Letters from the week of 19 - 25 November 2018
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My experiences with lay preaching
My husband was a Presbyterian Minister and I became Episcopal after his death.
When I was asked by the Presbytery Exec to become a Lay Preacher it came as a surprise. I had to do a lot of thinking and praying before I said yes. The Exec had already gotten the ok of both my husband and the churches he served. We had five children from one to sixteen at home and one in college.
Most times I preached at a small church that did not have a full time minister, although on occasion it was at a mid-sized church whose minister was sick or had a death in their family. I rarely preached less than twice a month. I had one small advantage over those working with an Episcopal church — many small Presbyterian Churches did not use a lectionary. This freed me to reuse good sermons from the past when I first went to a church. Of course, it was always appropriate to the liturgical season.
Bad weather driving 10 to 60 miles on narrow rural roads and the rare times the call came at 6am Sunday morning were the major negatives. I enjoyed studying for and crafting the sermons, the actual preaching and the contact with other congregations. All churches over 15 miles travel were expected to give me lunch which was usually in someone's home.
When we left that Presbytery we went to one with very few vacant churches and many retired clergy. I did some preaching in the winter cold and flu season and during the summer when every minister, active or retired, decided they had to go away
during the same two weeks.
Rlizabeth N Anderson
Grace Episcopal
Birmingham, Alabama, USA
19 November 2018
Picking on the Diocese of Sydney
Your news last week included the headline "Entertainment provided by Diocese of Sydney continues" . Your constant gripes re Sydney are tiresome, often ill-informed and petty. Why can't you simply disagree, but with love and grace and patience and respect?
Thanks.
Mark Calder
Anglican Church of Noosa
Noosa, QLD, Australia
mncalder@gmail.com
21 November 2018
Each of us at Anglicans Online has our own opinions about everything, but we are all in agreement that for the most part, the Diocese of Sydney is somewhere between a joke and a disgrace. If they would stop trying to persecute or punish those with whom they disagree, we might respect them more and feel the need to say less.
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