So what is our church, St. John’s all about? Listen to this episode to hear Fr. Chris, Fr. Ben, and Lalla discuss what makes our parish a special place and community. We discussed that church and community is fun– but what makes that fun different from the fun we have with the same people in other places? What makes the good works we do at church different from other non-profits? The core mission of the church is to connect Jesus Christ to the world and make him known. We talk about how St. John’s was founded to bring church to a new neighborhood in Lynchburg as Lynchburg grew and expanded. We talk about how a church home can be a sanctuary, or place of peace, once you have made a connection to a church. Our church has a strong emphasis on family and many families (2 and 3 and 4 generations) worship together in our parish. Our church building is also special. It has been added to and expanded many times by each generation of our church family.  So– we turn it over to you. We’ve asked why you want to be a Christian and Episcopalian; now tell us what most excites you about this church family, and what you would change about our church if you could! Reflection Question: What excites you about St. John’s and coming to church? What would you change about the church?

(Updated to correct episode!) Why Christianity? This episode, we continue to explore Christianity and ask the question “so what?” What difference does being a Christian make? We are a Christian, now what? Just joining us? We're so glad you're here for Season 4. This is a new recording of our topic from Season 2--Confirmation-- with a new member of our team and a fresh take on three important questions: Why Christianity? Why The Episcopal Church? and Why St. John's? Join us & our youth this season as we prepare for confirmation in The Episcopal Church! Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers ?I will, with God’s help. Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?I will, with God’s help. Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?I will, with God’s help. Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?I will, with God’s help. Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?I will, with God’s help. (Book of Common Prayer, 417) First we explore the answer to each of these questions we promise in Confirmation: “I will, with God’s help.” Then we jump into each question. What is the apostles teaching and fellowship (Acts 2:42)? We discussed a lot of it last week- it's our basic beliefs about Jesus. We discuss how Jesus instructed his apostles to live and how he sent the Holy Spirit to them in the first days after his resurrection. We also discussed passing on our faith, celebrating Holy Eucharist, and praying together as a community. We further discuss evil, sin, and how we always wrestle with sin; we can’t just will ourselves not to experience these challenges. God is asking us to return continuously to God. We chat about the Good News, and how we proclaim it to all people. We discuss loving all people, and God’s commandment to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). We finally turn to what the dignity of every human being means, and how that affects our journey towards justice. Reflection Questions What does it mean to live a Christian life? How does one live out a Christian life?

This episode, we shared our stories from the churches where we grew up. We hope that it helps you think about what stands out for you at your church! All our hosts have a different experience of growing up in church; one of them even grew up here at St. John’s when they were young! Storytelling is so important for how we understand our faith, and how we begin to understand how God works in our lives and calls us into new life.  Join us next time for some more about St. John’s, and who we are and where we are now! If you want to learn more about our history,  St. John’s has several published histories of the Parish available in the Parish Library (or from Fr. Ben or Fr. Chris). Reflection Question: What are some memories from your childhood church? Or, if you didn’t grow up in the church, what do you recall from one of the first times you went to a church?

Why The Episcopal Church? This episode, we continue to explore the history that led to The Episcopal Church, picking back up at the revolutionary way and continuing through today. We talk about what our church stands for, and where one might learn more about our beliefs. Along the way, we see how the faith continued to evolve, while remaining centered on the creeds and common faith that Christians around the world share. In the first days, clergy were educated in England and sent to the colonies; there were not priests formed from the local community yet, or Bishops in the colonies. Other religious groups also came over. Those clergy had to swear loyalty to the King; church and state were connected. So when the state(s) separated, the church also had to separate from the Church of England. Thus The Episcopal Church was born of political necessity. Apostolic succession was the hardest to secure—we wanted to keep our connection to the historic church, so our first Bishops received ordination through the Scottish Episcopal Church. Our Church continued to be governed by the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), revised for the Episcopal Church. The Prayerbook changed over time to fit the needs of our church and our culture. The way that we pray informs our beliefs, and vice versa. We recognize four things that bring Christians together, including us: Scripture, Bishops, Sacraments, and the creeds. Our Catechism (Outline of the Faith) beginning on p. 845, elaborates on more of our beliefs as a church, though it is not enforced in the way other churches put weight on certain beliefs. We believe these things, and we encourage you to question and wrestle with those beliefs! We seek unity (what we share) more than what separates us from other denominations. Find out more about what your friends or family of different faith traditions or Christian denominations believe! We do our best to include all and make our churches welcoming places for people from all walks of life. You can learn more about our church and our beliefs at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/  Join us next time for conversation about our own parish home, St. John’s—and hear about where Fr. Chris, Fr. Ben, and Lalla grew up in their home churches! Reflection Question If you walked into a church, how would you know it is an Episcopal church, without being told?

