Blessings to you in this Christmas season. We hope you are observing the Twelve Days of Christmas with prayer, holy joy, and much-needed rest! Looking back at the past year at Forward Movement, we have many reasons to rejoice–not least for you, our readers, who have prayed with us and supported our ministry throughout the year.
Here are some of the most-read messages from Forward Today this year. Thank you for sharing these notes of news and inspiration – we look forward to sharing more with you in the coming year.
Yours faithfully,
Margaret Ellsworth
Marketing Coordinator
It’s about the basics: “In both churches [The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada], I have seen a desire to return to the basics.”
Welcoming guests: “If you want to be welcoming for guests, you have to be ready to see your church through their eyes.”
The Gospel isn’t fair: “The Gospel isn’t fair. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.”
The counter-cultural season of Advent: “Keeping Advent isn’t easy, and that is exactly why we do well to try to keep this season of preparation and repentance.”
Saint John’s Bible exhibit, St. Mary’s Abbey, Morristown, New Jersey. Photo by Randy Greves (CC BY 2.0)
Dear friends in Christ,
Ready or not, Christmas is almost here! An occupational hazard for those of us who “work” at church— as clergy, altar guild, choir, lectors, staff, whatever — is that we get so busy with the details that we miss the mystery and awe of Christmas. I suppose that same hazard exists for all of us, between gift-giving, meal preparation, decorations, parties, and all the traditions of the season.
Consider this message your invitation to spend a few moments in quiet contemplation of the awe and wonder of Christmas. And then if you can manage that awe again at church in a few days, so much the better!
I encourage you to find a quiet spot. Grab a Bible or a connected device. Read Luke 2:1-20 and John 1:1-14. It might be helpful to read them in a couple of different translations, perhaps a familiar one and a less familiar one. Read them several times.
What is God doing? How is the birth of Jesus like any other, and how is his birth different from all others? What does the way his birth unfolds teach us about God? How might we be inspired to live more faithfully because God loves us so much that he was willing to live as God-with-us, fully enfleshed?
I love Christmas carols and festive traditions. But what gets me every year, if I make time for it, is the fresh realization of God’s great love for us all, both in its simplicity and in its majesty.
Have a joyous AND contemplative Christmas, friends.
Cincinnati, OH – Forward Movement, in collaboration with Episcopal Evangelism Society, invites Episcopalians to reflect on their baptismal promises during Lent through a new small group study and corresponding book, Will You? A Lenten Study of Baptismal Promises.
This five-week Lenten small group study offers daily reflections, examples of evangelism in action, and an invitation to think in new ways about the promises we make to God, each other, and ourselves in baptism.
A free downloadable group leader guide helps facilitators plan and guide six group meetings to discuss the book.
When we are initiated into the church with the water of baptism, we (or our sponsors) answer a series of questions called the Baptismal Covenant. The first three questions echo the words of our creeds, our beliefs about God and the church. The last five questions focus on action. They each begin with the words: “Will You?”
These “Will You” questions articulate how we are to animate our baptism, to follow Christ’s example in our relationships with others, our communities, and the world. These questions move from a “gathering in” to a “sending out”—they are a call to embrace and practice evangelism by proclaiming the Good News of Christ in all we do and say.
The study was written by Amanda Perkins McGriff, who received a 2021 Episcopal Evangelism Society grant to create a curriculum exploring connections between baptism, eucharist, and evangelism.
“This resource will inspire meaningful conversations about evangelism, as it relates to our Baptismal promises, for congregations at any stage of engaging Episcopal evangelism. It was transformative in my own congregation,” said Day Smith Pritchartt, Executive Director of the Episcopal Evangelism Society.
Will You? is available in print from Forward Movement directly, with affordable bulk rates for churches and groups. The print edition is also available through online sellers such as Amazon; please note that when you buy the print version directly from Forward Movement most of your money reaches us and is reinvested in our ministry.
