Ambrosian Rite traditional chant. It is different from Gregorian or Anglican chant.
Via: Dappled Things.
Some examples of Anglicans chanting and singing in America:
The Lord is my shepherd: Hylton-Stewart (Calvary Episcopal Church)
This is the day which the Lord hath made: Anonymous [16th Century English polyphony] (Calvary Episcopal Church)
Christus factus est: Bruckner (Calvary Episcopal Church)
Ave Maria: Parsons (Church of the Redeemer Chamber Choir)
O Magnum Mysterium: Victoria (Church of the Redeemer Chamber Choir)

An essay by theologian Miroslav Volf entitled, The Church’s Great Malfunctions. Read it!
“We should be our own fiercest critics, doing so out of the deep beauty and goodness of our faith.”

This morning, I read through Eugene Peterson’s introduction to his rendering of the Bible in The Message, which has become very popular particularly among Evangelicals.
He studied and became a seminary professor of Greek and Hebrew and intended to remain a scholar. Something happened along the way and his vocation turned to the pastorate. He is a Presbyterian.
Upon taking his first church, he discovered that most people where not at all interested in Scripture, or if they once were they were bored by it. This seems odd to me, after all Presbyterians are perceived to be more “of the mind” and studious. He said that he found himself being a translator between two world languages – that of the Bible and that of the world. He was surprised be this realization, since he figured the worlds were the same.
This brought up thoughts in my mind about how so many Christians function in this world. Even among the Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, so few really have a strong grasp of Scripture. Most, frankly, either aren’t interested or will not take the time to read and study the Bible. This skews their perception and experience of the Christian life.
A strong statement: It is not possible to live within the Way of God without having an understanding of Scripture. It is through Scripture that we peer into God’s intent for the human life, a way of living that is best suited for us. It also has the power to transform our carnal minds into minds set on Christ and a way of life that is eternal. It forms us, changes us, and guides us. It is part of the equation that takes us and over time makes us into the image of Christ. As good Anglicans, Scripture is understood through Tradition and Reason. Just want to make that point!
Too many people, I think, perceive the Christian life as being issues of niceness and ethics. Yes, being nice and ethical are very good things, but anyone can be nice and have well formed ethical behavior. Being nice and ethical are good results of a Christian life, but they are not the definitions of what life in Christ is all about. Besides, most non-Christians or unchurched people have the perception that the Church and Christians are not frankly very nice or ethical! We focus too much on those things that may be expedient or comforting – self-justification and guilt soothing – but we do not allow for the transformed life.
We are famished as Christians if we attempt to live life in Christ unaware of Scripture, God’s Word to us. We are famished, even as we gorge on all manner of things: entertainment for distraction, self-actualization for “completeness,” identity-politics, ethnic diversity that confuses us into believing that we understand the Middle-East because we eat at Zaytoon’s, and so on.
The Sacraments are of primary importance, as is fellowship, but they alone do not complete the equation. We remove from the equation the very instrument God has supplied to us to reveal His will. We exclude the written source – our primary source document. We need to study the Word of God to understand what it means to be a Christian, to see the reality of the Kingdom of God, and to know how to move within that swirling milieu called the Way.
One of the big responsibilities of priests, pastors, and teachers is not just to be translators, but to teach the people in our charge how to translate for themselves to the point where translation is no longer necessary – they are fluent in the language of the Kingdom of God. Then, they are able to fulfill a primary role of the laity – to be translators to those living in this chaotic and messed up world.
Are we fluent, yet?

Miroslav Volf, theologian, said something along the lines that we need “to think of faith neither as simply a system of propositions to be believed, nor as merely a set of energizing and healing techniques to be practiced, but as an integral way of life.”

