“The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer Almost 90 years ago during the struggles that led to World War II, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was actively sharing his thoughts on living as a Christian. He wrote the book Gemeinsames Leben (“Life Together”) during that…
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Prayer is an opportunity to commune with God and lay burdens at his feet, and a recent event at Orlando’s Cathedral Church of St. Luke represented this process in a tangible, emotional way. On May 19, the Rev. Canon Patricia Orlando hosted and Dr. Christin Ditchfield Lazo facilitated a guided prayer walk through a labyrinth…
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All Saints, Winter Park, was the setting for the 2023 Mockingbird Orlando Conference, The Urgency of Grace, held Jan. 20 and 21. “One hundred seventy-five Christians, young and old, male and female, attended,” said Mockingbird founder and conference speaker David Zahl. “I was very pleased that the demographics were split 50/50.” “The primary goal of…
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Theological. Practical. Pastoral. Anglican. These four words capture the heart of the Cranmer Lecture series, co-sponsored by the Diocese of Central Florida, with funding via a grant received from Lilly Endowment Inc., and Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando, Oviedo. Named after Thomas Cranmer, first archbishop of Canterbury and compiler of the Book of Common Prayer, the…
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What began as a way for The Very Rev. Dr. Reggie Kidd to connect with God during the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown has now become a five-day-a-week podcast that reaches out across platforms to help others do the same. With his “Daily Office Devotions” podcast, Kidd, dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Luke,…
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There can be no doubt that Dr. Garwood “Gar” Anderson, who has served as dean of Nashotah House, an Anglo-Catholic seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin, since 2017 and has taught at the school since 2007, is an academic. After 17 years of various positions on different college campuses with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship (1984-2001), he served on…
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In communication ahead of the evening, The Rev. Canon Dr. Justin Holcomb asked that the first annual Cranmer Lecture, a free event co-sponsored by the Diocese of Central Florida and Reformed Theological Seminary Orlando in Oviedo on the evening of Jan. 6, 2022, be “pastorally powerful and academically rigorous.” And according to Holcomb and others,…
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Editor’s Note: The following is an edited excerpt from The Rev. Canon Dr. Justin S. Holcomb’s new book, God With Us: 365 Devotions on the Person and Work of Christ (Baker Books, 2021). The study of Christ (Christology) expands upon a simple yet elegant line from George Herbert that captures two essential features of the…
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“Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; 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.” BOC p. 251 The Rt. Rev. Gregory…
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You might say The Rev. Becky Toalster, rector of Holy Trinity, Bartow, was born for Cursillo. Her family and church heritage in the movement stretch back for many years. “My parents attended Cursillo in this diocese when I was about 3,” she said, adding, “I grew up in a very Cursillo-centric congregation, St. Stephen’s in…
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