Christ Church Plano

Big Questions: Why Does God Allow Suffering?

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 19:06:13 +0000

Please enjoy the recording of Bishop Paul’s message, addressing why God allows suffering…

We all carry big questions—about suffering and goodness, science and faith, love and forgiveness, life and death. Rather than avoiding them, the Big Questions series invites us to explore them together. At our monthly Women’s and Men’s Breakfasts, we’ll take one question at a time and explore how the life and teaching of Jesus speak thoughtfully, humbly, and hopefully into the deepest longings and tensions of human life. These gatherings are designed for life-giving conversation, and they’re especially meaningful for anyone who is curious, skeptical, searching, or simply wanting to go deeper.

Night at the Cathedral: Religious Liberty in American History

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:52:21 +0000

As part of the 250th anniversary of the American founding, Christ Church hosted a thoughtful lecture and conversation on the meaning and history of religious liberty. Historian Dr. Miles Smith of Hillsdale College explored how the Founding Fathers understood the religious freedom enshrined in the First Amendment and considered how those ideas continue to shape conversations about politics, faith, and public life today. Co-sponsored by the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, the evening also marked the inaugural Turnbull Memorial Lecture. Listen to the recording below.

Big Questions: What Comes Next?

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:20:08 +0000

Please enjoy the recording of Bishop Paul’s message, unpacking what the Bible teaches about heaven.

Abuja Affirmation: A Night with the Leaders of the Global Anglican Communion

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:49:30 +0000

Archbishop Laurent Mbanda, Chairman of the Global Anglican Communion, and Bishop Paul Donison, General Secretary of the Global Anglican Communion, shared updates from the recent Global Anglican meetings in Abuja, Nigeria, and reflected on what these developments mean for the life and future of the Anglican Church around the world.

Big Questions: Is It Arrogant to Say Jesus Is the Only Way?

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:32:23 +0000

Please enjoy the recording of Bishop Paul’s message, answering the question, “Is it arrogant to say Jesus is the only way?”

Big Questions: Can We Trust the Bible?

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:27:54 +0000

Please enjoy the recording of Bishop Paul’s message, answering the question, “Can we trust the Bible?”

This We Believe: An Ecumenical Seminar on the Nicene Creed (Recordings)

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 18:31:07 +0000

Seventeen hundred years ago, hundreds of bishops gathered in the ancient Greek city of Nicaea to define the fundamental beliefs of the Christian faith, producing a creed that continues to unite Christians across traditions. On Saturday, September 6, four theologians representing Roman Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, and Presbyterian traditions came together to explain what the Nicene Creed affirms and why its words remain vitally important for Christian faith and life today.

Session 1 | Dr. Stephen Presley

Maker of Heaven and Earth: Nicaea and the Nature of God
Click below to listen to the audio recording of Dr. Stephen Presley’s session in This We Believe.

Session 2 | Dr. Jonathan Bailes

Of One Being: Jesus and the God of Nicaea
Click below to listen to the audio recording of Dr. Jonathan Bailes’ session in This We Believe.

Session 3 | Dr. Mark McDowell

One Salvation: The Promise of Nicene Christology
Click below to listen to the audio recording of Dr. Mark McDowell’s session in This We Believe.

Session 4 | Dr. James Lee

One and Holy: The Church Visible and Invisible
Click below to listen to the audio recording of Dr. James Lee’s session in This We Believe.

Hope and Calling: Why and How We Can Engage the Cultural Moment

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 22 May 2025 23:00:00 +0000

Audio recording from Night at the Cathedral 2025 with John Stonestreet.

At this special dinner seminar, Bishop Paul welcomes John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center, to speak on how we can engage the difficulties of our cultural moment with the joyful confidence and realistic hope of those who follow a risen King.

We Are the Stories We Tell

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 14:38:08 +0000

Audio recording from A Night to Unwind 2025, our women’s spring dinner and fellowship night.

Featured speaker, Annie Crawford, is an educator and cultural apologist whose passion is to help others look at the world around them and see that all truth is God’s truth. Her talk delved into the role of storytelling in faith, values, and relationships and led us to discern how to better shape the meaning of our own lives.

Night at the Cathedral: On Parenting

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 01:51:00 +0000

Dr. Holly Taylor Coolman invites parents to step back from to-do lists and a “management model” to radically re-center our lives as parents. She offers a vision of life with our children that is joyful and life-giving, rooted in community and love, and she shares lots of practical suggestions for how to get there.

1 – Parenting Presentation

2 – Parenting Q&A

Dr. Holly Taylor Coolman answers parent questions in conjunction with her presentation on parenting.

Night at the Cathedral: Engaging Culture

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 09 May 2024 00:36:00 +0000

The culture around us has changed and, as Christians, we are often at a loss of how to respond to such changes. Thankfully, we are not the first to encounter such a challenge. Join us as we learn from the wisdom of early Christians and from the various ways that they engaged the non-Christian culture around them. Guest speaker Dr. Stephen Presley leads this dinner seminar, with panel discussion by Dr. Alex Fogleman and Canon Dr. Jonathan Bailes.

