u/leviwrites

I already have my dream hymns picked out
Procession: “Sing We of the Blessed Mother” (prefer Abbot’s Leigh, but I understand not wanting to deviate from the hymnal).
Offertory: “Virgin-Born We Bow Before Thee”
Communion Hymns: “Now My Tongue the Mystery Telling”
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
Post Communion: Chanted Angelus
Recessional: “Sing of Mary, Pure and Lowly” (prefer Pleading Savior as in 1940 Hymnal)

I’m really getting hurt by friends and family saying that they don’t want to go to the Episcopal Church because they don’t want to read out of a book every Sunday. It may be fair to say that having your nose in the prayer book (or the bulletin) can be distracting from the Mass, but if you’ve experienced it a few times, eventually you can just put the bulletin off to the side. But what hurts the most is that the Apostles worshiped in this way. The Apostles learned the Eucharist from Christ himself, and it has been handed down to us these 2000 years later.

Neglect of the Eucharist is something deeply disturbing to me. A family member says that he doesn’t need to go to church to get to Heaven, but I just want to shake him and say that’s not the point of going to church. The point is that the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. In the Mass, we are rejuvenated by the reception of the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Creator of the Universe. The soul’s hunger for the Eucharist cannot be denied by flippant indifference. It is in reception of the Eucharist that we are made whole and united to our Savior on Calvary’s Hill.

How do we make Protestants understand that without receiving the Eucharist from an ordained priest with valid Apostolic succession, they do not have the fullness of the Christian faith? Why are their eyes so clouded when Jesus says, “Those who do not eat my flesh and drink my blood have no life in them”? I am absolutely heartbroken by the mistreatment of the Eucharist by our fellow Christians

I’m struggling with whether to stay in the Episcopal Church or go fully Catholic. When I travel, I like going to Catholic churches because I know that there will be a huge crowd of people (no one is really going to talk to me besides maybe, “Have a great week!”), the hymnody is going to be beautiful (Growing up Disciples of Christ, I grew up with the best Protestant hymns and the best Vatican II OCP classics), and I’m going to get a full Gospel centered message and not some new age, vague Ted Talk about embracing your identity yadayadayada…

I have backed myself into a corner recently. I was approved by my Episcopal diocese to start the discernment process. I was frustrated with my church, and I’ve already attended the Catholic church in town off and on. I started going to Catholic Mass before Episcopal Mass. I never receive in a Roman Catholic church because it would be lying (admittedly I received a few times in college when I thought I would rebel).

But on Facebook I saw a flyer for a “Why Be Catholic?” session. I decided to go because I thought it would just be some kind of low stakes question and discussion type thing. It even said no commitment necessary. It’s actually what the parish calls OCIA. I was given schedules, an intake form, a missal, a subscription to “Formed”, a catechism book. The catechist very explicitly said if you disagree with anything in the catechism, you can’t be Catholic. I sat down with the catechist one on one. I sat down with the pastor one on one. I admitted my sexuality and that I would struggle to stay celibate. Now I’m afraid that if I don’t confess to all the gay sex that I’ve had at my first confession, I’ll be denied entry into the Church by the priest. But if I confess to it for lip service and hop on Grindr after the Easter Vigil, then I am a shameful subhuman liar. But the priest did give me some good advice which was that since I was struggling with whether to start OCIA or not, I should probably pause the discernment process.

I decided that the next day, I would rip the bandages off. I texted my “Pilgrims” group (It’s basically a catechetical community specific to my church) that I needed to pause the discernment process, and one reason was that I had been splitting my time at the Catholic church. And then when my priest texted me (I know I should’ve manned up and called, but I was at work) saying that he had all kinds of ideas for how I could serve as laity (continuing to be an altar boy, preaching the homily occasionally, resurrecting a youth ministry) I basically told him that I was needing to take a step back from the parish because of theological and political problems.

Now my bishop has agreed to meet with me about my qualms with my current church. He is a former Catholic (as is my current priest), so I know he will be offended if I say that I started OCIA. Or maybe he can provide insight on why I’m feeling this draw. Anyway, I’m definitely nervous about this, but also blessed that the bishop has agreed to meet with me!

