New forum members

[TomUK]

Over the past few weeks i've noticed a load of new members here at STR, and i just wanted to welcome you all to our humble forum.

It'd be great if any new people (or any old people) could post and just let everyone know a bit about themselves.

[PaladinValer]

Cool idea, TomUK!

Well lessee here. I'm known as PaladinValer here, though my real name is Joe. My screen name comes from my love of paladins (holy knights, in case some of you were wondering) and the fact that in all the RPGs I play, my main character is a paladin named Valer.

I hail from Canandaigua, NY where I live with my mom and stepdad. I attend SUNY Geneseo and I am going for my MAT (Master's of Arts in Teaching, which will also earn me my MA in History as well). I also hope to, after Grad School, to begin discernment and (God willing) become a priest (so you could I guess add a potential third Master's).

My hobbies include religious studies of any religion under the sun, Christian theology, reading, writing (books and essays, either fantasy novels or religious treatises), music (particularly late 70's/80's, Celtic, and New Age), singing (14 total years of choir experience), long walks, meditating, parish (St. Michael's at SUNY Geneseo or St. John's back home, my official parish), RPGs (D&D and GemStone IV), boating, convertable rides, being with friends, Canterbury Fellowship (Episcopal Church's college ministry), Newman (the Vatican Church's college ministry), sleeping, and eating. I'm probably missing a few things here too, just to tell you.

I'm 5'10," 153 ilb, and look exactly like what the picture of me shows. Yes, my hair is that long and is only going to get longer. I am also exactly 23.5 years old (today in fact is my half birthday); I was born on August 6th, 1981 at 1:44am, the day of the Feast of the Transfiguration.

Although I was Baptized in a Vatican Church parish, I was never grew up in that part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Instead, for a number of years, I went to a Presbyterian Church USA parish, though not long enough to be taught doctrine; just regular kid's Sunday School. I was then unchurched yet did have some personal beliefs that, as I grew and learned more, seemed so much like the Episcopal Church.

I was Confirmed in May of 2004 in the Episcopal Church and am a deeply committed member of the Anglican Communion, a true member of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I am moderate (liberal in some areas, conservative in others) theologically and politically (I affiliate myself with no party, not even the Independents), High Church, and very Anglo-Catholic and Traditional.

My favorites?:

Book: Lord of the Rings (and anything about Tolkien's universe of Arda)
Movie: Lord of the Rings
Song: Book of Days by Enya
Saint: St. Joseph, Earthly father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus of Nazareth
Drink: Virgin Piña Colada tied with IBC Rootbeer
Food: Prime Rib
Bible Verse: Prayer of Manasseh v. 7
OT Book: Tobit and Isaiah tied
NT Book: Gospel according to St. Matthew
Translation: NRSV
Favorite LotR character: Sméagol/Gollum and Frodo tied (I can do flawless Sméagol and Gollum voice imitations)

Random Fact: I was born a number of weeks late...I guess I liked it where I was :P

[Mic]

Hi, I'm Mic! That is pronounced MIKE, btw. Like the abbreviation for microphone.

Coincidentally, my name is Mike. I live in Southeast Missouri. I have a Bachelor of Music Education degree, and I plan to go back to school next fall to get my B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in accounting. I hope to be a CPA. Currently, I'm a low-level manager at a fast-food restaurant.

I grew up in the Church of the Nazarene. When I was 13, my parents decided to move to a larger, American Baptist church so my sister and I would have more 'youth ministry' available. When I went off to college, I pretty much stopped going to church, except for a brief period when I enrolled in RCIA and almost became Catholic.

As I was preparing to graduate, I started attending a non-denominational Pentecostal/Charismatic church. I went there for 5 years, almost.

In the past view months, my theological views continued to evolve, and I no longer felt comfortable in such a "fundamentalist" (for lack of a better word) church. I officially left last month.

In December, I started searching churches. I was very drawn to liturgical worship. I've been attending a small Episcopal parish since then. I have no point of comparison, but from what I've seen described, I'd say it's fairly "mid-church" (i.e. bells, but no smells...) I think I'd prefer a more "high church" environment, but I've really enjoyed my time at CEC (Christ Episcopal Church).

Um, anything else? My favorite food is pizza, my favorite beverage is Mt. Dew. I enjoy online discussion boards very much! I lurk on STR and liberal theology here on CF, and I am a regular poster on several others. I may start posting here a little more, because I'm fasting from my favourite discussion board for Lent.

I can't think of anything else right now...any one have any questions? I'm happy to answer!

Mic

[fdrennen]

Hi all

I am serving as a music director at an inner-city parish. I have a strong attraction to Jazz and Liturcical worship. I am currently planning a Morning Prayer Service for the Episcopal Urban Caucus to be held in Newark NJ february 23-26 using a Jazz trio I will post more in the Supplementing the Prayer Book Daily Office (http://www.christianforums.com/t1186944-supplementing-the-prayer-book-daily-office.html) thread after I meet with the Priest in charge on Tuesday afternoon.

[trooper]

Thanks for asking! I am a cradle Episcopalian. I grew up in kind of the 70s smushy liturgical style where we hugged each other a lot, and sang folk music. When I left home, I started reading a lot of church stuff and read my way right into being a high-church Anglo-Catholic. If it were available, I would attend daily morning and evening prayer and, of course, all the holy day masses. OH, if it were available....

Though obviously quite geeky, my friends seem to still like me and the children haven't disowned me yet.

[gitlance]

Hey hey everybody!

OK, guess I should follow suit and give my own little profile, shouldn't I?

Well, my real name is Lance (which could be inferred from my screenname).

I was born in 1985 in Augusta, GA. My parents were initially undecided about church attendance, so I was raised at first in the Southern Baptist church, where I was saved at the age of 6. From there my parents started attending a nondenominational/Charismatic church, and I became heavily involved in it. I was baptized there when I was 14. Due to my own beliefs and some of the things I was taught in church, I tended to be very anti-Catholic and anti-Tradition. By the grace of God, several things happened about a year and a half ago that led me and my family to leave the Charismatic church. During that time and after, I dove deeply into the study of Church history and tradition, and to make a long story short, I was confirmed into the English branch of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church on November 14, 2004 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Augusta, GA.

I'm currently studying theological philosophy and church history at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. I hope to enter Episcopalian seminary either here or in the UK once I graduate from ORU, where I will -- God willing -- be ordained a priest in the Anglican Communion.

My political beliefs tend to be somewhat moderate with a strong Conservative lean. You could probably say the same for my Christian beliefs. I consider myself a pretty strong traditionalist with charismatic emphases, though I am very Anglo-Catholic in faith and High Church in liturgy.

I play the piano, I sing, I love to read and write, I enjoy history, I share a birthday with Charles Shultz, and one day I hope to possibly take flying lessons (which is WAY out of the box for me).

You can check out my website if you want: www.lancedavis.org (http://www.lancedavis.org)

God bless! :crossrc:

[Fish and Bread]

Hiya folks,

I'm John, from the eastern US. I grew up Roman Catholic, but wound up an agnostic by the tender age of 10 or 12. Father Rick was talking on another thread about the way we are sometimes tricked into thinking that God only loves those who are sinless. That sort of thinking, alongside some other ideas about works salavation and so forth, were very prevalent in my upbringing and it took a lot of time to learn to seperate the concept of "God" from my early associations with Roman Catholicism, sad to say (No offense intended to Roman Catholics as a group, I know a lot of wonderful members of that church).