Speakers:

Dr. Stephen Presley works with pastors, educators, and students to help promote a positive vision of religion for the public square. He specializes in drawing from great Christian thinkers (especially in the early church) to help Christians navigate this cultural moment today.
Dr. Alex Fogleman is a scholar of patristic theology, catechesis, St. Augustine, and theological accounts of human flourishing. He is an author, professor, lecturer, and program director with Baylor University.

1 – Presentation

Following an introduction by Bishop Paul Donison and the Rev. Canon Dr. Jonathan Bailes, Dr. Stephen Presley leads this presentation on engaging culture with insights from the early Christian church.

2 – Panel Discussion

The Rev. Canon Dr. Jonathan Bailes hosts a panel discussion on the topic of engaging culture with guest presenters Dr. Stephen Presley and Dr. Alex Fogleman.

Letter from Archbishop Mbanda on Paul Donison’s Consecration as Bishop

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 01:00:00 +0000

Dear Brothers and Sisters within our Gafcon family,

On behalf of the Gafcon Primates, it is my joy to announce the upcoming consecration of our General Secretary, the Reverend Canon Paul Donison, as a Bishop in our Lord’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic church on 4 February 2024 at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kigali, Rwanda.

At our November 2023 meeting in London, the Primates passed a resolution asking that Dean Donison be consecrated, as the role of General Secretary is episcopal in nature: guarding and expanding the mission and unity of the Church, and helping to convene the Councils of the Church.

In December 2023, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Rwanda agreed to consecrate Dean Donison as Bishop if the ACNA College of Bishops approved. Furthermore, in January 2024 the synod of the Metropolitan Diocese of Gasabo unanimously resolved that Dean Paul be consecrated as assistant Bishop of Gasabo Diocese.

On 9 January, 2024, the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), consented to the proposal that following his consecration, Bishop-elect Donison will be transferred to the Anglican Church in North America, and Invested as Vicar General of the Texas Deanery of the Anglican Diocese of the South. A service of Investiture and Celebration of his New Ministry as Gafcon General Secretary will be held at Christ Church Cathedral, Plano, Texas, USA, on 17 February 2024.

One of Gafcon’s priorities is to raise up a next generation of global leaders, and the Primates are unanimous in our conviction that Paul is the right person to assume this office “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

I ask your prayers for Bishop-elect Paul, his wife, Monika, their daughters, and for our whole Gafcon movement.

If you are planning on attending the Consecration on 4 February in Kigali, Rwanda, please contact the Reverend Stephen Saano at saanostephen@gmail.com
If you are planning on attending the Investiture on 17 February in Plano, Texas, USA, please contact the Reverend Robert Kincaid at robertk@gafcon.org

Faithfully, yours in Christ,

The Most Rev. Dr. Laurent Mbanda
Chair, Gafcon Primates ’Council
Primate & Archbishop of Rwanda

Dean Paul Elected as Gafcon General Secretary

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

In November 2023, the Global Anglican (Gafcon) Primates, with the consent of our Vestry, elected Dean Paul Donison to be the new General Secretary of Gafcon. As he continues to faithfully serve as our Rector and Dean, he will help to lead Gafcon’s global staff and leaders. Please review the following FAQ for more information about this new role.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gafcon?

Gafcon (the Global Anglican Futures Conference) is a global family of authentic Anglicans standing together to proclaim the unchanging Gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the lost. Guarding the “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3), this missional and reformational movement is led by a Primates’ Council comprised of the senior Archbishop of each national or regional member Province. Beginning in 2008 a world-wide conference has been convened every 5 years for the purpose of encouraging and equipping biblical orthodox Anglican bishops, clergy, and laity in mission, and to discerning together what the Spirit is saying to the churches in our day (Revelation 2-3). Gafcon represents approximately 85% of the 85 million Anglicans worldwide.

What is the General Secretary’s role?

The Gafcon General Secretary leads the global staff and regional leaders in implementing the vision and decisions of the Primates’ Council, chaired by Archbishop Laurent Mbanda (Rwanda). Whether communicating stories from the mission field, planning conferences, connecting regions, fundraising, administering global initiatives, or encouraging those persecuted for biblical faith, the General Secretary is responsible for delegating and directing a worldwide network of leaders.

Is it manageable for Dean Paul to serve as both Rector/Dean and General Secretary?

Yes, because the priorities are clear. The General Secretary (Dean Paul), the Chairman (Archbishop Mbanda), our own ACNA Primate (Archbishop Foley Beach), and our Vestry all share the conviction that Christ Church Cathedral Plano will remain Dean Paul’s primary ecclesiastical responsibility. Gafcon comes second, and, as such, Dean Paul has refused to receive additional remuneration for his role as General Secretary. It is common within the Anglican world for church leaders to take on additional unpaid roles that serve the broader church. For example, our own Archbishop Foley serves as the Primate of an entire Province, the Bishop of a Diocese, and until recently served as well as Chairman of Gafcon. With much prayer, wise delegation, and careful planning we believe this is manageable and life giving; but the emphasis on prayer support from the congregation cannot be overstated.

How will Dean Paul’s new role benefit the life and ministry of Christ Church?