But I’m kind of interested in completing OCIA and going to the young adult group at the Catholic Church because right now I don’t have many friends my age, and I feel like if I have to just avoid talking about being gay, that might be worth it to make some social connections with people my age. And I’ve seen at least one gay couple at the parish (they’re sides on Grindr, if that makes any difference to living out their call to celibacy), so maybe outside of the catechist and the pastor, I would be more or less accepted for being non celibate.

Wow, this has devolved into way more than what I initially intended to share. My main question is, “For those of you gay Catholics who have sexual partners, why stay Catholic? Why not become an Episcopalian where you can freely talk to your priest about sexual experiences and relationships?” I’m not trying to sway anyone. I just want to hear your perspective (maybe some guidance for going forth in this situation).

I have a few last minute things: I don’t want to burn a bridge with my current Episcopal priest or my parish. Maybe I already have by bringing my concerns to the bishop. But also, I feel like if all is naught to me but Christ, then even burning the bridge will be worth it for voicing my genuine concerns for liturgical abuses (I will link a previous post in the comments for context). Also, I feel like if I drop out of OCIA, the pastor will only begrudgingly shake my hand after Mass and I certainly won’t be invited to the young adult group. Ugh this is so hard.

TLDR: Since gay people are officially not allowed to have sex in the Roman Catholic Church, but they can in the Episcopal Church, why do you all stay Roman Catholic?

The statistic that something like 70% of Catholics think that gay marriage is okay often gets rebutted by how many Catholics think that the Eucharist isn’t really the Body of Christ (which seems entirely anti Catholic). So my question is, what other beliefs are there that are official beliefs but not many people actually believe them? As an outsider, is anything ever up for debate in the parish hall even if assent to the official Church teaching is ultimately the default? Such as if I voiced that I wasn’t sure if Mary and Joseph had a celibate marriage or that I think women can be deacons, would it go over about as well as suggesting that two men can have sex?

I’m an Episcopalian discerning becoming a Catholic. My priest and I have a great relationship. We text, go out to eat, and have regular one on one meetings. But when it comes to Mass, I find myself shuffling in the seat a lot. For example, he once said, “Don’t be like Jesus, be yourself.” He believes that the institutional church doesn’t have a monopoly on Jesus. He’s preached before that Christianity is a way, but not the only way. And most strikingly, at a wedding Mass, he made substitutions to the Gospel of the Good Samaritan to, “Contextualize it for the audience.” He replaced “Samaritan” with “Gay couple” along with changing “Pharisee” to “church leaders”, the names of cities to local areas, “coin purse” to “debit card”… at that point it’s not the Gospel. It might work as a homily, but you can’t just substitute words in the Gospel and present it as the Gospel. I know I should’ve manned up and talked about this in person, but instead I sent him a paragraph about all my theological issues with what he’s preaching.

I guess my questions are: Does this sort of thing ever happen in a Catholic church? Is it right to confront a priest when you think he is in error (I know you don’t believe that Episcopal orders are valid, but as a faithful Episcopalian, should I assent to my priest? Is this enough to abandon my church?)?

I’m highly considering becoming Catholic, but I have one hang up: I love gay sex. I know a priest and the OCIA catechist will never ever tell you it’s okay to have sex, but in practice…are there gay people in the church who don’t stay celibate? Are there any churches where a gay couple is maybe not accepted but at least tolerated as in you’re not going to get yelled at if you go to coffee and donuts after Mass

I got a phone call from my manager because I texted her, “Is this chick coming to work?” in regards to the person who comes in after me. There’s a few things. With the nature of our job being guest focused, I can’t leave until the next shift comes in. This person has also frequently shown up half an hour late, no-call no-showed, and called in “sick” over the past ten months making the rest of of us scramble to cover her. The manager also frequently complains about her to other employees. But apparently calling her “this chick” was a step too far.

I want to point out that the manager will say things like, “You need to find out when the fuck they’re leaving,” over the work phone. She’s also sent us some condescending emails and she’s always yelling at us. It just seems kind of ironic that she’s counseling someone on professionalism when her professionalism leaves a bit to be desired. I emailed her manager and bcc’d corporate hr. He said he’s going to take care of it

In most states, compulsory attendance laws are in place to keep students showing up to school. But when a kid is just completing apathetic and not turning anything in or participating in any activities, the state should be stepping in to get them back on track. A lot of the time, this stems from neglectful parents who don’t give a shit about their child. It can also stem from undiagnosed mental health problems or disorders. If the state is going to force children to attend school, what’s the point when the student can just sit in class on their iPad and say, “Fuck off,” to their teachers all day?