Why The Episcopal Church? This episode, we explore the history that led to The Episcopal Church, tracing our origins from the Acts of the Apostles all the way up to the Revolutionary war. Along the way, we see how the faith continued to evolve, while remaining centered on our creeds and the things we’ve talked about that Christians around the world share in common.   Just joining us? We're so glad you're here for Season 4. This is a new recording of our topic from Season 2-- onfirmation-- with a new member of our team and a fresh take on three important questions: Why Christianity? Why The Episcopal Church? and Why St. John's? Join us & our youth this season as we prepare for Confirmation in The Episcopal Church! Fr. Chris read a quote from A History of Global Anglicanism, by Kevin Ward (2010), about the common history, faith and liturgy of the Anglican Communion. Find out more about the Anglican Communion here: https://www.anglicancommunion.org/  The history of the church, or her birthday, starts at a Pentecost celebration, almost 2000 years ago, as written in the first chapter of Acts of the Apostles. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit (or Advocate) descended upon the first Apostles and led them out to start the movement we now call “Church.” Not everyone was the same—there was diversity in language, culture, and more from the beginning of Christianity. As Christianity initially spread, it remained in unity about the faith, but the particular expressions were different across different places and times. The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D./C.E. set down the Nicene Creed and clarified central pillars of the faith. The Canon of Holy Scripture also came into clearer focus, giving us the selection of books that are in our Bibles today. Finally, Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire; as the religion of the state instead of a minority of people, it changed a lot of things for the early Christians! Christianity continued to spread, including a leap over to the British Isles. The Church of England is one of the groups that break away from the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther expressed differences and then broke away first, but England was not far behind. One of the main motivations was about power; the church having political and monetary authority over people in many kingdoms was challenged by King Henry VIII, who also challenged the spiritual authority of the church. Both of these challenges led to King Henry VIII separating the English church from Rome. And yes, a divorce was involved too; listen to learn more! Also involved was translating the Bible into the language of the people, as well as the prayers. This led to one of the greatest gifts to the church that the English church has offered, the Book of Common Prayer. Yet they did not depart from the tradition of the church any more than necessary. The polity and structure of the church changed, but the belief in God stayed central. **One correction: Fr. Ben misspoke. William Tyndale penned the Tyndale version of the Bible, a precursor to the King James Version.** Reflection Question: If you would change anything in the church, what would you change, and why?

Why Christianity? To answer that question, first we are asking what do Christians believe. What we believe is summarized in our creeds; both the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed. Just joining us? We're so glad you're here for Season 4. This is a new recording of our topic from Season 2-- Confirmation-- with a new member of our team and a fresh take on three important questions: Why Christianity? Why The Episcopal Church? and Why St. John's? Join us & our youth this season as we prepare for Confirmation in The Episcopal Church! Read the Apostles Creed below as you listen along to the episode. I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. The Apostles’ Creed covers a ton of ground. First off, we believe in God— one God. God is the creator, and God created the world, and the universe. We believe science might help us learn how God created, but we learn why God created in the first three chapters of the Bible (Genesis 1-3). We are also creators– we are made in the Image of God who creates, and so it is so important for us to have a creative outlet as well. God is also the Father, because Jesus called him father; but that does not exclude God’s feminine side. It names God as a parent, in relationship with Jesus and with us. It names God as who God is, not what God does for us. God is bigger than any human words, labels, or adjectives we can use to describe God. The second part of the Creed talks about Jesus. We talked about how Jesus descends to the dead, and we talked about how our ancestors imagined the realms of Heaven and Earth and how that informed their early beliefs. We talked about the limits of our understanding of God and what we can learn from the Bible, too! The third part of the creed talks about the Holy Spirit, and the church. We believe the Spirit is the guiding force in our daily lives, our prayer, and our discernment– listening for how God speaks to us. We talk about the catholic, or universal church, and we talk about the universal message of Jesus Christ. We talk also about the future– life everlasting, resurrection, and Christian hope. What is it that we believe about the future? In the end of the day, it is all about Love. Reflection Questions: What do I believe? What do I struggle to believe?