From its founding, Christ Church has always been committed to partnering with and learning from the example of other faithful Anglicans from around the world as we go about the work of proclaiming Christ in our own community. Dean Paul’s new role as General Secretary of Gafcon will ensure that we continue to support and learn from Anglican brothers and sisters around the world, and that our participation in global relationships and shared ministry will grow even stronger.

How much will this role take Dean Paul away?

Some global travel will be required, but the commitment is to have Dean Paul home and in the pulpit most Sundays. The Cathedral is blessed with gifted and faithful clergy and staff, and in our digital age the Dean can continue to lead his team effectively even when on global assignment.

Explain the request that Dean Paul be made a bishop?

The Primates’ Council unanimously believes that this is an episcopal role for the guarding and furtherance of the mission of the Church. Dean Paul follows two Archbishops who previously held this post, and the Primates’ believe that being consecrated a bishop is vitally connected to this call and the fulfillment of the mandate that Gafcon has put before him.

Following good Anglican order, Archbishop Mbanda and Archbishop Beach are discerning the best way to carry out the request from the Global Primates. As decisions are made we will be sharing more details.

If the ACNA agrees to make Dean Paul a bishop, will he become “our Bishop” here at the Cathedral?

No. Archbishop Foley will continue to be our Diocesan Bishop, and therefore be the chief shepherd over all the congregations, clergy, and people of our diocese. If consecrated as a bishop, Dean Paul would continue to serve as Rector and Dean under the authority and oversight of our Diocesan Bishop, Archbishop Foley.

How can we pray for Dean Paul in his new role as General Secretary?

This is the Gafcon prayer that the Primates commend to all members of our global family for regular petition:

Eternal God and gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ died for our redemption; commissioned His disciples to preach the good news; and sent the indwelling Holy Spirit in every generation to embrace and proclaim salvation in Christ alone: Arise and defend your Church, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. Shine the light of your Holy Word upon hearts darkened by error and strengthen the work of Gafcon so that the Anglican Communion throughout the world proclaims Christ faithfully to the nations, that captives may be set free, the straying rescued, and the confused restored. Bind your children together in truth, love, unity and courage, that we, with all your saints, may inherit your eternal kingdom, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

How Then Shall We Live?

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Sun, 17 Sep 2023 00:16:00 +0000

The Ten Commandments in an Age of Moral Confusion

Speakers:

Dr. Carmen Joy Imes, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Biola University.
Dr. Peter Leithart, President of Theopolis Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, and Cultural Studies

1 – Law as a Matter of Mission

2 – People of the Exodus: Salvation and Sabbath

3 – Bearing God’s Name

4 – Fathers Turned to Sons, Sons to Fathers

Night at the Cathedral

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 13 Apr 2023 00:29:00 +0000

Bishop Paul host a series of seminars on important topics of Christian faith and life.

September 7, 2022 – Vocation

Most Christians know what they have been saved from—sin and death—but few know what they have been saved for. One of the most common questions parishioners bring to their clergy is about vocation. “I don’t know what God is calling me to do—I don’t know how God is calling me to serve.” This special seminar is designed to help you discern your gifting, pursue your calling, and empower you to serve the Lord inside and outside the Church.

November 30, 2022 – Healing

Jesus healed people throughout his earthly ministry, and the New Testament Church did the same. How are we to understand healing today? Dean Paul discusses why Christians should still be praying for healing, and how to do so in a way that is biblical, faithful, and pastoral.

April 12, 2023 – Storytelling Colossians

Encounter, examine, and experience the entire book of Colossians in one evening. Bishop Paul brings the epistle to life through dramatic storytelling and Fr. Jonathan unpacks each chapter as a scholar. Together we hear, read, mark, learn, inwardly digest, and even see, God’s living Word.

You’re Only Human

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 02:12:00 +0000

Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time or energy, that you should be doing more and trying harder, that somehow, no matter what you do, you just keep falling short? If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. We live in a busy and accomplishment-driven culture that often leaves us feeling both exhausted and guilty at not having accomplished more. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Speaker:

Kelly Kapic

1 – Have I Done Enough?

2 – Clocks, Stress, and Divine Presence

3 – Why Doesn’t God Just Instantly Change Me?

Partnering with Parents

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 02:22:00 +0000

Rev. Dr. Ken Wilgus, Christian Psychologist, leads seminars on various parenting topics.

January 12, 2022 – Caring for Anxiety in Teens

Psychologist Ken Wilgus explains the anxiety epidemic facing teenagers and what parents can do to love and support their children.

August 24, 2022 – Worship in an Age of Anxiety

Dean Paul Donison and Dr. Ken Wilgus host this special seminar to equip parents for the anxiety epidemic in our culture and the challenge of raising kids as devoted disciples and lifelong worshipers.

January 25, 2023 – Caring for Prodigal Children

More and more of us have family members who are not Christians or who may want nothing to do with religion. How do we show Christ’s love to children and those in our families who have turned from the way?

Saint Augustine & Modern Life

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Sun, 01 May 2022 00:07:00 +0000

Discover one of the most beloved thinkers in all of Christian history, whose works are a treasury of theology and devotion, inspiring millions to know God and love Him more fully.

