tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-141860942026-01-30T04:32:14.952-08:00The thoughts and sermons of a recently ordained Anglican priest beginning a new ministry in a parish of the Diocese of Rupert's Land, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.comBlogger239125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-77959955358350962072010-03-19T12:49:00.000-07:002010-03-19T12:51:58.951-07:00

You have seen them and so have I: bright, enthusiastic young people leading worship, heading out on short term mission trips, collecting food for the food bank. And we think, “Ah, the future of the church is in good hands.”But what happens to those young people in the years that follow? Do they fulfill their potential for church leadership. If so, why? And if not, why not?Check out the rest of

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-11946503923323924952010-03-05T15:05:00.000-08:002010-03-05T15:11:19.861-08:00

Part 1 begins here, and part 2 (on Clement of Rome) continues here. Part 3 (on Flannery O'Connor) can be found here. Part 4, on Sufjan Stevens, can be found here.The Wrestler When the Christianity Today movie blog reviewed Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, commenter Roland gave the film one star, and wrote the following: My one star comes from if I would recommend this for Christians. Im not

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-1754673536153483902010-03-05T14:17:00.000-08:002010-03-05T15:12:09.742-08:00

Part 1 begins here, and part 2 (on Clement of Rome) continues here. Part 3 (on Flannery O'Connor) can be found here.Sufjan StevensSufjan Stevens, an American Episcopalian and song-writer, offers another theological perspective on violence, this time from pop culture of a more recent vintage. In 2005 Stevens released a song on the album, Illinoise, about serial killer and rapist "John Wayne Gacy

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-78285657683797946822010-03-05T12:20:00.000-08:002010-03-05T14:15:49.863-08:00

I find myself in a relatively unique place in my church, and among my peers. Or maybe more accurately, because I find myself in this church, I also find myself in a unique place among my peers. Because so many of my peers, who both grew up within and without the church, no longer find themselves within the church, I find myself relatively alone. Since my vocation is within the church, I spend

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-64089604829751251012010-01-08T10:27:00.001-08:002010-01-08T10:28:10.957-08:00

I found these while preparing the Anglican preaching component of my Anglicanism class: every volume of Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae, for free download.Internet Archive Search: horae homileticaeEnjoy!

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-15657947555613850212009-12-11T14:33:00.000-08:002010-03-05T14:30:39.909-08:00

Part 1 begins here, and part 2 (on Clement of Rome) continues here.Flannery O'Connor When novelist and short story writer Flannery O'Connor spoke to Eastern Lansing High School in 1956, she "said that modern writers must often tell perverse stories to shock a morally blind world. Later, when she addressed Notre Dame that same year, "O'Connor insisted that her own use of the grotesque was meant

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-66053764632166533662009-11-13T15:04:00.000-08:002010-03-05T14:28:56.640-08:00

Part 1 begins here.Around the time that the gospels were being written out, and a generation after the Apostle Paul had written to them, another letter was sent to the Corinthians, this time from Rome. There had been a leadership change at Corinth, and Clement* was not happy about it. So Clement wrote to Corinth in order to urge the usurping leaders to desist, to repent from their pride, to

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-89707630535860436702009-11-13T11:18:00.000-08:002010-03-05T14:27:45.508-08:00

I had the opportunity to present a keynote address to the Canadian Institute for the Study of Pop Culture and Religion in September. As I prepare my manuscript for publication, I will be posting the sections here. Enjoy!A number of years ago, as I listened to Johnny Cash's American Recordings for the first time, I was taken aback. The first track on that album was a re-recording of Cash's

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-80935322378991044492009-10-06T16:27:00.000-07:002009-10-06T16:36:35.871-07:00

Seeing as I wouldn't want to rain on any Franciscan parade, I thought I would post this post-feast. It was upon hearing this story that I knew, for certain, that I am not a Franciscan:. . . they had already gone more than two miles, and Brother Leo, full of surprise, said to him: "Father, I pray you in God's name tell me in what consists the perfect joy."And St. Francis replied: "When we arrive

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-19181171491094364842009-09-29T16:19:00.000-07:002009-09-29T16:24:57.686-07:00

From The Anglican Planet RSS feed:Once again the Archbishop of Sudan has issued an urgent appeal in the wake of rampant violence. On Aug. 29, in Wernyol, a town in Southern Sudan, at least 40 men, women and children were killed, including the Ven Joseph Mabior Garang who was shot at the altar during Morning Prayer. Many more were wounded. Garang was Archdeacon of Wernyol and the Archbishop's

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-52510696368069909362009-09-21T11:55:00.000-07:002009-09-21T12:06:55.352-07:00

Compare:I love rotten tomatoes. Not the produce—the website. RottenTomatoes.com is a movie ranking website that aggregates reviews from hundreds of journalists and movie reviewers, and then charts how “fresh” a film is based on the percentage of positive reviews. If a film only racks up 18 percent on the “Tomatometer,” I know it’s probably not worth my time or $20.The collective wisdom of the

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-20371671366676664792009-09-09T15:12:00.000-07:002009-09-09T15:20:46.525-07:00