Given another decade or so, I started searching for a church and checked out lots of places. I settled on the Episcopal Church, which was a good fusion of my more Protestant grace and love centered theology with my desire for a unified and connected church organization and my love of liturgy, tradition, and the eucharist. I've been attending for nearly a year now. We have wonderful priests and a lot of wonderful folks who attend services there.

Unfortunately, I'm seeing big hints that the local parish, which is a Network parish, is going to seperate from the national church sometime soon, which will leave me with a painful decision to make. I'm going to do my best to work for unity, but it some folks are pretty dug in and just flat out seem to despise their more liberal brothers and sisters at the diocesean level and our bishop has reportedly make some ungenerous comments in the other direction as well, though I have not heard any personally (I'm a moderate, so I'm sort of caught in between, a liberal compared to those at my parish, but a conservative compared to my bishop). I haven't officially joined yet, in part because I am hesistant to inquire about it until I know which bishop they're going to bring in (Thus far we haven't had a visit from a bishop since I've been there and may not until the parish breaks off) -- it's important to me that it be done under the authority of our diocesian bishop and that it be an Episcopal confirmation, transferable in the event that they break off and I don't. I think we could all use your prayers in the weeks and months to come for discernment and to try to live up to the call of Christ to work for unity in love for our neighbor.

Edited to add:

I forgot Joe's quiz. :-)

Book: 1984 by George Orwell
Movie: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Song: Glory of Love (Peter Cetera)
Saint: St. Thomas the Apostle (patron saint of all those who have doubted and yet have come to know the love of God) and St. Martin Luther (who renewed people's awareness of God's grace)
Drink: Caffeine Free Diet Dr. Pepper
Food: French fries
Bible Verse: "In Christ we all all one, heirs according to God's promise to Abraham" (Paraphrasing Galatians as I don't have the verse memorized)
OT Book: Genesis
NT Book: Gospel according to Mark
Translation: NRSV
Favorite LotR character: I'm afraid I didn't much care for those books/movies (Don't shoot ;-))., but if I had to pick one, I'd go with Gandolf (Who doesn't love Gandolf? ;-)).

John

[pmcleanj]

How do you do, all.

My name is Pamela. I pass myself off as a respectable businesswoman and mother of two, but in fact I too am a role-player and married a long-haired rock guitarist who passes himself off as a respectable software designer and father of two. The same two, coincidentally.

I'm a western Canadian, and work in the deregulated electrical industry where I direct an engineering team that builds mathematical models of the electric grid. (I'm an electrical engineer myself) There's a quiz of my devising in the quizzes section called "Everyman's Electricity" that reveals some of the peculiar facts about electricity that, in fact, every man does *not* generally know. Unfortunately I'm told there's a bug in it that doesn't mark correct two of the answers, for which I apologize in advance. I know I put the answers in, because they were tricky questions and I considered them deeply -- so I'm blaming the quiz software.

My hobbies include sewing and designing heritage children's clothes and paraments; dance both classical ballet and liturgical interpretive; and gardening. I also run and compile the curriculum for an intergenerational bible study, knit, cook, play piano (badly), read good science fiction and bad historical romances.

The pictures on my avatar and profile are pretty accurate. The avatar picture was taken at the summit of Tunnel Mountain just outside of Banff townsite, on the first successful ascent by the clan Mclean last summer. The profile picture comes from the summer before.

I was raised Atheist, though my mother was an apostate Anglican. I started praying as a victim of schoolyard harrassment when I was eight (it was the only recourse left to me short of suicide, which I also considered, in those bygone days when bullying wasn't yet considered a significant social problem). I started attending church the day after my highschool grad when I was no longer dependent on my parents. I was baptized in my second year at University.

We attend a Lutheran (ELCIC -- the Canuck equivalent of ELCA) because as a whole the Anglican churches in our area suffer from a destructive anti-child bias and praxis. We found that out after we married and had our children baptized at Saint Stephen's: children are nice in their ceremonial roles, but expected to be kept out of site(sic) in their more realistic day-to-day incarnations. Since we intended to raise our children as day-to-day Christians rather than as superficial ceremonial ones, we perforce had to go elsewhere. But we attend Saint Stephen's for holy-day services, since only the lunatic fringe (that is, the other committed day-to-day Christians) turn up for those services; and the respectable C.A.'s, lawyers and doctors whose "family built this church and aren't going to put up with newcomers changing The Way We've Always Don It" stay home where they don't have to be exposed to actual worshipping, singing, praying children.

In case you didn't notice, inclusive worship, and intergenerational fellowship, are uncompromisable principles for me.

The Favourites List:
Book: No single book, but I'll field Bujold's "Shards of Honour", Weber's "Oath of Swords", and Francess Hodges' "The Secret Garden"
Movie: Aliens (It's not just a 'B' SF flick -- it's not a 'B' movie at all, for all that SF never gets the consideration this movie deserves. And as far as I'm concerned, the Aliens cycle ends with this one -- the other two *are* cheap 'B' flicks)
Song: Saint Patrick's Breastplate
Saint: Martha of Bethany
Drink: Lagavulin, in a glass, no mix, no ice
Food: Sushi
Bible Verse: Amos 5.24
OT Book: Isaiah
NT Book: Gospel according to St. John
Translation: NEB
Favorite LotR character: Eomer (oh, be still my beating heart! -- the movie massacred his character, but the guy they cast was sufficiently gorgeous to go along with the characterization from the book. Wish they'd thought to put Sean Connery in the role of Theoden beside him -- that would have been heart-stopping)

Random Fact: My twelve-year-old and I take the same shoe-size.

[benedictine]

Hello!

I'm Zachary, I live in the Eastern USA. I'm also discerning a call to the Priesthood. Mostly a non-religious upbringing. I attend a broad to low parish, though that's changing and becoming more high-church. I consider myself to be Anglo-Catholic.


I have several Rosaries, I use them so frequently that one is begining be worn. I also have a postcard stamp scapular, but I don't use it. I use the PRayer Book's daily offices, and also the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.

I have a prayer desk/altar in my room, adorned with the liturgical color. I've got a Divine Mercy picture, an icon of the crucifixion and St. Michael and some candles as well. Above the prayer desk itself, I've got a cross.

My interests are Politics, Religion, Liturgics and Liturgical Music. I also write, and I like reading, though of no pairticular genre. My favorite books are:
Pope Joan
The Accidental Pope
Lord of the Rings(all)
Harry Potter(5)

Favourite Movies:
Luther
Lord ofthe Rings:Return of the King

Favourite Foods:
Lasagna
Macaroni and Cheese
Lenten Soup

Favourite Seasons:
Christmas
Lent
Holy Week
Easter


Edit: I forgot to mention that I'm a Senior Acolyte, and a Lay Eucharistic Minister/Chalice Bearer, I'm trained as a lector and intercessor, and I'm the only male or teenager on the Children's Ministry Committiee.