A good post from Fr. Jim Tucker of Dappled Things on the question “Why do people believe…” Read it here.
A good post from Fr. Mark Harris of Preludium on the recent vote of the Convention of the Diocese of San Joaquin concerning the removal of all references to The Episcopal Church or General Convention from its Constitution and Diocesan Canons.
Update on Fr. Tucker’s “Why do people believe…” series:
Why People Believe, part 2 – 12/6/06

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
“The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’* If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Galations 5:6,14-15
* Lev.19-18

Here is an interesting article from the National Catholic Reporter.
What do you think? How does this relate to what may be happening within the Anglican Communion and The Episcopal Church?
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Not bad for melodrama
A year ago we lamented in this space the disappearance of the U.S. Catholic bishops. Well, we meant that in a metaphorical sense. They hadn’t actually disappeared; they had just become far less visible on the national scene than in an earlier era.
Here’s how we put it: “We are watching the disintegration of a once-great national church, the largest denomination in the United States, into regional groupings bent on avoiding the spotlight and the big issues.”
We noted that there was war and starvation everywhere; fresh clergy sex abuse reports out of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Spokane, Wash., to name a few; 20 percent of U.S. parishes without a pastor; a Congress poised to reduce health care coverage and food stamps; the United States accused of torture and keeping combatants in secret prisons; and so on. And the bishops had nothing to say. They would talk only to each other about internal church matters.
We are compelled, then, to report that the bishops have not entirely disappeared. For they gathered again, in Baltimore this year, and, continuing their trip inward, issued documents on such burning issues as birth control, ministry to persons with “a homosexual inclination,” and how to prepare to receive Communion. Now, none of these matters is unimportant. Don’t get the wrong impression. We’ve had documents aplenty about all of them before. And these topics — unlike the war in Iraq, say, or what it means to have a president and vice president endorsing torture — are even covered in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

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You have to read this post by The Wandering Christian. It is wonderful. That we all may re-enter that child-like spirit that trusts and believes, is joyous and free, and experiences life to the full!

A cautionary article for our times, and from the Evangelicals no less:
Shoot-First Apologetics
What a dead bluebird taught Walter Martin about defending the faith.
Richard J. Mouw | posted 11/10/2006 07:59AM
I was chided recently by someone who was upset with me because of my extensive dialogues with Mormon scholars. “How can you engage in friendly conversations with people who believe such terrible things?” he asked me. I tried to explain that if we are going to criticize Mormonism, it should be on matters that they actually believe, not on what we think they believe. I said the best way to know Mormon beliefs is to actually engage in dialogue with Mormons.
“You don’t need to have dialogue with Mormons to know what Mormonism is all about,” the person retorted. “All you have to do is read Walter Martin! He had those folks figured out!”
As a high school student in the 1950s in New Jersey, I was a Walter Martin fan. He was not as well known in those days as he would be after 1965, when he published his much-reprinted Kingdom of the Cults. But he was already a dynamic speaker who could stir up an evangelical audience with his engaging, sharp-witted critiques of Mormonism, Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists (this last group he would later remove from his list of dangerous cults).
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I am continually confounded by the image of life Jesus presents to us. It truly is a profoundly “other” way of life and understanding!

Matthew 5:38-48 (The Message)
“Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

A little more standard translation:

Matthew 5:38-48 The Bible (New International Version)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

In my unimpressive opinion, evangelism is not a matter of convincing anyone of anything.
It is not a matter of instilling the “fear of God” in people or the fear of going into eternity in a “lake of fire.” It is not a matter of promising people wealth and prosperity and that all their problems will be solved. It is not a matter of showing people how accepting, diverse, or loving we are. It is not attempting to convince people of anything.
It is a matter of one’s life being so ordered and formed by the way one lives and understands life within God, that others cannot help but notice and be attracted to that something that emanates from one’s life. The locus is the person’s life – his/her lived religion – not attempts to prove the faith, prove how successful or wonderful Christians are, or legislate anything. This makes the life of a Christian who desires to be engaged in evangelism much more difficult, but far more honest, sincere, and ultimately life-giving.
Viewing evangelism in this way moves us away from a sense of insecurity and the compulsion to indoctrinate or somehow prove how right we are. It understands evangelism as a natural outgrowth of our intimacy with God, God’s transforming power, and our willingness to be among those “of the world.”