Welcome back! Season 4 will be a new recording of our topic from Season 2-- Confirmation-- with a new member of our team and a fresh take on three important questions: Why Christianity? Why The Episcopal Church? and Why St. John's? Join us & our youth this season as we prepare for Confirmation in The Episcopal Church! What is confirmation? It is a sacrament, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritually grace. The outward sign is the Bishop laying their hands on the confirmand, and the inward and spiritual grace is the Holy Spirit joining with you as you make a mature profession of your faith.  After a season of learning, we ask young people to make their own decision if they want to be confirmed! What does it look like to get ready for Confirmation? Nowadays, we take confirmation classes, go on retreats, and listen to podcasts! It continues with a religious ceremony of initiation; where we confirm the person’s choice to be a follower of Christ. This happens in the context of the Baptismal liturgy; a Bishop lays hands, calling the Holy Spirit down upon the person and the confirmand makes their own vows to be a Christian. We teach (catechize) to get people ready to make these vows in a mature way, as they are making a serious commitment! Other things we do to prepare for confirmation is to look at our past and present lives and how we may have strayed away from God and each other, or sinned. Fortunately, this is not where the story ends; we are assisted and led by God’s Grace! Grace is God coming to us and meeting us where we are and loving us; rather than us having to pull ourselves up on our own to get to God.  This episode we also covered the history of confirmation. The first moment that it appears is when the Holy Spirit descends upon those who were already Baptized (Acts 8:15-17).  This is the first moment we see where we can discern something like “confirmation.” For a long time, these two sacraments were inseparable; but as the church grew, Bishops delegated Baptism to priests, and would confirm Christians only once in a while at each church when they visited. That way, people did not have to wait for an apostle or bishop to visit them. We also talk about emergency Baptism (!!), Baptism in general, and whether or not Confirmation still matters! We find that at St. John’s it does. People are joining by Confirmation and reaffirming their faith every year. To learn about that faith and to get ready to be confirmed, we’ll have six more episodes and ask three Big questions. Make sure you are listening to the season 4 versions as they are published this month! Why Christianity/Why be a Christian? (Episodes 2 and 3) Why the Episcopal Church? (Episodes 4 and 5) Why be a member of St. Johns? (Episodes 6 and 7) That’s confirmation— we are so glad you are listening and we hope asking these questions and having these conversations helps you in your faith journey— whether you’re in confirmation, listening along as a member, or if you’ve found us online and are learning more about us. We’re glad you’re here. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions or to schedule a pastoral visit or conversation!

This Episode, Fr. Ben and Fr. Chris welcome The Rev. Alan B. Cowart, Rector of Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, VA! We discuss what contemporary worship is, how our liturgies change over time and what things stay the same, and what contemporary worship looks like in other parts of the Episcopal Church! If you’re listening before December 21, 2022, join us at 6:30p in Magill Hall to be a part of our Contemporary service. If you’re listening afterwards, we hope this will be edifying as you consider your own spiritual practices during the Advent season and beyond as we consider this season how we do worship in The Episcopal Church. Show Notes: Our Opening Prayer is from Enriching our Worship 1, p. 52— authored by St. Gertrude! What is a contemporary service? First of all, the Book of Common Prayer is meant to be contemporary. It is something that has changed and is meant to evolve with the communities that use it for worship. Part of the conversation about contemporary worship involves technology— just as the printing press changes how people could access the Bible and their prayers, now Zoom and video possibilities affect how we share the Bible and our prayers! St. John’s has used a “contemporary” prayers of the people written by Fr. Ben. We also talked about the Concert for the Human Family, which happened after recording. Great news; they are coming back to Roanoke the last weekend in January for Diocesan Convention! Another part of the conversation is about music— there is a vast diversity of musical styles that are used in worship in our denomination. How might those who are familiar with different musical styles be welcomed into our tradition? How does music of all styles help us transcend the moment that we are in as we worship God, who is timeless? Music is also a great comfort, especially traditional music that has been part of the hymnal(s) for centuries. A given song (Amazing Grace) can be played “traditionally” or in contemporary style, and that might appeal to different people, and it might surprise those who prefer it one way and hear it in a different way! We talked about repetition vs. change with music, and with the prayers we use and what the advantage and disadvantage of each are. How will our worship connect with those who are here… and those who are not here yet? We can always ask who is not in the room, and that drives our conversation on how our liturgy reflects the world around us. When we try new things in our Liturgies, we give it our all; and so join us as we try new things in worship this coming week! Read more about our Advent program at https://www.stjohnslynchburg.org/news-and-updates/advent-at-st-johns-2022 Find out more about the Contemporary service (Dec 21 at 6:30p) at our episode page: https://www.stjohnslynchburg.org/news-and-updates/s3-e4-contemporary-service