Speakers:

Dr. James Lee serves as Associate Professor of the History of Early Christianity and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at SMU. His teaching specialties include History of Christianity, early Christian spirituality and the Bible, theology of Augustine, Christian mysticism, Eastern Christianity, ecclesiology, monasticism, early Christian views of the human person and salvation.
Dr. Coleman Ford serves as Assistant Professor of Christian formation and director of Professional Doctoral Studies at Southwestern. His research interests include the spirituality and pastoral theology of Augustine of Hippo, the transcendentals (truth, goodness, beauty) in the patristic tradition, virtue and ethics in the patristic tradition, Christianity in late antiquity, and the history of Christian spirituality and formation.
Dr. Jonathan Bailes oversees teaching and curriculum development as the Cathedral Theologian for Christ Church Plano. He has a passion for learning, thinking, and speaking about the revelation of the gospel and its revolutionary impact on the Christian faith and life.

1 – Desire and the Life of Prayer

2 – Augustine and His Friends

3 – Merit in Modern Life

Can We Trust the Gospels?

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Sun, 07 Nov 2021 00:02:00 +0000

Dr. Darrell Bock, a world-leading scholar on the historical Jesus, discusses the reliability of the New Testament record. Find answers to common questions about the Bible.

Speaker:

Dr. Darrell Bock is Executive Director of Cultural Engagement and Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He has earned recognition as a Humboldt Scholar and is a best-selling author of over 40 books, including well-regarded commentaries on Luke and Acts and studies of the historical Jesus.

1 – Historical Jesus to Written Gospel

2 – How the Gospels Work

3 – Those Other Gospels

Sexuality & Gender: A Christian Approach

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Sat, 11 Sep 2021 23:50:00 +0000

Think and reflect on human sexuality and gender identity from a theological and psychological perspective, to follow Jesus faithfully and show compassion to the world.

Speakers:

Ken Wilgus is a licensed psychologist and has maintained an outpatient practice for over 30 years.
Jonathan Bailes preaches and teaches at Christ Church on the revelation of the gospel and its revolutionary impact on faith and life.

1 – Understanding the Current Debate

2 – Sex and the Bible

3 – A Community of (Sexual) Character

4 – Practical Christian Responses

Compassion for Women and the Unborn

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Christ Church partners with numerous agencies across North Dallas to reach the most vulnerable in our local community and provide care, support, and relief where it is most needed.

Some of the most vulnerable in our community are women who face an unplanned pregnancy and, by consequence, their unborn children. Real Options is an advocacy ministry operating out of Collin County that provides free clinical and counseling services that prepare women to make an informed choice for their pregnancy.

Our church is a longtime sponsor of Real Options, providing financial and volunteer support to the agency and their patients. They have been in operation since 1989 and were the first pregnancy center in Texas to offer sonograms as a part of its advocacy. The organization recently expanded to reach college campuses, serving young women with education, practical aid, and spiritual healing. In 2020 alone, they met with 569 women and over half of patients considering abortion chose instead to preserve the life of their child. In addition, 69 of these women accepted Jesus Christ as their savior after hearing the Gospel from Real Options counselors.

If you wish to learn more about Real Options, make a financial donation, or serve as a volunteer, please visit their advocacy website, “Friends of RO.”

Visit Friends of RO

The Lord’s words, through Isaiah, continue to stir his Church to action today: “Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:16-17). Let us not only give thanks for the Lord’s work of justice for the most vulnerable, but let us join him in his work.

A Cathedral of Compassion

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 05:00:00 +0000

As our community continues to recover from a season of isolation, Christ Church Plano’s strategic mission partners are perhaps more vital than ever.

One of our strategic partners is the Matthew 25 Initiative, an ACNA-led mobilization effort on behalf of the most vulnerable, marginalized, and under-resourced in our communities. M25 offers financial grants that have kickstarted dozens of relief ministries across the continent, addressing issues of poverty, disability, trafficking, veteran affairs, child abuse and neglect, elderly care, and education.

Last year Christ Church became a flagship partner parish for M25, with a commitment to yearly financial investment and advocacy for the initiative within our Province. It is a joy to see the influence and impact our cathedral can have nationally as we help grow and sustain this compassionate ministry.

Map of M25 Ministry Partners

“Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).

About the Author

The Rt. Rev. Paul Donison

Rector & Dean of Christ Church

| rector@christchurchplano.org

Bishop Paul is the Rector and Dean of Christ Church Plano. Ordained in 2004, he served in several Canadian parishes before being called to Texas in 2016 with his wife and their four daughters. In 2023 he was elected by the Gafcon Primates Council as General Secretary, and consecrated as a Bishop in Rwanda in 2024. In 2024 he was appointed as Assisting Bishop for the Great Plains Missionary District (ACNA), and in 2026 was elected as General Secretary of the Global Anglican Communion. He holds degrees in Fine Arts (University of Victoria), Theology (Regent College), and is a doctoral candidate (Trinity Anglican Seminary). Passionate about the discipline of Bible memorization, Bishop Paul loves to dramatically storytell the Scriptures when he preaches.