I have the opportunity to speak on September 26th, at a symposium on pop culture and religion. My address is called “The Power of God Has Broken Our Complacency Like A Bullet in the Side: Notes of Grace and Violence in Popular Culture”, and will range from First Clement, to Flannery O'Connor, Sufjan Stevens, Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, The Wrestler, and even a bit on Joss Whedon.Come out and join us

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-78349959252226233702009-06-25T12:18:00.000-07:002009-06-25T12:39:05.110-07:00

We may be prepared to grant that the resurrection of Jesus has opened a new era in world history. Even this, however, takes some doing. [The] anti-Christian rhetoric of the last two hundred years in the Western world has done its best to deny such a thing. Most of us have a Pavlovian reaction to the claim about the present kingdom that the New Testament makes. We instantly want to talk about the

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-29387949006342820982009-05-23T18:04:00.001-07:002009-05-23T18:08:03.549-07:00

The classic Christian doctrine, therefore, is actually far more powerful and revolutionary than the Platonic one. It was people who believed robustly in the resurrection, not people who compromised and went in for mere spiritualized survival, who stood up against Caesar in the first centuries of the Christian era. A piety that sees death as the moment of "going home at last," the time when we

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-24465581686899028312009-05-02T12:46:00.000-07:002009-05-02T13:03:13.864-07:00

From The Anglican Planet RSS feeds:On April 12, Bishop Don Harvey, moderator of the Anglican Network in Canada, informally welcomed St John’s Sudanese Anglican Church into the year-old organization. With 5,000 Sudanese in the Greater Vancouver area, many with an orthodox Anglican background, there seemed to be a clear need to plant a Sudanese Anglican church.One wonders if this will be a pattern

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-35516466111010609232009-04-30T13:54:00.001-07:002009-04-30T14:39:21.533-07:00

I preach regularly here at St. Mary Magdalene that God is working in the hearts of the people in our neighborhood, training their hopes and desires, and that by grace he may well lead these strangers to us. I also pray regularly for the same: that God would be at work in the people of St. Vital, drawing them unto Himself, and that if it might be pleasing to Him that He would send them our

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-74551296745472869442009-04-14T13:44:00.001-07:002009-04-14T13:51:43.395-07:00

Flowering the CrossThe Procession of the Flowered CrossPhotos by John Chan, 2009

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-48532543107601997052009-04-14T13:42:00.001-07:002009-04-14T13:44:40.370-07:00

Photo by Preston Parsons, Good Friday, 2009

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-20272763007083506632009-04-07T13:42:00.000-07:002009-04-07T13:47:57.100-07:00

Photo by Preston Parsons. Bavarian Crucifix, 12th century, detail. Louvre, Paris.

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-8369098411969107652009-04-06T13:00:00.000-07:002009-04-06T13:01:59.554-07:00

A lot can be made, and a lot has been made, about the precise words of the centurion at the foot of the cross. The rub seems to be that there is no definite article in the greek, leading the NRSV to translate the centurion's saying as "truly this man was God's Son." Being Greek, the centurion probably didn't mean to say that "truly this is the Son of God," a phrase we might hear more

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-38797848726646511162009-04-03T15:19:00.000-07:002009-04-03T15:26:40.137-07:00

Holy Week is nearly upon us, a time when we join together and mark the most significant of celebrations in the whole liturgical calendar.We begin this Sunday morning at 10:30am with Passion Sunday. We will hear the passion of Jesus according to Mark, but we will begin with the Liturgy of the Palms, celebrating the triumphant entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem with palm branches and a procession

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-91661202936891063552009-04-03T12:49:00.000-07:002009-04-03T13:44:59.788-07:00

Collis Machoko is a Zimbabwean Anglican priest currently serving in Rupert's Land. He spoke at St. Mary Magdalene not long ago - this course will be fascinating and worth your time.I have a call into the Department of Religious Studies to see about auditing as I will be unable to attend all the sessions. If you're interested, get in touch with the department here.

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-90902472318318940282009-03-06T11:46:00.000-08:002009-03-06T12:10:35.554-08:00

Those who neglect good works may fail to grasp just how much the good work of God has benefited them. Hence they are less capable of praying fittingly so as to receive good things from God. And even as they receive them, they will likely be unaware of what has been given them. And even if they enjoy them, they will not enjoy worthily what they have not understood. For from their lack of knowledge

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-82150579433165288632009-02-24T13:17:00.000-08:002009-02-24T13:20:03.326-08:00

I've been struck, for the last two Sundays, that both RCL passages from Mark end with the notion of secrecy. There have been a number of theories about this secrecy, some bordering on the conspiratorial. I think the answer is much simpler than that, and they have to do, at least in the past two weeks, with the completion of the good and the beautiful.When Jesus cleanses the leper, healing him

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14186094.post-81051531740159689822009-02-05T14:49:00.000-08:002009-02-05T14:54:32.345-08:00

I'm happy to announce my Lenten series for 2009:On Thursday evenings at 7:30pm during Lent, the Rev'd Preston Parsons will lead a series called Crazy Monks and Holy Bishops: The Story of the Seven Great Synods, where we will listen to the people and explore the circumstances that led to the essentials of Christian reflection on God, Mary, and worship (among other important things). We will end

Prestonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06606614277818623347noreply@blogger.com2