A friend of mine asked me this question the other day: is complementarianism misogyny? Or put another way: does restricting women’s roles in the church and home show an inherent hatred of women? Complementarians would say no. Their view that women’s roles should be restricted in the church (and often in the home) isn’t based on hating women; it’s based on their belief that God ordains these restrictions and their sincere desire to live a life that is faithful to... Read more
It turns out that the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) has a thriving dark underbelly of priests and laypeople who are prone to wield accusations of virtue signaling and character assassination, among other things, often against fellow ACNAers, as they virtue-signal and assassinate others’ character. I normally try to steer clear of dark underbellies for the sake of my mental health, but perhaps my foray into these depths is a worthy Lenten exercise. Seeing other Christians mocked and mistreated... Read more
Fathers shape kids’ faith more than mothers – or so a 1994 Swiss study is said to conclude. The Rev. Sam Ferguson, rector of my church, the Falls Church Anglican, quoted this study in a sermon this past Sunday to support his premise that fathers have a greater “weight of responsibility” for developing their children’s faith: “All the studies show that parental religion is the single strongest predictor of the adult religion of children….and this is especially true for fathers.... Read more
As I read over the Ruch verdict – ACNA’s 71-page, sweeping acquittal of Bishop Stewart Ruch issued last week – I found it hard to decide what was more galling about this court. Was it that they: Blamed “the Institution,” rather than Ruch, for his alleged errors and lack of appropriate oversight, leading to sexual abuse of a child and more? Were not content to merely acquit Ruch, but heaped praise on him for his leadership? Dismissed compelling evidence against... Read more
Update: On November 3, a day after I originally published this post, Steve Wood announced his “previously planned retirement” from St. Andrews as rector. He also announced that he is taking a leave of absence from his roles as Archbishop of the ACNA and Bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas while the investigation into his activities proceeds. I’m still smelling a lot of spin here. However, his leave of absence and departure from St. Andrews – regardless of how... Read more
Will women give birth to babies in the Resurrection? Well, since sex in the Resurrection seems highly likely, as I previously discussed here, babies in the Resurrection also seem likely. Why wouldn’t resurrected women have perfectly functional ovaries and uteruses, the same way the resurrected Jesus had perfectly functional arms, legs, tongue, teeth, stomach, etc.? Isn’t the meaning of a perfected body a body whose parts work perfectly? And would these body parts work perfectly to no end? Form Implies... Read more
Fellow Christians, you can breathe a sign of relief because – despite what you may have heard or assumed – we have overwhelming evidence that there is sex in the Resurrection. I’m going to present that evidence here, but first I want to examine why some Christians believe that one of life’s greatest pleasures has no place in paradise. While the Bible never addresses the matter directly, many Christians infer that sex is incompatible with the Resurrection based on the... Read more
Is there transparency on gender roles in your church? If leadership positions in your church are gendered, are your leaders transparently truthful about it? Would visitors to your church know where your church leaders stand on gender roles? Let’s say a woman with a “blank slate” walks into your church. She supports women’s equality in church leadership, although she hasn’t seriously considered the topic. When she sees that your church has female deacons, she easily assumes that women are welcome... Read more
For part of my childhood, I didn’t love God. However, I spent many hours at St. Andrews Church in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, where my dad was organist-choirmaster (more about him here). Much of that time was in the historic sanctuary, built in 1857, as pictured below. On Sundays, I typically sat with my mom in the choir loft. Directly behind and facing us were large plaques of the Ten Commandments and the creeds. The plaques extend almost as high... Read more
After reading the Washington Post’s article on former Rev. Jeff Taylor and his alleged sexual abuse of boys across several churches in the US, I am haunted by the cruelty of unrepentant priests. Taylor was a youth pastor at my church, The Falls Church Anglican (TFCA) in Falls Church, Virginia. Our church is familiar with the allegations; TFCA commissioned an investigative report, released last year, which I discussed here. However, Post writer Ian Shapira detailed for the first time Taylor’s... Read more
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