First thing’s first, I have no intention of converting to Judaism, and I understand that modern day Judaism is not the same as the religion Jesus grew up in…namely there’s no central temple where burnt offerings are offered for the remission of sins. But I’ve always been curious to visit. I know that the “Catholic”/ Apostolic church tradition is the most similar in form to ancient Judaism in its ritual and observances. There’s a synagogue a block away from my church. I was wondering if any Episcopalians have visited before?

What’s the proper etiquette for observing? If there’s tallits for the men at the door, do I put one on? Do I sing hymns with them? Do I pray since we are praying to the same God?… Or do I refrain because they don’t believe in the Trinity? Do I stand when they stand, bow when they bow… Or do I just sit in the back and watch?

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not a binding dogma in Anglicanism, but it is a pious legend which many Anglicans accept or are more or less indifferent to. However, the recent history of the Church has led to this belief to become more prevalent with the collect of August 15 being,

“O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”

And hymns and stain glass windows depicting the Assumption. This belief is not necessarily universal, but also not necessarily niche. I was wondering if there was a niche group of Anglicans who believe that St. Joseph joins his holy spouse in their Son’s bodily resurrection. In the Old Testament, we read that Elijah was bodily taken up into Heaven on a chariot of fire. And reading The Transfiguration and the letter of St. Jude, we can surmise that Moses was raised in body and soul to Heaven. So there is a Biblical basis for God raising exceptionally holy people in body and soul into Heaven. Who is more holy than Jesus’ father and mother?

Being that Mary is sharing in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, giving us a foretaste of the hope that we all share, doesn’t it make sense that Jesus would raise His glorious foster-father to complete the family that He called His own? Joseph who cradled the infant Jesus to his bosom, taught Him the skills of manual labor, taught Him the prayers of his forebears, and was privileged to fall asleep with the Lord at his bedside is the silent prophet connecting the Old Testament to the New Testament. He has no recorded words, but his profound actions speak for themselves.

Now the same logic may apply to others too. If Jesus’ holy parents share in the bodily resurrection, what about his siblings: James, Jude, Simon, Joses, and at least two sisters? What about Anne and Joachim? Or the parents of Joseph? Well, we’re not talking about them right now, but I’m interested in learning. There’s a pious legend that St. John was raised, so I was wondering if this extended to Joseph

Does this communion hymn have potential in an Anglican church?

This hymn was kind of dictated to me while I was walking around at college. I just started thinking, “Come, O weary pilgrim and rest your tired feet. Pause on your journey. The Lamb for you now spreads His Feast,” as I was walking through town several miles from my dorm room. I wish I read music, but how I want to describe it is that the words “Come” and “Pause” would have a rest of equal value after them before the rest of the chorus proceeds, and then the chorus would resolve the musical tension created by the dramatic thump of the opening word. Then, the verses would be creating movement. And an idea I had was that the ending word of each verse would replace “Come” in the chorus, so each verse would flow directly into the chorus without any breaking. Here it is

©️ u/leviwrites 2026

“Come, O Weary Pilgrim”

(>!Refrain:)!<
&gt;!Come, O weary pilgrim,!<
&gt;!And rest your tired feet.!<
&gt;!Pause on your journey:!<
&gt;!The Lamb, for you, now spreads His Feast.!<

&gt;!“If you love me, feed my sheep.!<
&gt;!Dry the eyes of those who weep.!<
&gt;!When you do this for the least,!<
&gt;!You have fed and tended me.”!<

&gt;!Refrain!<

&gt;!Christ was once a traveler too.!<
&gt;!Joseph led Him to refuge.!<
&gt;!Wandering in a foreign land,!<
&gt;!In His mother’s gentle hands.!<

&gt;!Refrain!<

&gt;!Preaching up and down the hills:!< 
&gt;!To the woman at the well;!<
&gt;!To the weakest by the pool.!<
&gt;!By His Hands we are renewed.!<

&gt;!Refrain!<

&gt;!Jesus brings the Eucharist now,!<
&gt;!In the Bread, His Body found,!<
&gt;!In the Cup which He ordains,!<
&gt;!Jesus knows our every pain.!<

&gt;!Refrain!<

©️ u/leviwrites 2026

\*\*\*this hymn was originally written by u/leviwrites. Any performance of such must have his written permission. Any publication of this hymn under a different author is strictly prohibited. Violators may be prosecuted.

