Drew Downs
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A letter to Emanuel AME in Charleston, SC
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9 min read
Dear Brothers and Sisters of Emanuel AME, I can only begin to imagine the sense of loss and terror you are feeling. The horror of violence and suffering of Wednesday, the defilement of your temple and your people, has shaken me and many of my friends. Please know that our prayers are certainly with you…
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Why priests must learn to code
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7 min read
I’m generally not one to encourage business models in church: we’re generally saturated with them already. Or, more to the point, we apply them indiscriminately, with the idea that churches in general need to function more efficiently and take on a more corporate strategy. My own denomination, The Episcopal Church, did this with gusto in…
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Why I needed to adopt the single space rule
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3 min read
It’s time. I didn’t want to do it. My ego was bruised. My sense of right and wrong convinced I was right. And yet… It’s time. I am officially an advocate of the single space rule. What’s the single space rule? you ask. This is the use of a single space after punctuation at the…
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Asking for what isn’t ours
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8 min read
We receive a GOD, who like Samuel, weeps over Saul and the people’s rejection. Or scatters seeds in strange places and allows them to grow, even without our help. Or sends us a promise in a new king, one who doesn’t rule, but teaches; who doesn’t command, but invites; who doesn’t demand, but tells stories.
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Shouldn’t all sacraments be on Sundays?
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4 min read
a Should’ve Asked Question Speaking to people much older than myself about baptism, I hear some pretty interesting things. First among them is how their children were baptized. Many of the people I’ve met in ministry have an experience of gathering with family on a Saturday for the baptism of their children. This practice is…
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Word obsessed
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2 min read
Lately, though, words have begun to mean even more to me. Not simply because I write, teach, and preach as a priest or as a sentry posted to defend orthodoxy from the heretics. [That’s all nonsense to me, by the way.] But because our faith keeps coming back to words. Simply words. Having words. Words…