[GaelSong]

Hey everyone, I hail from the Sydney aust area and am commited to my local parish. I am associated with an order of sisters , sort of oblation, but they don't call it that lol. I do alot of volunteer work for local charity shop and love reading, walking and cooking.

[Songspinner]

Hi Everyone :wave:

Well, where to start? My real name is Kim and I hail from Winnipeg, manitoba, Canada, possibly one of the coldest places on the planet. Like the tag line say I'm a cradle Anglo cathoilc, been going to the same church ever since I was born, though the life turning event happened with I was 16 and I went on my first TEC (Teens encounter Christ) weekend and I trruelly became anglican. Up untill then I had been going to my little church but attending youth groups through different denominations (My church was to small to really have one, and none of my friends were Anglican) None of them really did it for me but I went just because It was the closest could find. then one day my GOd Father told me thgat he signed me up for this Anglican youth TEC and I found out I was not the freak that the other churches were making me out to be...and here were all sorts of people who thought the same way I did.

Other then that I'm a proffesional Photographer, and I work for a mid sized Canadian retailer (Princess Auto for anyone who's heard of it) shooting everything for their catalogues and fliers. I still go to St michael and All Anglels and I'm pretty involved there (Choir, Vestry, Synod Deligate and as of Sunday the new Publicity Co-ordinator)I'm also interested in History, Music, theater and Tryng to spend sometime with my Boyfriend (who BTW created my avatar for me)

Fav Book: the Power of One (Only Book to ever make me cry)
Fav Movie: Casablanca
Fav Food: Escargot
Fav Book of the Bible: Genesis
Fav Hymn: Hyfrodol
Fav Drink: Rye and Ginger
fav saint: St michael of course
Fav LOR character: sam (Who doesn't love sam)
Interesting Random Fact: I still to this day, everyday, wear the same cross I got at my first TEC 10 yrs ago

[Mic]

"I also have a postcard stamp scapular"

What's that?

Mic

[pmcleanj]

... and I work for a mid sized Canadian retailer (Princess Auto for anyone who's heard of it) ...
But, of course I've heard of Princess Auto. Anne's godparents registered their wedding gift list there prior to their wedding (she had been my maid of honour and caught my bouquet; he had been Dean's best man and got my garter -- it was like a fairy tale.

At least, they tried to open a registry there. I can't remember whether they convinced the staff to do it or not.

[TomUK]

I suupose i better also 'have a go' as i started the thread.

My name is, unsuprisingly, Tom and i'm from Great Britain ;). I'm currently in my final year at the University of East Anglia, a university situated in Norwich (near the east coast for you Yanks!). I'm studying philosophy and politics (don't ask) and cannot wait till i graduate , hopefully with something that will at least in part resemble a degree.

Like a number of others here i am also discerning my calling to the Priesthood. It's a long road, and i like to think i'm some way down it but i've got a lot of pray and a tonne of meetings to go through yet.

At the moment i'm attending two very different churches; an amazing Anglo-Catholic church called St John the Baptist's, and a very low evangelical church called Holy Trinity. It might seem an odd choice to go to be both but i've honestly learnt so much by going to them both in tandem! In my heart though i see myself as 100% Anglican with a strong appreciation of our Catholic heritage.

As far as hobbies go, i'm not really sure what to say. Most of time seems either spent at uni, at church or in the pub (see favourite drinks). I love listening to music and have a rather large music collection (:clap: morrissey!), and i also like playing music, mainly piano. I also follow British politics (Tory, sorry!) but my favourite pasttime is probably walking my two dogs (two great cocker spaniels).

I think that's pretty much everyhting. All that's left is the now arbitrary PV quiz....

Fav Book: Chronicles of Narnia
Fav Movie: ET
Fav Food: Sundzy dinner
Fav Book of the Bible: Psalms
Fav Hymn: Sweet sacrament divine (or be still my soul or we rest on thee, both to the tune finlandia
Fav Drink: Tea and proper ales (though not together- interesting idea though...)
fav saint: My church at home is St Francis of Assisi, so i've always had a special saint for him
Fav LOR character: Hhmm, not really a fan. Watched the movie and Christopher Lee was the only moderately interesting character (and the only one who had any noticable acting ability) so i'll have to say that Saro-something or other.
Interesting Random Fact: I am currently wearing odd socks. ( if i'm being honest i wear odd socks most do- you can't expect me to wash my own things and sort them out as well. That's what Mums are for!)

[PaladinValer]

Jeeze...how many here want to become priests?

Me, Benedictine, TomUK...wowzers!

[pmcleanj]

you can't expect me to wash my own things and sort them out as well. That's what Mums are for!
:doh: I need your Mum's email address. She and I must have words. :P

[Iron Sun 254]

Where shall I begin? My real name is Michael and I was born in New York and am now living in Texas. I was brought up in the Catholic church and was never that much into church though I always believed in God. About 15 or 16 I stopped going to church all together because of an incident which made me really think there was something wrong with the church. I went to college, graduated, worked in various jobs until I eventually ended up in New York City. I became active in IRC chat rooms and acted as sort of a counselor on a room for people suffering from depression, though most of my help involved telling bad jokes to help them make it throught the day. It was there I met my wife who only showed up one day to talk with someone she knew from elsewhere. It turned out she was active in an Anglican chat room and worked at an Episcopal church in Houston. There was a certain irony in that the computer she was using at the time was a laptop the rector had handed her one day when cleaning out his office. So when I say I feel like God brought us together, I mean it. We ended up talking both on the computer and the phone for a while and the rest is history. I made a trip to Houston and confirmed everything I had thought. During that trip she brought me to the service at the church and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was then I realized I was always an Anglican at heart. About 8 months later I had moved to Houston so we could be closer, 2 months after that I was received into the Episcopal church and then 4 months after that we were married. That was 7 1/2 years ago and we're still going strong.

Fav Author: Terry Pratchett
Fav Food: Pepperoni Pizza Rolls
Fav Drink: Rum and Coke
Fav Movie: Mystery Men
Fav Physicaist: Richard Feynman
Fav Planet: Saturn

Interesting Random Fact: My wife looks like Songspinner's Avatar.

[Songspinner]

But, of course I've heard of Princess Auto. Anne's godparents registered their wedding gift list there prior to their wedding (she had been my maid of honour and caught my bouquet; he had been Dean's best man and got my garter -- it was like a fairy tale.

At least, they tried to open a registry there. I can't remember whether they convinced the staff to do it or not.