This hymn was kind of dictated to me while I was walking around at college. I just started thinking, “Come, O weary pilgrim and rest your tired feet. Pause on your journey. The Lamb for you now spreads His Feast,” as I was walking through town several miles from my dorm room. I wish I read music, but how I want to describe it is that the words “Come” and “Pause” would have a rest of equal value after them before the rest of the chorus proceeds, and then the chorus would resolve the musical tension created by the dramatic thump of the opening word. Then, the verses would be creating movement. And an idea I had was that the ending word of each verse would replace “Come” in the chorus, so each verse would flow directly into the chorus without any breaking. Here it is

©️ u/leviwrites 2026

“Come, O Weary Pilgrim”

(>!Refrain:)!<
>!Come, O weary pilgrim,!<
>!And rest your tired feet.!<
>!Pause on your journey:!<
>!The Lamb, for you, now spreads His Feast.!<

>!“If you love me, feed my sheep.!<
>!Dry the eyes of those who weep.!<
>!When you do this for the least,!<
>!You have fed and tended me.”!<

>!Refrain!<

>!Christ was once a traveler too.!<
>!Joseph led Him to refuge.!<
>!Wandering in a foreign land,!<
>!In His mother’s gentle hands.!<

>!Refrain!<

>!Preaching up and down the hills:!< 
>!To the woman at the well;!<
>!To the weakest by the pool.!<
>!By His Hands we are renewed.!<

>!Refrain!<

>!Jesus brings the Eucharist now,!<
>!In the Bread, His Body found,!<
>!In the Cup which He ordains,!<
>!Jesus knows our every pain.!<

>!Refrain!<

©️ u/leviwrites 2026

***this hymn was originally written by u/leviwrites. Any performance of such must have his written permission. Any publication of this hymn under a different author is strictly prohibited. Violators may be prosecuted.

I think that if we had a preface for every lectionary reading, we could tie the Eucharist more neatly into the overall theme of the day. Here’s a few I came up with so far:

Epiphany 2 C:

“Because at the Wedding Feast of Cana, at the bidding of Your Blessed Mother, You gave us a foretaste of Your Eucharistic Presence in the transformation of water into wine before Your merciful passion and glorious resurrection which we now glorify in these sacred mysteries.”

Lent 3 A:

“Because by revealing Yourself as the Christ to the Samaritan women at the well, you illuminated the way for the Samaritans, the Gentiles, and the whole earth to adore you in Your Paschal Mysteries.”

St. Mary Magdalene July 22:

“Because on that glorious first Easter morning, You revealed to Mary Magdalene the Risen Christ, who knows and calls us by name, and sent her forth to the Apostles to spread Your Holy Gospel.”

I know that fidelity to the Book of Common Prayer is the mark of a good Episcopalian, but I also know that some churches add to the liturgy because unlike our Roman brothers and sisters, we don’t have the rule that no priest shall add or subtract from the liturgy. A few additions I’ve noticed are including the bidding prayers at the offertory:

“Pray brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Father.”
“May the Lord accept your sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of His Name, for our good and the good of all His Holy Church.”

And I know a lot of priests have their favorite of the “Secret Prayers” that they pray before the Eucharist. It’s just that these are not prescribed universally to the clergy in our church (which makes sense because how are you supposed to prove whether you said them or not).

I just think that if the Agnus Dei is chanted at the fraction, then it makes sense for the priest to say the verses from John 1:29 and Revelation 19:9 especially with the growing number of the faithful who wish to include the prayer of humble access, either in the traditional Anglican form or directly from the centurion’s bidding.

“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 worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.”

Or

“Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the words and my soul shall be healed.”