Inspiring disciples and empowering evangelists around the globe every day, Forward Movement has been producing excellent, innovative resources to encourage spiritual growth in individuals and congregations for more than eighty years.
Dear friends in Christ: We’re pleased to welcome Lindsay Barrett-Adler, our Director of Development, as our guest author this week.
Last Sunday, I heard my parish priest (and husband) say the following words to begin A Service of Advent Lessons and Carols: “Beloved in Christ, in this season of Advent, let it be our care and delight to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the Angels, and in heart and mind to go even unto Bethlehem, to see the Babe lying in a manger.”
I have been preparing many things lately—decorations, presents, school break babysitters, cookie exchanges, and all kinds of Christmas fun for my family. And that’s in addition to my paid ministry here at Forward Movement. Sitting with our two-year-old in the church soft space, I continued to reflect on Paul’s (the husband’s) invitation to prepare my heart and mind for Christmas, now only a few weeks away. Did he just add one more task to my ever-expanding list?
And this can easily become the refrain of my Advent as a clergy spouse. More services, more meetings, more parties, more commitments, and the ever-present pressure to deliver a picture-perfect Christmas morning at the end of it all. If anything, church can sometimes feel like an extra burden at an already frenzied time of the year. I could get so much done in that hour on Sunday morning!
Putting the third dozen batch of cookies into the freezer, I imagine how Martha must have felt when she and Mary welcomed Christ into their home. I have been so busy and so stressed, so worried about all the things on that to-do list. Would Jesus look at my priorities and say I am giving value to the most important things? In the brief time left in Advent, will I choose “the better part,” or will I continue to cling to stress as a status symbol and conversation starter, letting that to-do list monopolize my heart and mind?
I choose to let it be my care and delight to prepare myself for the remainder of Advent and hope you will too. Beloved in Christ, let us go to Bethlehem, letting fall by the wayside those things that distract us from the journey ahead. We each have the opportunity, with each new day, to do as Baruch invites: “Put on the robe of the righteousness from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting.” There are so many ways to prepare in the time left, from taking up a habit of prayer to fasting and spending time with God in scripture. Whatever my new Advent practice ends up being, it will be done not with obligation and guilt, but with care and delight.
Yours faithfully,
Lindsay Barrett-Adler
Director of Development
P.S. We hope you enjoy Forward Today, one of the many free ministries offered by Forward Movement. You can make a special, year-end gift to inspire disciples and empower evangelists by clicking here.
Advent offers us an invitation to renew our study of scripture and our life of prayer. As an Episcopalian, I naturally think of the Book of Common Prayer in this season of repentance and growth. Given that this is a time of year when I buy Christmas gifts, I find myself wondering who I know who might enjoy the gift of the Book of Common Prayer at Christmas.
In the larger sense, the prayer book is a gift for all of us. The preface to the 1789 edition, which is reprinted in our current 1979 book, ends with this flourish:
And now, this important work being brought to a conclusion, it is hoped the whole [book] will be received and examined by every true member of our Church, and every sincere Christian, with a meek, candid, and charitable frame of mind; without prejudice or prepossessions; seriously considering what Christianity is, and what the truths of the Gospel are; and earnestly beseeching Almighty God to accompany with his blessing every endeavor for promulgating them to mankind in the clearest, plainest, most affecting and majestic manner, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Savior.
Isn’t that lovely? I’ve always loved the Book of Common Prayer since I first encountered it, but thinking of it as a means of transmitting our faith “in the clearest, plainest, most affecting and majestic manner, for the sake of Jesus Christ” really hits home.
Forward Movement publishes the finest personal edition of the Book of Common Prayer you can buy. The rubrics are, as the name would suggest, printed in red ink. This edition features a leather cover and gilt-edged pages with a ribbon. It’s an ideal size for holding. You’ll love it. And I’m happy to say it’s on sale this week for just $39.95, discounted from the usual retail price of $55.
You might like this lovely book for your own use, or it makes an excellent gift. It has a gift plate inside the front cover. What better Christmas gift than the gift of prayer? If a prayer book isn’t right for your recipient, Forward Movement also publishes Hour by Hour and Saint Augustine’s Prayer Book, both also with leather covers and gilt pages.