I wouldn't be suprised if they did! :D

[PaladinValer]

***Good grief...they do look alike!

**Wonder if Songspinner has a twin**

[ps139]

Ok my turn even though I'm not Anglican, I'm a mod!!!! :mad: :preach:
LOL j/k you guys know I'd never pull that :)

My name is Bill, and in the spring of 1981 I was born on a famous island called "Long Island." ^_^. I've lived in North Jersey, USA, most of my life except for my small stint in Baltimore where I went to college. I graduated 2 Mays ago and I'd give anything to be back! Instead I marketing college textbooks and hooking up my friends who haven't graduated yet with free samples ;).
I play guitar, both electric and classical, and I was in a pretty sweet band last summer. I played football from age 10 - 20 including in college. I love art, and I love to draw. I studied history and linguistics in college and I'd love to get a Ph.D. in linguistics. I want to live in the mother country (Italy) at some point in my life, and meet my future wife there. ;).
My uncle is a Catholic priest, and all bias aside, the most intelligent human being I have ever met. So, he has helped keep me in line for most of my life and to him I am forever indebted. I've thought about becoming a priest as well, I guess you could say I'm discerning right now, but in all honestly I'm clueless. :holy:

Favorite things:
Book: The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton
Movies: The Last of the Mohicans (which almost is my favorite book too).
Author: GK Chesterton or CS Lewis..or possibly Tolkien.
Band: Phish
Song: changes from week to week.
Instrument to hear: violin
Instrument to play: nylon stringed guitar
Food: Penne alla vodka
Color: Green
LOTR Character: Gotta go with Gandalf!

[Bonifatius]

Hello!

I better write a bit to strengthen the European fraction here (I know, Tom, Britain is NOT Europe ... ;) )

My name is Tom, I live in Stuttgart in Southwest Germany - home of the famous Mercedes Benz cars. I was brought up in a family with a strong Free Church tradition somewhere in central Germany. After finishing school I moved to Hamburg where I joined a Methodist Church and got deeper and deeper into studying Wesley and Methodist theology. At university I read history and theology and made early modern religious movements one of the fields of my research. This brought me to England (Bristol) for a while where I did some research in early Methodism and its social impact. But my time in England brought me also in touch with the Anglican Church and Wesley's teaching on the sacraments. To cut a long story short, when I came home from England I was lost for Protestantism (in particular its German form!) and after a while decided to join the Anglican Church.

Now I work as an editor for the Methodist Publishing House, am a member of our PCC and cantor of our very international church (for a virtual visist: www.stuttgartanglicans.de (http://www.stuttgartanglicans.de)).

Fav Book: Well, impossible to give just one title. Thomas Mann is top of the list, also Theodor Fontane (German 19th c) and the master of masters: Vladimir Nabokov (esp. The Gift, Lolita, Pnin)
Fav. Movie: BBC's Pride & Prejudice with Jennifer Ehle & Colin Firth
Fav. Food: Rice Pudding
Fav. Book of the Bible: Revelation
Fav. Hymn: For all the saints/Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Fav. Drink: Tea (Lyon's and Typhoo) and GUINNESS
Fav. Saint: for a cantor, and as her commemoration is my birthday: St. Cecilia, and at the moment also: John Henry Newman. Not yet canonised by Rome, but we're Anglicans, we don't care about popish regulations, do we?
Fav. LOR character: heaven't read the book - not my cup of tea, I'm afraid ...
Fav country: England and Ireland (not the best friends in history, but I hope that's sorted out ...)

Greetings
Tom

[AveMaria]

Jeeze...how many here want to become priests?

Me, Benedictine, TomUK...wowzers!

You forgot to add moi to that list!

[PaladinValer]

**Adds AveMaria, future archbishop and primate of the ECUSA province**

[Iron Sun 254]

***Good grief...they do look alike!

**Wonder if Songspinner has a twin**

Yes, many scientists now believe that everyone in Canada has a twin in Texas.

[Father Rick]

Well... I guess I should jump in here....

I think you guys can guess my real name. I am a priest in the Old Catholic Church of North America and the vicar of St. Thomas More Old Catholic Mission, a small mission parish in central Florida. www.saintthomasmorechurch.com (http://www.saintthomasmorechurch.com/) . (For those who don't know who OC's are, check out the thread in the 'sticky' section in STR http://www.christianforums.com/t1161975-the-utrecht-union-of-old-catholic-churches.html

I was the oldest son of an Assemblies of God pastor and grew up in church. I was involved in just about every lay ministry that one could be as a teen. At 15, I felt God calling me to ministry. At 17, I graduated high school and started Southeastern College (now University) of the Assemblies of God. I paid my own way through college, so I took time out periodically to work and pay off bills. During my time at Southeastern I worked with a couple of different non-denominational/charismatic churches. I also spent a couple of years working with a Messianic congregation and studied under a formerly Chassidic, now messianic, rabbi.

While at Southeastern, I also met and married my wonderful wife. I graduated from Southeastern, and started on my M.A. through the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. During my time at Southeastern, I kept finding that my theology was increasingly in line with the historic/sacramental churches. At AGTS, I came to a place where I had to decide exactly where I 'fit' and after much prayer, I came to the conclusion that God had been leading me to Holy Orders-- it had just taken me a while to figure out what He was up to.

Due to the issues that shall not be discussed occurring that were brewing in ECUSA, I felt I was better suited to be part of the Old Catholics, so I contacted my current bishop. I left AGTS to complete an M.Div. through St. Michael's College (an OC seminary) and was ordained as a transitional deacon. A year later, I was ordained to the priesthood. I am now completing my original M.A. through AGTS-- which is heavy in counseling/psychology. My bishop asked me to pioneer a new mission work here in town and St. Thomas More was born.

Other, more personal, info....
In addition to pastoring STM, I teach a therapeutic unit for severely emotional disturbed middle school kids. I also interpret for the deaf.

I am somewhat of an artist. I enjoy painting. I also make banners for churches. I want to take up stained glass.

Although we have no children in our home currently, my wife and I have been foster parent to 18 children. We do, however, have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 birds.

Fav Book: The Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards ( a MUST for anyone considering ministry)
Fav Movie: LOTR trilogy and The Matrix
Fav Food: Ice Cream-- pick a flavor, any flavor
Fav Book of the Bible: ??? If I have to choose, probably 1st Corinthians
Fav Hymn: All Hail the Power
Fav Drink: Cosmopolitan
Fav saint: St. Francis
Fav LOR character: Gandalf
Interesting Random Fact: I've been to 7 different countries.

[ps139]

Fav. Hymn: Let all mortal flesh keep silenceOooooh, this is my uncle's favorite hymn!! :thumbsup:

[romaneagle13]

It was there I met my wife who only showed up one day to talk with someone she knew from elsewhere. It turned out she was active in an Anglican chat room and worked at an Episcopal church in Houston. There was a certain irony in that the computer she was using at the time was a laptop the rector had handed her one day when cleaning out his office. So when I say I feel like God brought us together, I mean it. We ended up talking both on the computer and the phone for a while and the rest is history. I made a trip to Houston and confirmed everything I had thought. During that trip she brought me to the service at the church and it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was then I realized I was always an Anglican at heart. About 8 months later I had moved to Houston so we could be closer, 2 months after that I was received into the Episcopal church and then 4 months after that we were married. That was 7 1/2 years ago and we're still going strong.

Iron Sun, the story of how you ment your wife sounds a little like how I met my husband:

I lived in the Washington DC area and he lived in Columbus, OH. I met him through a friend of mine who was his roommate. We met in person only once (before we were engaged), over a weekend and stayed up late at night talking about anything and everything. We had so much in common. I came home and emailed him and my friend to thank them for their hospitality when I had been in Ohio. There had been nothing at all romantic or sexual between us (not even so much as a kiss), but he emailed back to ask me if I was ever interested in a long distance relationship and to consider him. I emailed back, and the daily emails turned into long long-distance phone calls. Three weeks after we had met, he proposed to me online. A year to the day we first met, we were married (his former roommate who introduced us was a groomsman at our wedding)! We have been married for 5 1/2 years now and we are very happy.