Called to Be Faithful in Living, Faithful in Dying

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 18 May 2021 05:00:00 +0000

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Easter changes everything—especially the way Christians view and prepare for death. Because “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54) we die “in the sure and certain hope the resurrection to eternal life” (The Funeral Liturgy). Such hope means we can and should approach our death with confidence, care, and planning.

As a mentor once told me, “we are called to not only be faithful in how we approach our living, but faithful in how we approach our dying.”

Making funeral arrangements, planning a “legacy gift” to the church in your will, and choosing a place for burial or interment is a key part of our discipleship. Such decisions make your intentions clear and are a tremendous gift to your loved ones at the time of your death. Our Pastoral Care team is available to guide you through such planning.

Part of how Christ Church cares for you in this process is by providing a beautiful columbarium—a chapel behind our Sanctuary altar with niches for urns. We have just installed a new wall of niches. I encourage you to go and take a look after one of our Sunday services. Please contact our staff to reserve a niche in a location of your choice.

Monika and I have reserved our own niche, we have met with the Pastoral Care team to make our funeral plans, and we have designated a percentage of our estate to be given to Christ Church Plano upon our death as a legacy gift. Such planning gives great comfort, but it also is a practical way to live into our resurrection faith. I commend this to you as a beautiful and lasting act of your discipleship to Jesus.

Visit Our Pastoral Care Page

About the Author

The Rt. Rev. Paul Donison

Rector & Dean of Christ Church

| rector@christchurchplano.org

Introducing Pray Daily for Families

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 05:00:00 +0000

Morning and Evening Prayer fully illustrated: Pray Daily for Families teaches children simple prayers that involve their bodies and engage their imaginations.

11″x8.5″ premium hardcover book
2 offices of prayer divided into 4 memorable parts
10 full-spread watercolor illustrations

Available for store purchase in the Christ Church Bookstore

Available for online purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more
$19.99 + shipping
Bulk discounts available at 10 copies or more through Pray Daily Press

Learn more about Pray Daily on the publisher’s page.

Pray Daily Press

It’s Time to Go to Church

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 05:00:00 +0000

The most significant decision a Christian makes every week is whether they will go to church. The corporate worship of God is the principal activity of the people of God, and as the Westminster Catechism reminds us, the reason for which we were created. No other decision will so impact a disciple’s beliefs and practices than entering the house of worship on the Lord’s Day. But each month that this pandemic continues, this vital decision becomes more difficult.

Part of the problem is the digital streaming technology that has carried us through months of church closures. What began as an online necessity has become an ongoing preferred option for many who are healthy enough to return to in-person worship.

Truly, pastors need to tread carefully as we encourage parishioners to return to church because many of our high-risk parishioners will legitimately choose to stay away for some time. It is for these members of our flock that we must continue our live-stream services, pastoral phone calls, and Zoom small groups. But where a church provides in-person worship carefully following safety guidelines from the CDC, as well as local and state authorities, healthy parishioners need to be strongly encouraged to return.

When we decided to reopen our sanctuary, we required masks, social distancing, hand sanitizing, and significant changes for the administration of Holy Communion. What was particularly encouraging was to see our members who are doctors and medical professionals affirm these decisions by voting with their feet. These front-line heroes, who know this virus better than any, returned to church.

Part of our job as pastors in this unprecedented season is to teach and preach on why in-person worship is essential. The availability of a digital church experience has added fuel to perennial heresy that “I don’t need to go to church to worship God.” David’s words that “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork” (Ps 19:1, New Coverdale Psalter) are readily misused to defend the sentiment that God is better seen in a rainforest, mountain range, or vast ocean than in a church building. But David would counter such foolishness with more of his psalm lyrics, “One thing I have desired of the LORD; one thing I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of the LORD, and to seek him in his temple” (Ps 27:4-5, NCP).

David’s desire to seek God in church versus simply seeking him in the world is grounded in the vast difference between general revelation and special revelation. The Lord’s general characteristics can be seen in his creation — his majesty, his strength, his creativity. But you will never learn that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead by watching a mighty waterfall. For this special revelation, the Lord has given us his Word and Sacraments. We can, and should, read God’s Word individually to grow in our personal devotion. But only in gathered worship can we fully “hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” God’s special self-revelation in Word and Sacrament (p.598, BCP2019). And God has given us sacred places where together we can participate, rehearse, grow in, and be sent by what he has revealed to us. You don’t need to go to church to be a Deist. You do need to go to church to be a Christian.

To be clear, online services of the Word provide a vital stop-gap for those who cannot be present in church for a season. The Church has always provided special services for those in extreme circumstances, such as being shut-in, sick, or dying. These liturgies are truly means by which the Holy Spirit can convict, comfort, and sustain us in weakness. But these services are provisional and not intended to be an ongoing substitute for gathered church services. We must be careful that we do not allow a temporary provision to become the new normal. In fact, the Collect for the Recovery of a Sick Person articulates that healing’s goal is restoring a person to public worship, that “he may be restored to health of body and mind, according to your gracious will, and may give thanks to you in your holy Church” (p.664, BCP2019).

