r/Episcopalian

We're all well aware that the general episcopal population is a bit...geriatric.

I've heard the best thing the church could do is a massive push to get young people into the priesthood (I'm assuming "younger" means anybody under 40 or 50). I guess the idea is that a younger priest will attract a younger congregation?

How do you feel about this?

I searched this but a lot of the recommendations just drop the name of the podcast without context, and as someone with a very young baby it would take a lot of time to sort through it!

Hi! I'm a seeker who has spammed this sub a couple times already (sorry!) I am currently taking shifts with my lovely wife caring for our fussy less-than-one-week-old while also dealing with a fussy almost-fourteen-month-old. Audio has been my lifeline during this time.

The podcasts I've listened to and enjoyed are all Orthodox and in the Ancient Faith style: Lord of Spirits, The Areopagus, Full Counsel of God. I'm curious if there's any podcasts that y'all could recommend me from an Episcopal or Anglican background that scratch the same kind of itch as any of these topics: evangelical deconstruction, heavy history-informed Bible study, and topics like saints, angels, ancient paganism as it relates to God, and Tradition. I'd love recommendations and will try to give a listen to anything recommended.

Thanks a bundle!

I visited a small town TEC parish for the first time today, and while it was a wonderful and uplifting experience, I was a little disheartened that I was the only person under the age of 30 there, and my 13 month old was the only child in the parish. This made us immediately popular, of course, but if I was to consider it a long term home it would be challenging to be the only young family in a parish full of what were probably retirees.

The parish I’m visiting from is Eastern Orthodox, and it‘s overflowing with littles and young families so I suppose I am slightly spoiled by my experience there.

Is it probable that I was in an unusual parish? Or are these demographics super common? While they wouldn’t necessarily completely discourage my inquiry, it would be a hurdle to leap for me and my family.

I attend a large, affirming parish in the middle of a progressive city. We have a good number of gay men, trans people, a small handful of older lesbian couples, but it's only me and one other cis queer woman under the age of 50.

I know we're in the church, I have out-of-state friends who are and stuff, but it's sometimes kind of lonely/isolating at church. Genuinely wondering if I'm the only cis queer woman Episcopalian under 30 in my entire city or even state lol. Even at my old parish, gay men and transgender people greatly outnumbered cis queer women.

My parish celebrates Patriotic Sunday on the Sunday after July 4 and I wanted to know how common that is or what those services look like elsewhere.

To be honest, it’s a weird Sunday but we’re a deep purple congregation and stopping it would be contentious. I think a handful of the old folks appreciate it but it feels inauthentic to the younger, newer members.

I'm currently looking into getting a BCP so I've been doing some on which version to get. I have narrowed it down to the 1979 edition and the 2019 edition. How are they different from each other and which one will help me most in a US episcopal church?

So the first thing I want to say is, I don’t know a lot about the Episcopal church other than it’s Catholic adjacent but in America, at least it’s accepting of lgbt on a national level

My question is, how does the principle of treating everyone when dignity apply to a church that is say in a small town in Alabama I am not saying that the specific church in question is disobeying the national church I simply am saying that I am concerned that they could be because it is the only church that I know of that might be accepting of me near where I live

And what is the likelihood they will respect my name

I’m updating the text to just say thank you to everyone who has tried to help or give advice. Have a blessed day.

Does anyone know why TEC has a Feast of Sts. Agnes and Cecelia of Rome on January 21st rather than a Feast of St. Cecilia on November 22nd like the Roman Catholics and Discontinuing Anglicans?

As a chorister, I've been observing November 22nd in my own way for many years only to now see that our date is on the other side of the Christmas music season.

I just moved into my new place in Michigan and I'm looking forward to attending the Episcopal church nearby tomorrow. I still have a lot of unpacking to do but it'll be nice to get out and do something. It'll also be nice since its my first time attending an Episcopal church in about 14 years. Just thought I'd share :)

Anyone else have any stories of coming back to the Episcopal church after time away?

Does anyone have experience they can share regarding the Order of St. Luke. I’m referring specifically to the ecumenical and dispersed order not the Order of St. Luke Physician that focuses on healing ministries. I know the order was founded by Methodists, but now appears to include a significant number of Episcopalians and Lutherans.

I’ve found a couple large print, but none of them are complete.

I am new to the faith and have been reading up on how to approach the bible. I know the bible was written throughout 1500 years (longer when considering the old testament) by several authors who had their own human perceptions/biases, etc. And on top of that it's translated by people who will inevitably approach it with their own beliefs. I think acting like the bible can't be "contaminated" and is meant to be taken literally is ridiculous.

But taking all that into consideration, I feel like I don't have much to hold onto. Because if the bible isn't God's word in pure form, faith just feels like I'm holding onto oral storytelling from thousands of years ago. Has anyone else struggled with this? How do you approach it?

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been reading a lot of Dale Allison recently (Christian NT scholar) and he is one in a long line of scholars that point out the major thread in the Synoptic Gospels that positions Jesus (among many other things) as an apocalyptic prophet.

Delayed eschatology is a tough enough subject when we are talking about Paul, but when its words attributed to Jesus in the Gospels it adds an even more challenging layer.

It leaves a few options (and probably more), none of which are ideal for me:

- Jesus Himself truly preached about a near-term apocalypse and it did not come to fruition as He expected

- The Synoptic Gospel writers “exaggerated” this part of his teaching (later corrected by John, epistles?)

- We totally misread the near-term eschatological declarations across the gospels

Heavy topic for a Friday evening (at least in the USA) but this community never fails to give balanced and pastoral thoughts.