Anyway, I was born and bred Roman Catholic in a fairly devout Church-every-Sunday type household. My father was in the military and we did a little time in Germany (8 years--at 2 different bases). I began questioning my religion a few years ago, after I was married. I didn't do anything about it for a while until last year. I did a lot of reading, praying and thinking and checked out a few different Protestant churches. Some how I suspected I was Anglican. When I attended my church for the first time I knew I was right. I was received into the Episcopal Church last month.

My name is Terri and I work as an admin asst in a financial managment firm in Columbus OH and my hobbies include listening to opera and classical music, reading (classical literature, historical fiction and other types of fiction), singing, traveling, scrapbooking and cross stitch (when i can find the time). My husband and I are sports fanatics too--we both love soccer (MLS, premiership, Serie A), ice hockey (NHL--Columbus Blue Jackets) and football (I'm a big Ohio State University football fan).

Favorite food: pizza
Favorite drink : diet pepsi
Favorite books: Les Miserables, Bridge to Terebithia, and any of the Harry Potter ones
FAvorite books of the Bible: Wisdom, Acts of the apostles and Revelation
Favorite saints: Elizabeth Ann Seton, Therese of Lisieux
Favorite opera: The Marriage of Figaro
Favorite composers: Mozart, Beethoven, and Lloyd Webber (my guilty pleasure)
Favorite TV shows: ER, JAG, Smallville and Charmed
Favorite LOtR character (since everybody is doing this catagory): Arwen (She is ready to sacrifice everything for the man she loves--how romantic!)

[RedneckAnglican]

Lots of future priests here...I'd better be good...My name is Ken and I live in Texas...I've only been Episcopalian for about 6 years now...I grew up in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and have been in several different Christian traditions...I have felt a calling to go into the ordained ministry for abour 12 years and am still trying to figure out the call...I have talked to my priest about it and we'll see where it goes...and now for the fun stuff...

Fav. Book: right now "Messy Spirituality" by Michael Yanconelli
Fav Movie: Hunt for Red October
Fav. Drink: Beer and diet Mountain Dew (not together)
Fav Book OT: Jeremiah
Fav Book NT: Gospel of John
Fav Verse: Jeremiah 20:9

[AveMaria]

Guess I ought to finally answer PV's meme, eh?

Book: The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco.
Movie: Anything with Alan Rickman or Jason Isaacs. :blush:
Hymn: The Magnificat
Saint: St Mary Magdalene.
Drink: Cosmopolitan or a Godfather, Diet Vanilla-Cherry Dr Pepper for something non-alcoholic.
Translation: Jerusalem/New Jerusalem.
Food: Chocolate.
Bible Verse: Today, it would be Luke 2:8-14, beautifully quoted by Linus Van Pelt in A Charlie Brown Christmas. Tomorrow, probably a different answer.
OT Book: Isaiah, closely followed by Jeremiah.
NT Book: Gospel of St. Luke.
LotR character: Eowyn - I love the sword-maiden archeotype.

Random Fact: When I was a little girl, I baptized my pet cat, following the BCP best as I could.

[gitlance]

I'll follow suit AveMaria!

Book: The Habit of Holiness
Movie: Probably Signs
Hymn: This is the Feast of Victory for our God
Saint: Our Blessed Mother, Mary of Nazareth
Drink: Diet Coke!
Translation: NRSV
Food: Fettuccine Alfredo with sauteed chicken
Bible Verse: 1 John 1:1-3
OT Book: Wisdom of Solomon
NT Book: The Gospel according to John
LotR character: The dwarf! Darn, I forgot his name. :blush: Was it Gimly? Hahahahaha.

[benedictine]

I'll expond upon mine as well.....

Book: The accidental Pope
Movie: The Return of the King
Hymn: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!
Saint: Mary, mother of our Lord
Drink: a chemical known as dihydrogen monoxide
Translation: NRSV
Food: lasangna
Bible Verse:Luke 23:46
OT Book: Genisis
NT Book: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus christ according to Matthew.
LotR character: Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir of Isildor, and heir to the throne of Elindil.

[UberLutheran]

My real name is Mark and I'm originally from southern Indiana. I grew up in a very, very strict Southern Baptist household where everything -- and I do mean everything -- was done according to the dictates of Scripture and my social life revolved around the church: service on Sunday morning; Training Union on Sunday evening, followed by church; visitation on Monday; service and choir practice on Wednesday; Bible Study on Thursday evening; Royal Ambassadors on Friday evening and Baptist Youth Fellowship on Saturday evening.

For reasons I won't go into (except that they include learning to think and explore for myself, and questioning the extreme Biblical literalism I had grown up with -- which I was encouraged to do by my paternal grandmother who was a Unitarian-Universalist) I ended up being excommunicated when I was 15.

Southern Baptist excommunication means just that -- except for my immediate family, no members of the church had any contact with me, whatsoever. If I saw a member in a supermarket and said hello, it was as though I hadn't said a thing.

I started attending a United Methodist church shortly thereafter, and found that I really liked the ritual. The Methodists were a great deal more lenient and much less rigid about how they interpreted Scripture, and I took to that like a duck takes to water.

Now, my sister and I had started piano lessons when we were five and six, respectively; and our teacher had us involved in two one-hour lessons a week -- one lesson where we brought in a prepared piano piece and worked on piano technique; the other lesson where we studied musical structure (e.g., the dreaded "music theory" except our teacher didn't tell us that's what it was), did transposition and sight-reading drills, and wrote short composition exercises. In retrospect, I think part of the reason I survived the rigid, deadening fundamentalist I grew up with was because music was not only a creative and emotional outlet, but it also let me block out the rest of what was going on around me. I didn't think there was anything all that "special" about what I was doing with that teacher -- except that I'd written 20 compositions (including a full-length, three movement piano sonata) and could play through the entire piano-vocal score of Verdi's opera La Traviata by the time I was 11.

Anyway, I became close friends with the youth education director at the Methodist church (a really, really neat woman who taught elementary school during the week, and who had very progressive ideas for that time) who became a sort of surrogate parent for me. She introduced me to the study of world religions, classical metaphysics, philosophy, the great Christian writers and 20th century metaphysics -- and I couldn't read enough of the stuff, fast enough! In retrospect, she (and my paternal grandmother and my first piano teacher) were probably the most influential people in my whole life.

When I was 15, I got the idea to enter the Indianapolis Symphony Young Artists Competition playing Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto. To do this, I needed to practice several hours a day. I was absolutely wretched in physical education, but my teacher also knew what I was trying to do -- so he gave me the physical education period (which was right after lunch) to practice -- which gave me two hours in the middle of the day to practice, in addition to the time I spent at home.

Well, I went to the competition -- and was driven there by my friend who was the surrogate parent. My parents were not in favor of my competing -- or for that matter, showing much in the way of independent thought. Amazingly -- I won! When I went to perform the concerto with the Indianapolis Symphony, it was my friend (along with my piano teacher and the physical education teacher who had given me the period to practice) who went to hear me play: my parents stayed at home.