Of course, you don’t have to buy books to have a rich life of prayer. However you choose to pray in this Advent season, I encourage you to talk to God and to listen for God’s still, small voice in this noisy world.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
More from our ministry:
Pray each day of the season with words of scripture: AdventWord
Explore the spirituality of the Prayer Book: Inwardly Digest
This Sunday the season of Advent begins. Two thousand years ago, John the Baptist was a voice crying in the wilderness to call people to repentance. Today, Advent is a voice crying in the din of our time that salvation comes not from shiny things, but from Love Incarnate. In other words, the subversive call to repentance has not changed much in 20 centuries.
December can seem overwhelming. Custom demands that we spend vast sums on gifts. Invitations to parties and festive gathering might stack up. In church, folks are working hard preparing for Christmas celebrations. One might be left wondering how there will be any time for Advent.
And this is the point. Keeping Advent isn’t easy, and that is exactly why we do well to try to keep this season of preparation and repentance.
I’m not here to yell at you for playing Christmas carols or putting up a few decorations. Avoiding Christmas festivity isn’t the fundamental point of Advent. Though I think waiting to celebrate Christmas until it’s Christmas has virtue, I also think people can do two things at once. We can enjoy some holiday festivity and find ways to keep Advent.
What does this look like? Presumably, your church celebrates the liturgy a bit differently this time of year—Advent music and a different focus. This season might be a good time to curl up with the scriptures. As we’re beginning Year B in the three-year lectionary cycle, you might want to read the Gospel of Mark in its entirety. Maybe you’ll spend a few more moments in prayer each day. An Advent wreath can help to create a prayerful environment at home.
Mostly though, the point of this season is to prepare our hearts to meet Jesus. One day, we will all meet him when he comes in glory to judge the world. Will we, as the Advent preface suggests, be ready “without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing”?
What parts of your life need to change? What practices in your life do you want to increase or decrease? Who can you invite to know the Good News of Jesus Christ, who offers redemption to all? These are the matters for us to focus on this Advent season, and I hope you’ll find practices that aid in your reflection and repentance.
The usual messages we hear in our culture go something like this: “Be afraid! You don’t have enough! You need more things to be happy!” Given the din of these messages of consumerism, it’s practically a miracle that even the commerce machine pauses for a day, and we still set aside time for Thanksgiving.
No pun intended, but I am so deeply grateful for this holiday of giving thanks.
At most celebrations of Holy Eucharist, the celebrant says, “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” In the spirit of keeping the main thing the main thing, I hope you’ll find your way to a church. The best way we can give thanks to God for all the blessings of this life is to gather with other Christians and express our adoration and gratitude.
We offer our thanks and praise, and God reminds us of his grace and mercy as we receive the sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood. It’s simple and beautiful, almost discordant in this age of shiny things and the endless drumbeat of shopping. (I have nothing against shopping! It’s just that it’s not the main thing of life!)
When families gather, it’s customary to express gratitude. I hope you’ll do this, whatever the size of your family. If you aren’t able to gather with others, perhaps you’ll write a note or an email to someone else expressing gratitude for God’s blessings. It’s good for our souls to say thank you to God and our neighbors.
Imagine if we could fulfill the vision of the lovely line from our liturgy, “always and everywhere” giving thanks. In that sense, Thanksgiving Day is a foretaste of the feast of gratitude to come.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
More from our ministry:
Weave prayer and thanksgiving through your day: Hour by Hour
Each year, I look forward to the Sunday nearest November 16. This Sunday we pray one of my very favorite collects:
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Thomas Cranmer originally wrote this one for Advent, but I like its new placement in our liturgical year. I am grateful for this annual reminder of the purpose of scripture. We love the scriptures not just for the texts themselves but for the hope to which they point: everlasting life given to us in Jesus.
