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Are you Anglican or Episcopalian?
- August 06, 2020
- by
- Steve Macias
I recently transferred as a priest from a Continuing Anglican jurisdiction into the Reformed Episcopal Church.
To which many have asked, whats the difference between an Anglican and an Episcopalian? Not much, the terms are actually similar to the use of Presbyterian and Reformed. One related to the style of church government and the other to a historic brand of theology – but both often overlapping in meaning and members.
Are you Anglican or Episcopalian?Yes. Let me explain.
The Church of England traces its origin back to the ancient...
“The English Church Before It Was Roman”
- July 18, 2020
- by
- Steve Macias
Did Anglicanism begin with Henry VIII? How did Christianity get to the British Isles? What is Celtic Christianity?
On the Feast of St. George (England’s Patron Saint) Father Macias outlines a view of Church history that describes the conciliar goals of the English Reformation and the historic authenticity of an Apostolic, Orthodox Anglicanism.
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Commencement Address at St. Andrew’s Academy, 2020
- July 18, 2020
- by
- Steve Macias
I spoke for less than 20 minutes on milestones for Christian high school graduates using the “smart by 20, married by 30, and rich by 40” formula.
St. Andrew’s Academy is a private, preparatory school in a beautiful rural area of Northern California. The Academy is a parochial ministry of St. Andrew’s Church, of the Diocese of Mid-America, Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), with Ray R Sutton, PhD as the bishop (also the Presiding Bishop of the REC) and Bishop Walter Banek, assisting. St. Andrew’s Academy is a founding member of the Anglican Schools Association.
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The “Beefeaters”
- July 18, 2020
- by
- Steve Macias
There’s a bit of folklore that teaches that the British “Beefeaters” that protect the Tower of London and Crown Jewels are named such because of their diet. Some say they were actually paid in chunks of beef, others say eating mostly meat made them premier soldiers, and others describe a regal arrangement in which they could eat as much meat as they wanted from the royal court.
They represent a certain ideal in my mind. They live in the routine and ritual of the Tower of London – a living...
The Historic Case for Paedocommunion (Child Communion)
- July 18, 2020
- by
- Steve Macias
“Those who say that infancy has nothing in it for Jesus to save, are denying that Christ is Jesus for all believing infants. Those, I repeat, who say that infancy has nothing in it for Jesus to save, are saying nothing else than that for believing infants, infants that is who have been baptized in Christ, Christ the Lord is not Jesus. After all, what is Jesus? Jesus means Savior. Jesus is the Savior. Those whom he doesn’t save, having nothing to save in them, well for them he isn’t Jesus....
How is God called Father?
- July 18, 2019
- by
- Steve Macias
Our most basic statement of faith, the Apostles’ Creed sets forth the essential truths about how we are to understand the Christian God. This Creed begins with, “I believe in God the Father Almighty” as the foundational statement of Christian theology and serves to articulate the first leg of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The term “God the Father” applied to the first member of the Godhead is later complemented by the identification of Jesus as the “God the Son.” Identifying these two persons of the Trinity with titles...
The Father-Leader
- October 18, 2018
- by
- Steve Macias
I sat across the table from a father holding his beautiful five-month-old daughter. On my lap, I have my own infant son and another of mine, a toddler, underfoot. Somewhere in between the prattling about of these tiny humans, we were actually able to get a few complete thoughts out. Through the years, one particular thought has come up in our conversations over and over again, “what can we do to ensure our children stay in the faith?” Neither of us was raised by what we...
The Unlikely Ascension of Jesus
- May 25, 2017
- by
- Steve Macias
The Ascension of Jesus can be a confusing scene. It is to be counted among the high holy days of the church calendar. Events on the church calendar are limited to items of theological significance, which is why the nativity (Christmas), passion (Good Friday), and resurrection (Easter) of Christ are memorialized with such pomp. Yet the Ascension is easily the least understood of the great feast days. This is to the detriment of the modern church which desperately needs to recover the meaning of the Christ ascended on high.
A Textual...
Prayer of Humble Access
- March 18, 2017
- by
- Steve Macias
The historic prayer book of the Anglican Communion, “The Book of Common Prayer,” includes some controversial prayers. Despite often receiving praise as a work of the Reformation, its verbiage can also feel uncomfortably Catholic. Its emphases on saints and sacraments can seem wetted from the pen tip of Thomas Aquinas rather than Thomas Cranmer.
One such prayer is entitled the Prayer of Humble Access:
“We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not...