Our home had already started to disintegrate: my mother had become an alcoholic/prescription drug addict who rotated four doctors and four pharmacies to keep up a supply of Ritalin, Valium, Xanax, Miltown, and Librium (she began the day with coffee, beer and Ritalin; then mellowed out with a combination of beer, Valium, Xanax, Miltown and Librium and was generally completely passed out by the time my sister and I got home from school). My father had also become alcoholic -- but the kind of alcoholic who is as unstable as nitroglycerine, and the dog, my mother, my sister and I all felt the effects of his raging. (I was hospitalized three times in high school, one time for six weeks, for injuries I received when my father lost control.)

Music was not just my passion -- it was my lifeline and the one way I found I could still hold my life together.

I ended up being accepted to a very famous (and prestigious) music school where I double-majored in piano and composition. That was a both a curse and a blessing -- I was exposed to some of the really great musical minds and talents and got to work with them; but the atmosphere at this school was poisonous and cut-throat competitive. During this time, I began attending a small, high (but quite liberal) Episcopal church in the community which had a huge effect on my spiritual and musical growth.

At the school I attended, we were required to learn enough Latin to be able to negotiate the Ordinary of the Mass, as well the Propers for Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost and Christmas, and the Offices of Lauds, Matins, Evensong and Compline. Very much of Western religious music comes from both the Catholic and Anglican traditions, and that meant we studied both the liturgy and music of the liturgy all the way back to the ninth century. (There were three tests each semester of this course, and each test consisted of memorizing 50 hours of music to the point where we could name the piece, the movement, the section, the motives, the musical structure, the instrumentation, the text, the composer, the date, and what was happening in world history at the time the piece was written. Think about that the next time you're listening to chant within a church service! )

I had the opportunity to study in Vienna, Austria for a year -- and my major professors and I thought it would be a wonderful thing to do (plus it would remove me physically from my family of origin, who had become emotionally and physically self-destructive. If you've seen the movie, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, you've got a good idea of what my family of origin was like.)

Everything was going as planned -- up to the day before all the plans would be completed and my trip would be finalized. The dean of my school called my parents' home by accident, and they found out about what I was planning to do. Later that day, my parents confronted me on what they had learned -- and also informed me that they had contacted the dean and the office of financial aid, and cancelled my plans. Three weeks later, when I went home, I found they had also sold my piano.

At that point, I imploded. I stopped practicing; I stopped attending school -- and I never graduated. I worked at a series of mostly clerical jobs and would not touch a piano.

In 1982, during a severe recession, I moved to Austin, Texas where I worked a series of unfulfilling jobs -- and still refused to touch the piano, even though I had purchased one down here. Essentially, the piano was a piece of furniture which I carted around with me as I moved from one place to another.

I was working at the University of Texas in 1985 when the department where I was working bought a series of IBM DisplayWriters and a printer -- and there was no one to connect the DisplayWriters to the printer. Since I was the only guy in the department and the department was far from the main campus, I was the one designated to figure out how to connect the DisplayWriters to the printer. Eventually, I figured it out -- and that started my career as an Information Technology Specialist. I've been working with computers ever since -- and love them. (I also have A+, Apple, and Microsoft certifications).

I also found an equally dysfunctional relationship which exactly mirrored the kind I had grown up with, and that relationship went on for four VERY LONG years -- until my now-ex stepped off the curb on South Lamar Boulevard (the busiest street in Austin) while looking for car keys, and was struck by an automobile travelling 45 mph. (You can probably figure out what happened.)

I had long since left churches -- and in fact, felt like God had pretty much abandoned me; but while in this incredibly dysfunctional relationship I was introduced to Al-Anon, the 12-Step group for families and friends of alcoholics and addicts. I still remember my first meeting, at what used to be the Faulkner Center (now a very expensive restaurant in Austin), when I saw the 12 Promises (from Alcoholics Anonymous, who shared the room) and got my first glimmer that life really could be better than what I had.

I think it's fair to say that Al-Anon helped me rebuild my life. I did the 12 Steps (you would not believe how difficult "Made a decision to turn my life and my will over to God as I understood Him" can actually be unless you actually tried working that Step!) and not only did I learn to stand up for myself, but I started trusting God again.

And then a little miracle happened: I attended a long weekend sponsored by the Catholic Church for people who have lost husbands/wives/partners through divorce, death, etc. There are numerous exercises which are done to help the person release the relationship and move on (and some of these are excruciating!) -- but on Saturday morning, 36 people started singing morning grace in 36 microtonal keys! There was a piano in the room, and I felt a "Force" push me over to the piano and start playing to get everyone together in G major, 3/4 time, thank you very much! That was the first time I had played piano in ten years.

At first, I thought I would play again for my enjoyment only -- and within three weeks I had planned out a full recital of Chopin, Liszt and Ravel which I put together and practiced every night for four hours, for three months. I rented a hall, invited all my friends from work and from Al-Anon -- and gave my first public recital in 12 years!

There was still the matter of the unfinished degree. By this time, there was no way I was going to be able to go back to the famous music school (and I wouldn't have gone there even if I could have!) -- but there was a small university with a powerhouse music not far from Austin. I applied there, playing the recital I had prepared for my friends -- and was accepted on a Performer's Certificate Program (which meant playing eight full 90-minute recitals instead of the two normal 60 minute recitals for a regular music degree). So, I got to work -- and worked like I never had before!

In the time I was there, I learned all 32 Beethoven sonatas; all of Brahms' and Ravel's piano music (and most of their chamber music); most of Hindemith; everything Liszt wrote after 1853; transcribed about 15 Bach organ prelude and fugues for piano; re-wrote several Chopin etudes and Chopin's Prelude, op. 45 to be played with the left hand alone (after I broke my right shoulder in a 27-foot fall); entered a piano concerto competition playing Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand -- and won; and my school sent me to Europe (twice) to play a set of solo recitals, chamber music recitals, and recitals of my own compositions (including recitals in Innsbruck, Graz, Salsburg and -- Vienna) so I ended up getting to do my dreams, after all! (Who said God didn't have a sense of humor!)

On the last recital, I decided to play something no one had every played at that school -- Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata. The recital consisted of three pieces: the Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Khachaturian; one of my piano transcriptions of a Bach organ chorale prelude; and the Beethoven. The Beethoven by itself was a full hour long: the third movement is 23 minutes by itself; and the last movement is a triple fugue about six times the length of a normal Bach fugue.

To get a Performer's Certificate, you play each of the eight recitals three times: the first time, for your committee; the second time, for the music faculty; the third time in public performance where the committee, the music faculty, and the deans of the School of Fine Arts are in attendance -- and each time, you have to pass by a 2/3 margin. Guess what? I pulled it off!

During the time I was working on this degree, I was music director of a Unity church (flakiness plus!) but also attending an Episcopal church and a Lutheran church on the side -- quietly, because attending other churches was grounds for dismissal at this particular Unity church. The minister at the Unity church was a flake -- and a control freak (probably the worst I've ever encountered) but it was also marvelous experience at learning how to "roll with the punches" because I never knew what was going to be asked of me, musically, during a service. I learned to improvise there -- and it's something that really serves me well at my job at the Lutheran church!