Season 3 Episode 3 This Episode, Fr. Ben and Fr. Chris welcome Peggy Haas Howell, Organist and Choirmaster of St. John’s, to talk about Taizé! We learn about the community, the worship style, and how this might be a peaceful way to pray this Advent season. If you’re listening before December 14, 2022, join us at 6:30p to be a part of our Taizé service. If you’re listening afterwards, we hope this will be edifying as you consider your own spiritual practices during the Advent season and beyond as we consider this season how we do worship in The Episcopal Church. Show Notes: Our Opening Prayer is from one of the many Taizé resources that we will draw from in our service on Wednesday, December 14th at 6:30p. Peggy found out about Taizé for the first time when visiting Europe and decided to visit in person for the first time; we can begin our journey in learning about Taizé for the first time by visiting them online: https://www.taize.fr/en Their community then was incredibly open; and still is. People come as pilgrims and stay for a short or long period of time. Early on they took a freewill offering, and now they offer very low rates to stay with them and experience their worshipping community. We discuss thin places— those geographic places where we feel closest to God. What are your thin places? We also discussed the style of Taizé, some of which we will replicate. Fr. Ben and Peggy even sang a piece— Magnificat Animamea Dominum - Translated “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” We also sang “Bless the Lord my Soul.” Fr. Ben also encountered Taizé in his youth group setting as a way to worship and to pray. Every morning the community and those who want to contribute rehearse for the evening worship— Taizé takes hard work to put together, even though in the moment it feels so organic! Our service will include meditation and quiet, time to reflect on scripture; it will be a true time to come and rest in the Lord. You can come and participate whether or not you feel called to sing! We’ll follow “An Order of Worship for the Evening” on page 109 of the Book of Common Prayer. Read more about our Advent program at https://www.stjohnslynchburg.org/news-and-updates/advent-at-st-johns-2022 Find out more about the Taizé service (Dec 7 at 6:30p) at our episode page: https://www.stjohnslynchburg.org/news-and-updates/s3-e3-taize-service

This Episode, Fr. Ben interviews special guest Fr. Steve Rice, Rector of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We discuss all sorts of aspects of worship and history, from saints, to good ol’ fashioned Bible religion. If you’re listening before December 7, 2022, join us at 6:30p to be a part of our Sung Mass. If you’re listening afterwards, we hope this will be edifying as you consider your own spiritual practices during the Advent season and beyond as we consider this season how we do worship in The Episcopal Church. Show Notes: People often try to define Anglo-Catholicism based on a style or practices; but an Anglo-Catholic would define themselves as a Christian, a Catholic Christian, one who wants to be a member of the Church. By Catholic, we mean universal— one who believes that which is believed by people all over the world, throughout the ages. Our setting does not matter as much as our approach to what is happening in church, at the Altar— the meeting place of Heaven and Earth, where the once-perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ is made present to us in the Eucharist. Arthur Tooth Imprisoned for putting candlesticks on the altar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Tooth#/media/File:Arthur_Tooth_Vanity_Fair_10_February_1877.jpg Where did Anglo-Catholicism start? In England, in the 1840’s. It started (of course!) with a sermon by John Keble. Full text of John Keble’s sermon is available here (it’s long!) http://anglicanhistory.org/keble/keble1.html Fr. Steve covers lots of reformation history in just a couple minutes in the episode. Rusty on your Anglican/British History? There are many great resources that cover this time period. Fr. Ben read a lot of historian Diarmaid MacCulloch in seminary who has a book on the Reformation called Reformation: A History. We talk about our annual vigil, called the Gesthemane watch, from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday. Find out more next Holy Week; the watch will be April 6th-7th, 2023. We also discussed Saints and those who have already passed away; how do we talk to or about those who have passed away? What other ceremonies or rituals do we practice in our lives that might seem strange in a church setting, or vice versa? What does the word Mass mean? Pope Benedict XVI compares the Mass to Missa - Mission. The Mass is our mission. Book of Common Prayer Rubric (instruction) about the priest facing the altar is on pages 333, 361, 365, etc. Read more about our Advent program at https://www.stjohnslynchburg.org/news-and-updates/advent-at-st-johns-2022 Find out more about the Sung Mass service (Dec 7 at 6:30p) at our episode page: https://www.stjohnslynchburg.org/news-and-updates/s3-e2-anglo-catholic-worship