As the Church re-emerges from a long season of provisional worship, pastors have a unique opportunity to rekindle our parishioners’ imaginations regarding worship. David understands what many moderns have forgotten — that to fully behold God (as much as we can, this side of heaven) is to behold him in his ordained places of worship. “Thus I have looked upon you in your holy place, that I might behold your power and glory” (Ps 63:3, NCP). Matter matters to the God who created matter, and his Incarnation demands that we thoughtfully consider place, body, and beauty as we worship. Part of what draws people into Anglican worship is the careful ordering of our worship so the Gospel is beheld by all of our senses. These are not mere aesthetics, but a biblical commitment to the God who spends 57 chapters describing to Israel in painstaking detail how to build a place of worship and what do to in that place. Whether we contextualize all this for mission in a cathedral or a coffeeshop church plant, we believe that it is in gathered liturgical worship, in a carefully ordered space, that we most fully behold our God.

The Church in pandemic needs to grapple with the reality that the men and women of faith in Scripture could not comprehend any trial keeping them away from church for long. Believers facing persecution, plague, and national crisis continued to find ways to meet. It is an exciting time to be a pastor, tasked with caring well for our shut-ins, while also calling the rest of our flock back to church. This is the most significant decision a Christian makes each week, “for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his tabernacle” (Ps 27:6, NCP).

About the Author

The Rt. Rev. Paul Donison

Rector & Dean of Christ Church

| rector@christchurchplano.org

Leaning into Lament: Why We Don’t Have Drive-Thru Communion

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 05:00:00 +0000

It is a strange time to be a church that highly values weekly Communion. Until recently the idea that anything could keep us from gathering at the Lord’s Table on Easter Sunday was unimaginable.

But this year COVID-19 has made the unimaginable our new reality: Easter without Eucharist.

So the internet is abuzz with proposed solutions: drive-thru communion, virtual consecration, lay celebration, and the like. We will not be doing so at Christ Church Cathedral, but instead will continue to go without Eucharist in this season for theological, missional, and pastoral reasons.

Theologically, the discussions about Communion that this crisis has evoked are fascinating, but not convincing enough to change our practice. Anglicans are slow-movers when it comes to liturgical innovation. This is not because we are stuck in the mud, but because we believe that everything we do liturgically is a declaration of our theology: lex orandi, lex credendi (as we pray, so we believe). Consideration must be given to these new practices to make sure they do not diminish the sacredness of the Eucharist, and not inadvertently tokenize or commodify it.

With all due respect to those church leaders proposing new sacramental practices, it will take much longer than the few weeks we have been in shutdown to adequately consider the theological implications of these innovations.

Missionally, for the Christian, precautionary acts of sheltering-at-home and social distancing are not simply about obeying governing authorities, but about loving our neighbors. Not meeting face to face for fellowship, study, and worship is costly love during a pandemic, and yet we do it obediently as a sign of love for the most vulnerable inside and outside our congregation.

When it comes to health guidelines and state orders regarding isolation during a pandemic, the Church should not be looking for loopholes, nor worrying about being accused of too much political correctness, but rather be seen leading in efforts to eradicate this disease. And yes, I said “seen leading” because optics are really important for our mission during COVID-19. What would our non-believing neighbors say if they saw cars in our parking lot on Easter Sunday — even if they were going through a drive-thru?

As a former atheist I will tell you what many would say: “Look at those Christians caring more about their Easter practices than they do about keeping their community safe.”

Pastorally, we need to consider what the Lord might be teaching us during a season where we are separated from the Communion Table.

The faulty assumption is that this is a problem that must be solved. If only we get creative enough, if only we realize that past liturgists, theologians, and pastors never imagined such a time as ours, then surely we can reinterpret our sacramental practice in such a way that will solve this Eucharistic famine.

But what if this is not a hardship to be solved, but a hardship to be endured with faith, hope, and love? Perhaps what we need most is to call this season what it is: a season of lament. Our biblical tradition includes psalms of lament as reminders that there are moments when nothing can be done but weep and wait on the Lord: leaning into lament.

This humbling reality is particularly difficult in affluent America, where we often believe that every problem has a solution, if we just work hard enough at it. Instead, lament and suffering teaches us our frailty, our dependency on God, and grows in us a longing for redemption.

This season of Eucharistic famine is terrible, especially at Easter. But will it not be all the more sweet, therefore, when we reopen the campus and regather at Jesus’ Table?

Of this I am sure: I will never again take for granted the glory of meeting together in worship, and together sharing this meal.

So as you walk through Holy Week, above all remember this: you are in constant spiritual communion with the Triune God, not only by the means of the sacramental elements, but by means of Jesus’ body broken and blood shed for you on the Cross.

About the Author

The Rt. Rev. Paul Donison

Rector & Dean of Christ Church

| rector@christchurchplano.org

Introducing Pray Daily

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 05:00:00 +0000

A devotional aid for frequent and purposeful daily prayer, Pray Daily provides twenty-eight prayers for your week in a beautiful, portable, and durable book.