On the other hand, I did most of my spiritual growing at the Episcopal and Lutheran churches. Both churches had marvelous programs: the Episcopal church had a set of really fabulous Wednesday night lecture classes; the Lutheran church sponsored an intensive Bible study class called Disciple which really carries you into the heart and meat of Scripture. (It was in this class where I learned that Scripture is a tool to be used, and NOT a weapon to be used on other people or for other people to use on me!)

I caught the Unity minister in a tiny bit of fiscal impropriety (embezzling funds and operating a pyramid scheme) and when I threatened to expose her, I was fired. Four weeks later, I was offered the music directorship of the Lutheran church where I've been for going on seven years!

Who knows? Next year I just might be in seminary! Hope they're ready for a pastor who plays, sings and composes (but didn't Luther also do that?).


My favorites?:

Book: Conversations with Morrie
Movie: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Song: Er, der Herrlichste von allen, and Widmung Robert Schumann
Saint: Hildegard of Bingen; Meister Eckhart
Drink: Kir (white wine with creme de cassis) and Prickly Pear Margarita
Food: Smoked salmon with wine/dill cream sauce
TV Show: Storm Stories (guilty pleasure), Family Guy
Color: Dark blue/indigo
Bible Verse: Romans 8:31-39
OT Book: Ecclesiastes and Jeremiah, tied
NT Book: Luke/Acts and Romans, tied
Translation: NRSV
Favorite LotR character: not really into it. However, I have written a 45-minute song cycle to the Latin translation of Winnie the Pooh (appropriately called, Wini Ille Pu) and I collect teddy bears (I have 115).

Random Fact: I still sleep with my teddy bear, Boo. I'm also SKYWARN-certified and a certified storm chaser. In the other four minutes of the day, I sleep...

[AveMaria]

Uber, that was an incredible and very moving story!

[Iron Sun 254]

Really...it would make a great movie. I can see why you feel so comfortable with us Anglican's. It's wonderful that you were able to get back on track with your life.

[Songspinner]

Interesting Random Fact: My wife looks like Songspinner's Avatar.

:eek:

[Iron Sun 254]

Yeah, kinda strange. First time I came on here, I thought "Huh? That's my wife!"

[Inside Edge]

...and the respectable C.A.'s, lawyers and doctors whose "family built this church and aren't going to put up with newcomers changing The Way We've Always Don It" stay home where they don't have to be exposed to actual worshipping, singing, praying children.
Whoa...:eek: Sounds like pmcleanj might have a mean streak in there somewhere! :)

I ought to pony up - I usually hold my cards close to my chest when on the internet...

My real name is Daniel, born in the eastern subs of Toronto, baptised Catholic as one would expect from a down-home Italian family. At some point my Dad dumped the Catholic Church and we attended Pentecostal and Baptist churches until I was 13, which I found more and more offensive, at which time I decided to stop going altogether (and stopped caring about church). When I was 16 we moved to the burbs of Philadelphia, and following graduation I took off to Vancouver (BC) to attend university.

During my final year at university I began gravitating back to the church and God, which began on the invitation of some Baptist friends of mine (I'll spare everyone the testimony). After trying "church" out again (read: more baptist/fundamentalist churches), I was only more convinced at 22 of what I felt/thought when I ditched the whole scene at 13 - albeit, far more interested in theology, religion, church history, and spirituality in general. When I graduated university, I moved back to the Philly burbs and worked as a lending assistant in a bank for about 18 months.

At which point I moved back to Vancouver, BC, for a girl. Long stretches of unemployment ensued, landlord nightmares, and a lot of rain. But I married the girl, so it all worked out for me. Despite having dropped church, we wanted to give it another shot in hopes we could feel comfortable being married in one. My then-to-be mother-in-law, being British, suggested the Anglican church. We walked in, and for various reasons it was a perfect fit, and felt like home.

After many lengthy visits and meetings with the rector of that church, some study of the history of the Anglican Church, and understanding of how it works and operates, and I felt quite comfortable calling myself Anglican, attending regularly and becoming more involved. We're currently on hiatus from regular attendance in our local parish, because our little girl born in December doesn't afford us much sleep yet. Maybe she's just anxious to get baptised, who knows. :)

Over a year ago I received an unmistakeable calling...to what end, I don't know. Truthfully, I'm more than a little frustrated by the whole experience, and part of me just wants to ignore it and hope it goes away. Yes, I've discussed it as a calling to the priesthood with the priests I know; however, PaladinValer can keep me off that list for the time being! ;)

[tonigrace]

Hi all!

My name is Toni and I am an engineer in Chicago. I'm originally from Milwaukee and was raised strict Roman Catholic. 6 years of grade-school followed by 5 more years of CCD and confirmation classes...

Religion was kind of an after-thought through most of college (I went to a very secular private engineering school), but I was still always interested in learning more about different faiths. I felt like I'd been a little abandoned by my faith after confirmation and I was torn. After college, I went through several months before I found work. At this time I wandered into an Episcopal church and I never turned back. I found it was the beautiful liturgy that was familiar to me, but with a more open heart. I joined a parish in fall 2003 and was terrified to tell my parents.

About this time, my parents found out that their RC parish would be losing their priest. The plan of the arch-diocese was to combine 14 parishes in the area and pool 6-7 priests between them in rotating "shifts". This was the final straw and my parents started looking for a new church with a pastor that wouldn't get taken away from them. Here I saw my "in" and invited them to come along to church with me. They haven't turned back, either.

Now, in what I see as a very strange twist, my parents and I are currently going through the catechism and inquirers class together and will be received into the ECUSA by the Milwaukee bishop in April.

My favorites?
Favorite food: Cheese
Favorite drink : Milk (can you tell I'm from WI?)
Favorite books: What Dreams May Come, The DaVinci Code (I know some of you are shuddering now), anything by Anne Rice
Favorite Movies: Princess Bride, Snatch, History of the World Part I, Dogma
Favorite books of the Bible: Proverbs
Favorite translation: NLT - it's the easiest to read
Favorite saint: My chapter of DOTK is names for St. Angela Merici - she's quite interesting!
Favorite TV shows: ER, Simpsons, Nip/Tuck, Family Guy
Favorite LOtR character: Smeagol - I think we can all relate to his inner struggle between good and evil

Random fact: I had gastric bypass a little over 2 years ago at the age of 22 and I've lost about 135 pounds. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made and I would do it all over again if I had to.

Toni

[pmcleanj]

Hi, lass! I'm an engineer too, in high-voltage electrical systems. What's your discipline?

[tonigrace]

I'm a biomedical engineer:) I work in medical equipment (blood chemistry) field service.

[Wigglesworth]

FAVORITES

Food: pancakes and sausage
Drink: Coors Original
Book: Redeemer President (about Abraham Lincoln's early political career)
Movie: Gettysburg
Holiday: Election Day
OT Book: Wisdom
NT Book: John
Verse: John 14:14
Hymn: Victory in Jesus
Translation: NAB
Saint: Francis de Sales (converter of Protestants)

Random Fact: My goal in high school was to become a senator.

:crossrc:

[higgs2]

:D You are having quite the stroll down memory lane today!

