101 Reasons to Be Episcopalian

Louie Crew

• Publisher: Morehouse Publishing
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9780819219251
• eBook ISBN: 9780819225566
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

A delightful compendium of insightful, disarming, and sometimes funny reasons why Episcopalians are members of the Church.

"The Episcopal Church is a secret too well kept, " says compiler Louie Crew. "Many are starved for what we experience daily and too easily take for granted." With these words, Crew invited thousands of people online to participate in creating a list of reasons to be Episcopalian. Portions of that list, and many additional contributions, fill this charming, pocket-sized celebration of the Episcopal Church.

These 101 thoughtful, poignant, and sometimes humorous responses not only entertain but also teach about the Church's gifts. From the beauty of its prayer and liturgy, to its inclusiveness, and its reliance on Scripture, tradition, and reason in balance with one another, there is much to celebrate in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition.

101 Reasons to Be Episcopalianmakes the perfect gift for confirmands, newcomers, and anyone interested in dialogue about why we are Episcopalians.

1

“[W]hen Anglicanism is at its best, its liturgy, its poetry, its music and its life can create a world of wonder in which it is very easy to fall in love with God.”

Urban T. Holmes, III

2

From Smells and bells to speaking in tongues—we have it all.

Sheena A. Lawrence
Diocese of Atlanta

3

I became an Episcopalian because of an invitation in a Sunday bulletin: “All baptized Christians are welcome at the Lord’s Table.” The state of my life, my marriage, my lostness didn’t matter. I responded to a community’s magnanimity of spirit. Through them I learned of God’s abiding love affair with us through the Risen Christ in whom we live and move and have our being.

The Rev. Jessica A. Hatch
Diocese of Utah

4

“We have a faith not afraid to reason and reason not ashamed to adore.”
—The Late Rt. Rev. Daniel Sylvester Tuttle

The Rev. W. Lee Shaw
Diocese of Utah

5

The seasons are color coded.

Bungee Bynum
Diocese of Lexington

6

The Episcopal Church enables me to worship God with my mind. It doesn’t install an idol like the Bible or the Pope as the source of ultimate authority. It has lived in the tension between ancient truth and living history and has evolved into something fragile but beautiful, something that is worthy of being defended as it becomes a sign of the inclusive Kingdom of God.

The Rt. Rev. John S. Spong
Diocese of Newark

7

Episcopalians see reality as existing in the tensions of paradox, ambiguity, and diversity.

Richard C. Milhon
Diocese of Kansas

8

I’m glad to be a member of the Episcopal Church because it’s evangelical, catholic, pentecostal, and liberal. It is evangelical because it glories in the cross of Jesus Christ as salvation for all people. It’s catholic in that it is a church that lives as resurrection people beyond the blight and bondage of death. We’re pentecostal because we trust in the supernatural empowerment of the Holy Spirit. And we’re liberal because we yearn for the Kingdom of God in the world as it is in heaven and labor in the hope that will make it so.

Bishop Alden Hathaway
Pittsburgh, retired
Diocese of Florida

9

Anglicans do good deeds to increase under-standing of God, not out of fear or to earn admission to heaven.

Robert L. Neal III
Diocese of Chicago

10

Asking questions about our faith is expected. In the Episcopal Church, God doesn’t get upset if I wonder why some things are as they are. And God doesn’t get upset if I suggest that some things should not continue as they are.

La Reverenda
Martha Sylvia Ovalle Vasquez
Diocese of Delaware

11

At our best, Episcopalians can respectfully disagree about a great many things—and still break bread together.

Barbara Tensen Ross
Diocese or Oregon

12

I’m an Episcopalian because of the incredibly profound understanding of authority in the Anglican Communion. The three-legged stool—with its stout legs of Scripture, tradition, and reason, supported by (but also firmly joined by) the seat of our experience and prayer—is perhaps Anglicanism’s most glorious contribution to theology.

Paul M. Johns
Diocese of Olympia

13

We believe that love without justice is cheap sentimentality.

Carter Heyward
Diocese of Massachusetts

14

My four-year-old son has attended the Episcopal Church since birth. He sings the Alleluia from the fraction anthem as easily as the...

Table of contents

• Cover
• HalfTitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Foreword
• Introduction
• HalfTitle1
• Contents
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15
• 16
• 17
• 18
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• 20
• 21
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• 24
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• 101