4.5″x6.5″ bonded leather book
28 offices of prayer, 4 for each day of the week
Includes seasonal and occasional prayers

Available for store purchase in the Christ Church Bookstore

Available for online purchase through Pray Daily Press
$20 + shipping
Bulk discounts available at 10 copies or more

Learn more about Pray Daily on the publisher’s page.

Pray Daily Press

An Undated Bible Reading Plan

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Every year people make new Bible reading commitments, and every year, statistically, many of those commitments are abandoned within a few weeks. One of the main reasons this happens year after year is due to missed days and the backlog of missed readings that results. So, let me suggest an alternative approach to Bible reading. An Undated Bible Reading Plan.

Now, if you have spent any time shopping for paper journals you already know that there is one major choice you need to make (beyond choosing your style of moleskin): dated or undated. I always choose undated, for the same reason that I have designed a Bible reading plan that is undated: because I will on occasion miss a day or two.

Before you give up on this blog post as a poorly veiled excuse for my lack of discipline in journaling and Bible reading, my wife and friends can report that I am comparatively quite strong in the discipline department. (Fear not, I fall down in many other ways that you likely excel in.) But disciplined or not, we are all human—which means we get sick, we get tired, we get distracted, and we cannot control what may come our way in the next 24 hours. Those with young children or those in pastoral ministry know exactly what I’m talking about. We miss days in our Bible reading plans.

But here is my main concern with dated Bible reading plans—what do I do when I miss a day or two or more? There are two typical answers offered: carry it forward or leave it behind.

For those who say “carry it forward,” they are telling us to find a bit of extra time to catch up. Extra time!? Unfortunately, this was my approach for many years. Yet I found that the backlog, like some people’s email inboxes, can quickly get out of control. I remember once going on a desperately needed 24-hour retreat at the same time as I was severely backlogged in my reading plan. I started into my backlogged readings immediately and by lunch I was caught up. But this frantic catch-up exercise left me exhausted, and I ended up sleeping off a migraine for the rest of the retreat. As I drove home, rather annoyed at myself and certainly not refreshed, I felt the Lord saying to me, “Paul, today was supposed to be about you and me talking together leisurely, and instead you chose to catch up on your self-imposed reading plan.” Epic fail.

For those who say “leave it behind” in the face of missed days, they are telling us to just skip that day and those chapters and move ahead to the next entry. I admit that this is a much more sensible approach to missed days. However, if the goal of a reading plan is to read the whole Bible—all of which is “breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)—then this strategy undercuts the original intent. So, if I really want to make sure I read each and every chapter, do I have to return to backlogging? Thankfully, no.

Instead, I commend this undated daily plan. And yes, friends, this is truly intended to be a daily plan—just a daily plan that recognizes that life happens.

Here’s What You Need

A Bible. I’m a big fan of finding a good translation and sticking with it for a long time as this assists in Bible memory.
Three bookmarks. I use little love notes and pictures my daughters have written me—so if you steal my Bible, I am coming after you.
A place where you like reading. This plan is as mobile as your Bible, but I am a fan of building habits/rituals by reading at the same place and ideally at the same time.

Here’s What You Do Each Day:

Place your bookmarks. On the first day, start by putting in your bookmarks at Psalm 1, Genesis 1, and Matthew 1.
Read 1 Psalm. Read only one Psalm to focus your reading. Nothing compares to the Psalter in centering our hearts and minds on the Lord.
Pause. Pause here and pray briefly, or longer if the Spirit moves you, in response to this psalm.
Read 3 chapters in the Old Testament. Your first day will be Genesis 1-3, the Creation to the Fall.
Read 2 chapters in the New Testament. Your first day will be Matthew 1-2, Genealogy to the return to Nazareth.
Pray. Now move into prayer in response to what you have read, and don’t forget to put your bookmarks back in.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q. Why this particular number of readings each day?

A. Though this is undated the goal is still to read daily and to accomplish at least one full reading of the whole Bible each year. As there are 150 Psalms, 779 Old Testament chapters, and 260 New Testament chapters. With 1 Psalm, 3 chapters of Old Testament, and 2 chapters of New Testament per day, in one year you will read though the Psalter 2.5 times (2.4 for those of you checking my math), the Old Testament 1.5 times (1.4 to be exact) and the New Testament almost three full times (precisely 2.8). Again, the point is that with the inevitability of missed readings, unless you miss the equivalent of 3 months, you will more than achieve your Bible-in-a-Year goal.

Q. How long will this take?

A. Each person reads at a different speed and each book reads at a different speed (Leviticus!), but in general the full set of readings will take approximately 30 minutes. And by the way, my suggestion is when you come to Psalm 119 that you read it as a whole—it was written as a whole and it is amazing to behold it as a whole.

