us in McKinney you can fill out the form below

 

Start the Discovery Journey Today

By filling out this form you will receive a series of emails that orient you to our mission and who we are as a church start up. You can unsubscribe at any point in the journey. Pastor Seth will also reach out to you.

]]> It Is Better to Be in a House of Mourning https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/it-is-better-to-be-in-a-house-of-mourning https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/it-is-better-to-be-in-a-house-of-mourning#comments Wed, 17 May 2023 11:31:33 -0500 https://www.ascensionmckinney.org/blog/post/it-is-better-to-be-in-a-house-of-mourning
"It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:2
I am sure by now everyone is aware of the tragedy that struck our region over the weekend when a man opened fire at a mall that is less than 20 minutes from my home. I had actually been over to that mall the same day to buy a gift for my wife's birthday so this obviously hits very close to home. I found out about the shooting while we were celebrating my wife's birthday party. The next day I attended the vigil that was held at Cottonwood Creek Church. The above verse came to mind as I had to shift from celebration to mourning. Why is it better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting? We all want to be at a good party but a vigil...that doesn't sound like a fun invitation.
For the past two days I have gone to the memorial set up at the Allen Outlets to pray with people who are visiting it. 99.9% of the people who come to the memorial have no direct connection to the victims and yet they weep and take time out of their day to leave a teddy bear for the deceased children or leave roses for strangers. I watched a local restaurant handing out water bottles and chips and salsa for visitors. I saw chaplains and pastors from other denominations offer to pray with people. I saw every race and age present at this place. And it became clear to me why it is better to visit a house of mourning. We are all mortal and we are all destined for the grave this is something that cuts across every dividing line. It is easy to ignore this fact when we are eating and drinking but when we keep vigil at a memorial the reality sinks in and walls come down. And as we watch the brokenhearted come together we actually see God's Kingdom more clearly and the Holy Spirit speaks to hearts that were at one time completely closed off to him. I am sure that most of the people being prayed with do not go to church and do not have a pastor.
Christians, this is why it is better to go to a house of mourning because that's where Jesus would go.

Start the Discovery Journey Today

By filling out this form you will receive a series of emails that orient you to our mission and who we are as a church start up. You can unsubscribe at any point in the journey. Pastor Seth will also reach out to you.

]]>
"It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:2
I am sure by now everyone is aware of the tragedy that struck our region over the weekend when a man opened fire at a mall that is less than 20 minutes from my home. I had actually been over to that mall the same day to buy a gift for my wife's birthday so this obviously hits very close to home. I found out about the shooting while we were celebrating my wife's birthday party. The next day I attended the vigil that was held at Cottonwood Creek Church. The above verse came to mind as I had to shift from celebration to mourning. Why is it better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting? We all want to be at a good party but a vigil...that doesn't sound like a fun invitation.
For the past two days I have gone to the memorial set up at the Allen Outlets to pray with people who are visiting it. 99.9% of the people who come to the memorial have no direct connection to the victims and yet they weep and take time out of their day to leave a teddy bear for the deceased children or leave roses for strangers. I watched a local restaurant handing out water bottles and chips and salsa for visitors. I saw chaplains and pastors from other denominations offer to pray with people. I saw every race and age present at this place. And it became clear to me why it is better to visit a house of mourning. We are all mortal and we are all destined for the grave this is something that cuts across every dividing line. It is easy to ignore this fact when we are eating and drinking but when we keep vigil at a memorial the reality sinks in and walls come down. And as we watch the brokenhearted come together we actually see God's Kingdom more clearly and the Holy Spirit speaks to hearts that were at one time completely closed off to him. I am sure that most of the people being prayed with do not go to church and do not have a pastor.
Christians, this is why it is better to go to a house of mourning because that's where Jesus would go.

Start the Discovery Journey Today

By filling out this form you will receive a series of emails that orient you to our mission and who we are as a church start up. You can unsubscribe at any point in the journey. Pastor Seth will also reach out to you.

]]>