Setting up a personal website is a troubling business. I am not speaking about the trouble of rummaging through thirty years of hard and soft files of miscellanea, much of it occasional in purpose and often only half-finished. No, the trouble is deeper: what is a Christian minister, make that a Christian of any stripe, doing exalting himself on the worldwide web? Well, here are my excuses.
Author: Stephen Noll
THE BELLS OF CHRIST CHURCH ANGLICAN with a Postscript on South Carolina
This past Sunday afternoon I attended a marvelous concert by a youth bell choir titled the “Bells of Christ Church.” The “Christ Church” referred to in the program is Christ Church Anglican in Savannah, Georgia. The program went on to …
Contention 8: PREPARING FOR GAFCON IN SEVEN CONTENTIONS
I have been preparing for Gafcon for a long time – a quarter century at least, although I did not know it at the time. Last year I began to assemble and edit my writings in a book, The Global …
Contention 7: LAMBETH SPEAKS PLAINLY (That Was Then)
The year 1998 was the last time the Lambeth Conference spoke plainly. That it did so was something of a miracle. The Communion Establishment had carefully prepared an agenda whereby the innovations of homosexual ordinations and same-sex “blessings” in the …
Contention 6: TRINITY SUNDAY: GOD THE FATHER’S DAY
Have you ever thought about the fact that the Church observes several major feasts for God the Son (Christmas, Easter, Ascension) and one for God the Holy Spirit (Pentecost), but none for God the Father. I am not sure why …
Contention 5D: WHAT DOES JUSTIN WELBY THINK ABOUT SAME-SEX MARRIAGE?
What does Justin Welby think about same-sex marriage? The answer seems to be, in the words of Herman Melville’s fictional character Bartleby the Scrivener: “I would prefer not to…”
Contention 5C: THUMBS SIDEWAYS: THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND RESPONDS TO TEC
The Episcopal Church USA (TEC) is hoping for a welcome response to its new doctrine and practice of same-sex marriage. The reply from England is, however, neither thumbs-up nor thumbs-down but rather thumbs-sideways.
Contention 5B: WHO IS COMING TO THE EPISCOPAL WEDDING RECEPTION?
Two hallowed principles lie behind my question. The first is the principle that praying shapes believing (lex orandi lex credendi). Here is an example of this principle. When we pray “Our Father, who art in heaven,” the prayer shapes our …
Contention 5A: THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND TRIAL [USE] MARRIAGE
By pressing the “Track Changes” button, I can strike through anything and then at my leisure [delete it] altogether. And that is what the Episcopal Church USA (TEC) is doing with its Prayer Book and in particular the service of …
REDISCOVERING THE TAPESTRY OF SCRIPTURE: Understanding Its Plain and Canonical Sense
Imagine yourself standing in front of one of those huge old tapestries that one sees hanging in a cathedral.[1] You immediately notice the intricate weaving into rich patterns of themes taken from the heavenly throne scene of God and the …
Contention 4: WHO MOVED? GAFCON AND PROPHETIC TRADITIONALISM
Here is a tale that you can only appreciate if you are old enough to remember the days when cars had a bench front seat. It goes like this: a middle-aged couple are out for a drive when they notice …