Q. How does this fit with the Anglican Daily Office?

A. Anglicans read The Daily Office (Morning & Evening Prayer), as the title indicates, daily. And though the Anglican Prayer Book provides a lectionary, another lectionary (like this one) can certainly be used when praying The Office privately. I know that some will be prepping a pyre for me for saying so, but I believe this position is reasonable for several reasons:

The intention of The Daily Office is to get the reader through the whole Bible in a year. But, the provided lectionaries (BCP 1662, Canadian BCP 1962, American BCP 1979, etc.) do not completely achieve this goal. Some texts get skipped—sometimes for reasons of repetition, sometimes to avoid long genealogies, sometimes because a Saint Day will trump the flow of readings, but sometimes in recent years to avoid hard passages. Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s lectionary was my first crack at using a plan that would have me read everything, and I know Anglican Archbishops who use his for their daily devotions!
I recognize that this Undated Bible Reading Plan has no connection with the liturgical calendar. Therefore, for those who wish for a connection, I suggest supplementing your reading on High Feast days (or postponing this Undated Bible Reading Plan for that one day) with the seasonal lections the Prayer Book suggests.
I am only suggesting this for private use with The Daily Office. When leading it with others, I would use the provided Prayer Book lectionary.
For those who care—I know not everyone reading will, and if that is you, I suggest you skip to the next question if you are confused by the “Anglican-Speak” that follows—I use this Undated Bible Reading Plan with The Daily Office as follows: at Morning Prayer the Psalm goes in its usual place after the Venite, followed by the three OT chapters, followed by the Te Deum, followed by the two NT chapters, followed by the Benedictus. At Evening Prayer, I will either skip the psalm or just read the next in order, and then read one of the short lessons printed in the Compline liturgy, then the Magnificat, then the Comfortable Words from the Communion Liturgy, and then the Nunc Dimittis.

Phew! Now that I’ve made my apologia that this Undated Bible Reading Plan doesn’t undo my Anglicanism, one final question.

Q. What if I like this idea, but this is simply too much to read in one sitting for me right now?

A. Daily Bible Reading is like exercise, the more you do it, the more you grow in your daily reading capacity. But also like exercise, if you go too hard too soon, you’ll hurt yourself and give up (thus the yearly millions that gyms make from unused memberships). If this is too much to start, try this: 1 Psalm, 2 OT chapters, and 1 NT chapter. You’ll still get much of the OT done in one year and you’ll get through the Psalter 2.4 times and the NT 1.4 times.

Let me close by encouraging us all with a fabulous Anglican prayer:

Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

About the Author

The Rt. Rev. Paul Donison

Rector & Dean of Christ Church

| rector@christchurchplano.org

Omitting a Word, Unifying a Family

webmaster@christchurchplano.org (Christ Church Plano) — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 05:00:00 +0000

Friends,

Each Sunday you are participating in the intentional healing of a family division that is more than 1,000 years old!

Let me explain. For the last three weeks, in the third paragraph of the Nicene Creed we confess that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father” but we no longer say “and the Son.” You were probably expecting something bigger than what may seem like a small editorial issue? Well, ask a Christian from the East (think Greek, Russian, Syrian, many of whom attend Christ Church) and you will realize quickly how huge this omission is. This small phrase—actually just one word in the Latin: filioque—was one of the primary reasons for the first worldwide Church schism: the East-West Schism of the Eleventh Century. My Facebook account has lit up over these past few weeks with parishioners from Eastern backgrounds saying “thank-you!”

Without getting caught in the weeds on this issue, let me say four short things about an issue that could demand four volumes.

First, omitting the filioque does not change our theology of the Trinity. Though some would disagree with me, I am sticking to my guns on this one, and for a fuller discussion of this issue I commend the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s statement on this. To keep it simple, I follow the example of Maximus the Confessor (c. 580 – 13 August 662), who argued that much of this is an issue of language and emphasis rather than differences in doctrine.
Second, omitting the filioque is a return the original form of the Creed. This ancient form was composed during two Ecumenical Councils of the Church (Nicea, 325AD and Constantinople, 381AD). Ecumenical means universal and worldwide, with all the world’s Churches represented. However, the West (i.e. Rome) began adding the filioque without the calling of an Ecumenical Council. The East was left out of the decision. It really was a breakdown of family communication that has fermented over more than a millennium.
Third, omitting the filioque is to follow the direction of the Worldwide Anglican Communion on this issue. As early as 1888, the bishops of the Anglican Communion have been recommending that we use the original version in worship as a means to bridge a deep divide. This was formally passed at the Lambeth Conferences of 1978 and 1988. And in 2013 our College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) agreed unanimously that the original version of the Nicene Creed without the filioque would be the normative use for our churches. They allowed for churches to retain the use of the Western version if they desired—but when I read “normative,” I read “directive.” I may be so bold as to say that all ACNA churches should be doing this, unless they can provide a really compelling reason not to.
Finally, omitting the filioque is to model our devotion to the Fellowship—one of our key devotions from Acts 2:42: “And they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ Teaching, and the Fellowship, and the Breaking of the Bread, and the Prayers.” We need to model unity within the Church, perhaps more than ever before. The world is watching, and though there are many legitimate divisions that will arise over doctrine, let us never show the world division over historical missteps.

Jesus’ last prayer to his Father before his Passion was that his followers would be unified for the sake of their witness. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21 ESV).

So, whether or not you are interested theologically or historically in the finer points of this issue, let me invite you each Sunday to realize that you are part of a reunification of the Church of Jesus Christ. You are participating in a tiny, yet profound, liturgical act that anticipates Jesus’ prayer coming true in our day. To the Glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.