Is this only allowed in the Missal Mass? I understand not wanting to be a carbon copy of the Roman Catholic Church, but I also see so much value in how these prayers enhance the Eucharist

I know that most parishes are subscribed to the lectionary inserts provided by Church Publishing, and I was wondering why they printed an antiphon for each Responsitory Psalm (or reading if it’s different). Every Episcopal church I’ve been to has either chanted the Psalm all the way through or read them responsively or by whole verse (actually I did go to a large cathedral in the south which did the antiphon as a congregation after two verses). A priest in college said it was r*****ed to read the antiphon after each verse. So I’m wondering, are there parishes out there that have the cantor or choir sing the verses and then the congregation respond with the antiphon? Is this more common than my anecdotal evidence? If they publish the Psalms this way, why don’t they publish a version with the antiphon set to music as is the case with the back of the hymnals in most Roman Catholic parishes?

In my catechism class a few months ago, a rather eccentric Boomer said that they’d been on the diocesan committee to general convention before, and that they keep voting on writing a new creed since it’s been a long time since Nicea. In my opinion, the laity should be better catechized as to why we use the Ecumenical Creed in our worship and how removing it would damage all Ecumenical relations we have left…almost as much of a big no no as changing the Baptismal formula

What was the process like? Did your parish sing it a few times before sending it off? How did you fine tune it? What publisher did you send it to?

I have a few hymns I’d like to send to a publisher. I’m thinking OCP would probably be the best followed by ILP, but I’m open. This is the general idea:

1. An 80s guitar mass, post Vatican II Eucharistic hymn

2. A hymn about St. Mary of Magdala

3. A hymn about St. Joseph

4. A rewrite of “Angels We Have Heard on High” as an Easter hymn

We can trade Gmails in the DMs

I was the altar server at an lgbtq+ Episcopal wedding today. I noticed a few things that were different than other weddings that I’ve been to. There was no congregational singing. But it only lasted about half an hour. I know a lot of Episcopal weddings have a reputation of being really long. The priest read the parable “The Good Samaritan”. He substituted “G@y couple” for Samaritan and also made a few more substitutions like “debit card” for coin purse. At the consecration, everyone stayed seated because it was 90% non-Episcopalians. At the Eucharist, only members from our church came up to receive. I could hear people talking about how gross it was that we all used the same cup. But overall, it was a lovely wedding. The couple has been through a lot of family drama, but the church came together to help them out. Their parents ended up coming as well! It was a lovely day and a beautiful testament to the love of Jesus.

• “Where you don’t have to check your brains at the door”

Do you know how incredibly pretentious you sounds? You really think that out of the 2 billion Christians in the world that only a few million Anglicans believe Christianity is compatible with LGBTQ+, Genesis is not a literal history book, and Jesus was a radically loving egalitarian? Let’s stop with the elitism with statements like this. Notwithstanding, an Episcopalian doesn’t need to be extremely intelligent and top of their class to engage with our faith. This is a faith that should be accessible to everyone regardless of background, race, ability, gender, etc. Instead express some beliefs that we do have. Take the plank out of your own eye before condemning the dust in your neighbor’s.

• “The Anglican Church doesn’t tell you what to believe”

You’re right, we don’t force anyone to believe anything. We offer a lot of latitude for believing in the non-essentials: How The Real Presence works, the title “Lord”, the intercession of the saints. But we also do have a catechism that is expected to be adhered to: We believe in one God; Jesus is the Son of God; We worship the Triune God: Father, Son; and Holy Spirit; the Sacraments are tangible signs of our invisible God. We have a common liturgy which embodies, “Lex orandi, lex corendi,” which means what we pray is what we believe. There’s a lot of flexibility, but in what the Church deems essential, we are called to be unified.

• “Where are all the kids?”

Your parlor and fellowship hall have the same decor as the era that shag carpet in a bathroom and fake wood paneling was the peak of socialite culture. Your nursery has baby dolls with broken arms and saliva from the 1990s still matting down their hair. Every midweek event you have is at noon on a weekday when kids are at school and everyone under 65 is at work. Instead of hosting VBS, or dare I say partnering with another church, you vacation to your summer home and the church reduces all of its activities to the bare minimum. Yeah, I wonder why the kids don’t come like they used to.

This post was too spicy for the Episcopalian subreddit 😔