[ChessCastle]

Wow this thread goes way back, but hey I'll join in:


Food: Cheeseburgers
Drink: Mocha Breve
Book: The Sorcerer's Apprentice by David Bronstein (Most entertaining chess book ever!)
Movie: Braveheart
Holiday: Christmas
OT Book: Genesis
NT Book: Tie between John, and Matthew
Verse: John 6:53-55
Hymn: *pleads the fifth*
Translation: New Jerusalem, NRSV
Saint: The Theotokos, and St Louis de Monfort

Random Fact: I went to the same high school as Lou Ferrigno

[Keturah]

My name is Nat and I'm from the UK. I don't currently have an Anglican faith icon as I've recently decided to go back to the Anglican church and don't want to annoy the mods by asking for yet another faith icon change :)

There's two Anglican churches near to me and I've visited them both...they're very different (one's Anglo-Catholic and the other is a low, evangelical church) and I've found I like aspects of both though I think overall I prefer the Anglo-Catholic church and will be attending that one regularly. I wasn't raised an Anglican, wasn't even raised a Christian as my parents don't believe. But I learnt about God at school at first through the hymns we sung and then later through attending a Christian fellowship group at lunchtimes. I drifted away in my teens though and my faith has been a bit of a rocky road lately but I think I'm on the right path again now.

Hobbies include spending time on CF ;) , running, listening to music and my fav...playing Battlefield 2142.

Fav Book: Chronicles of Narnia
Fav Movie: Oh so many to pick! Erm...I like the new Superman film, and the old ones too.
Fav Food: Sunday dinner (without the meat...I'm veggie) or italian food.
Fav Book of the Bible: The Gospels but I don't know which one is my fav out of those.
Fav Hymn: I don't know, I'm useless at remembering names of hymns
Fav Drink: Red wine and fruit juices...not at the same time though
Fav saint:don't know
Fav LOR character: Never really watched it and haven't read the books...but I'd say Golum. He's the one I impersonate most often :D
Interesting Random Fact: I haven't had breakfast and so unsurprisingly I'm hungry.

[Tomoz]

I'm glad this thread has been resurrected (how appropriate) - I might join in too.

I'm Tom, and I come from Australia. I don't really come from a religious family, but I went to church for a few years in high school (there was a pretty girl from my school there, you see :)). I was baptised and confirmed, but walked away from it all at the end of high school.

I came back to Christ just over a year ago - Long story short, I was in the Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh when I realised that I didn't believe any of the stuff I said I did (reincarnation, monism etc) and actually believed that Jesus is the real deal. It took a little while to be completely honest with myself and admit that I believed in Christianity, but I got there eventually.

I guess I'm an evangelical, mainly in the mould of English evangelicalism, but I sometimes 'slip between the cracks' in the Anglican church. I attend a low-church evangelical parish (and I love my church family) but I also appreciate high church liturgy and sung mass, and am starting to believe in the real presence in some mysterious, inexplicable way. I'm pretty much protestant in my view of salvation and the Bible, but I'm a full supporter of women's ordination, and I'm not really much of a Calvinist either. I even like patristics! And while I don't think it makes our ministers any better or more valid than those in other churches, I take something of a guilty pleasure in the idea of Apostolic Succession (I just think its quite cool!) That said, there are many things I'm not sure of and many things I don't understand.

I'm yet another forum member currently discerning my call to ordained ministry (though I'm not fully sure what specifically I should be listening for ;)). I'll hopefully be beginning my formal discernment next year - very very exciting! My first degree was in music - I play the oboe.

I think that is about it!

[Tomoz]

Oops - forgot the vital statistics...

Fav Book: ummmm...the Bible? No I won't be that much of a nerd. I've enjoyed everything I've ever read by Philip Yancey, C.S. Lewis, N.T. Wright and Alister McGrath
Fav Movie: Amelie
Fav Food: Can't go past a good, authentic Indian curry
Fav Book of the Bible (OT): Psalms, Song of Songs, Genesis is quite cool - I actually need to get to know the OT a little better
Fav Book of the Bible (NT): I'm really digging Romans at the moment...but I'm still a sucker for Matthew and Luke, 1 John and Philippians.
Fav Hymn: I don't know about hymn, but I can't stop listening to Arvo Part's setting of the Canon of Repentance, or any of Bach's sacred stuff.
Fav Drink: Can't go past a good cup of tea, although a nice pale ale on an Aussie summer's day goes down a treat too.
Fav saint: Don't have one

[Iosias]

Well I am a Reformed Anglican currently attending Elswick Parish Church in Newcastle upon Tyne which is the North East of England as seen here (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Newcastle+Upon+Tyne,+Tyne+and+Wear,+NE1&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=54.971801,-1.614904&spn=0.02345,0.085831&t=h&om=1). (Click to make it a hybrid:) )

[I am running out of time on the library computer so will update this later]

[artrx]

Thanks for bringing this back up. As i joined later I never saw it and loved reading some of the old posts. I may post something later.

[SumTinWong]

FAVORITES

Food: Pizza : Twin Trees Pizza, Syracuse NY
Drink: French Vanilla Coffee
Book: The SImple Faith of Mr Rogers
Movie: The Princess Bride
Holiday: none
OT Book: Ruth
Hymn: Amazing Grace
Translation: English
Saint: My mom
TV Show: 24

Random Fact: Eddie Albert shook my hand and was on the front of a newspaper with me at my graduation (after my speech). I was once a co-host of a local computer radio show. I have the same birthday as Spiro Agnew and Lou Ferrigno.

[ChessCastle]

Random Fact: Eddie Albert shook my hand and was on the front of a newspaper with me at my graduation (after my speech). I was once a co-host of a local computer radio show. I have the same birthday as Spiro Agnew and Lou Ferrigno.


Hey...quit trumping my Lou Ferrigno facts! ;)

[SumTinWong]

hehehe. It made me laugh to know that I wasn't the only one who remembered him :)

[longhair75]

Good morning friends,

I have enjoyed reading through this thread. As for me....

I am married to the incomparable Sunflower. We have two adult daughters and a spoiled rotten cat. I make my living as lead alarm technician for a small fire equipment company. We live in Omaha, Nebraska.

I was born into a very Roman Catholic family. I have posted elsewhere in STR about my departure from Rome, and will not browbeat you all with a repetition of that sordid tale. We have been Attending Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church for four years.

I grew up in the politically charged sixties. I participated in some of the events you may have seen in documentaries of those times. I do look quite a bit like my CF character, just not quite so slender.

My internet handle was a gift from my father in law. He rarely refered to me by name. He usually called me "that longhaired S.O.B. who married my daughter." I married his wonderful daughter in 1975. When I first signed onto AOL many years ago, I needed a screen name, and it was just natural.

As for my favorites list:

Book: Too many favorites to list
Movie: Again, many favorites. “The Music Man” brings back a very fond memory.
Song: “Shop Talk” by Cold Blood (an obscure sixties band from SF)
Drink: red wine
Food: Italian
TV Show: LOST
Color: Shades of grey and blue
Translation: I read the Oxford Annotated NRSV for study and the KJV for enlightenment
Favorite LotR character: Sam
Random Fact: After all of these years as a P.C. guy, I just bought a new MacBook