Forward Movement’s RenewalWorks data tells us that not very many Episcopalians read the Bible regularly. I’m not here to shame anyone or make you feel guilty! One of the core messages of the Gospel is that it’s never too late. So why not make time in your life for regular reading of scripture?
If you’re not sure where to start, there are chapters about the Bible and how to read it in two books I co-authored with the Rev’d Melody Shobe, Faithful Questions and Walk in Love. Or you can ask your priest or a wise spiritual friend for guidance. If you want a suggestion of what to read when you pick up a Bible to read on your own for the first time, I suggest reading the psalms or maybe one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John).
At Forward Movement, we offer several tools to help you read the Bible regularly.
You can use any of our Bible Challenge books for companion reflections as you read some part of the Bible.
Bible Women offers every word spoken by women in the Bible along with the back stories.
This January, you can join the Good Book Club (for free!) to read Genesis with folks from around the world.
Forward Day by Day offers a reflection on the assigned readings of the Episcopal Church each day.
The Bible is perhaps the most important and most misunderstood book. But the good news is that you can read the Bible for yourself and discover its wonders and the hope to which it points.
Happy reading!
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
More from our ministry:
Last chance: Get your copy of Preparing the Way before Advent begins!
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the Philadelphia area for a meeting. Since I had some time, I paid a visit to the Rev’d Clarke French, a friend, who is serving as interim rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. It’s a thriving congregation meeting in a colonial-era building.
There are many things I appreciated about the lovely and ancient worship space, but I was particularly struck by the lights for illuminating the scriptures as the lectors proclaim them. The lamp shades say (facing the people and also facing the lector) SACRIFICE and OBEDIENCE.
These powerful words are central to the Gospel and alien to our consumer culture. In the world that says “get what you can and be your own person,” the Gospel calls us to another way. We are called to give freely—for the glory of God, for Christ’s sake, for the good of others, and for the wellness of our souls. We are called to obey our Lord Jesus, who calls us to take up our cross and follow him—to die to old ways and be alive in the new creation of Jesus Christ.
This coming weekend brings us to November 11, kept in the US as Veterans Day, when we remember the sacrifice of many for their country. Christian sacrifice can surely be seen in the lives of martyrs, but it can also be seen in more mundane expressions—forgiving others, in sharing what we have with those in need, in turning the other cheek, or in yielding our own privileges for the well-being of others.
Then there’s obedience. This is positively counter-cultural! For those of us to say we follow Jesus, we need to obey him as our leader. The Gospel loses its power if we try to fit it into the gaps of a comfortable consumer lifestyle. Jesus knew this when we said you can’t serve two masters. We either serve the gospel of consumption or the Gospel of grace and mercy. We either orient our lives around greed and self-determination or toward sacrifice and obedience.
I invite you to consider the wisdom and power of OBEDIENCE and SACRIFICE. What do they mean in your life?
Today the church celebrates one of its principal feasts, All Saints’ Day. On this day, we remember all those who have gone before us, those who now spend eternity dwelling in God’s presence and glory.
Part of this day is certainly a time to remember the example of saints of all times and places. It may well be a good time for us to learn from their example and improve our lives. But this day is chiefly a celebration of Jesus Christ and his passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.
The one thing all saints have in common is that these flawed humans opened their lives to the power of Jesus and his grace and mercy. In Christ, death is defeated and sin is put to flight. That’s true on a cosmic scale, and you can see Jesus at work in each transformed life and warmed heart.
Today we can also give thanks that we are never alone. Those who now wear the crown of righteousness are still our companions, for all are all members of the mystical body of Christ, the eternal communion of saints.
Let us give thanks for saints, but let us first give thanks for the light that kindled the love which burned brightly in their lives. And let us pray for the strength and courage to be transformed by Jesus Christ, who can work in all sorts and conditions of people.
Let us pray for our own lives and for the renewal of the whole creation.
Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in our earthly pilgrimage we may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know ourselves to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. We ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all our intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ,
Dear friends in Christ,
Dear friends in Christ,