The Living Church Podcast

The Art of Advent with Sylvie Van Hoozer

How can decorating a Crèche draw us to a place of divine encounter? We are approaching yet another Advent season, a season of making space to wait on God. Maybe you’re good at making that space. Like a cat, you have no problem flopping down where you are, stretching your legs, and letting Jesus take the wheel. Or maybe you’re addicted—like most of us—to work, to control and productivity, to entertainment, perhaps even to podcasts!—and Advent feels like a struggle. Or maybe you’re working three jobs because you have to, and maintaining an interior grasp of God’s love, in the midst of the crazy, is what slowing down means for you. But sometimes being still is not something you choose. It’s thrust upon you. When you’re not able to go anywhere or do anything much, Advent is life, whether you ask for it or not. That’s where our guest today found herself. And in that long, involuntary long season of Advent, as she reflected on her life and grew a garden, the journey brought her to writing a little Advent book about nature, the seasons, and the tradition of manger scenes where she grew up in Provence, France, and how she found Jesus there. Our guest today is Sylvie Van Hoozer. Sylvie is a certified botanic artist, retired French teacher, and author of two books of nature sketches and meditations: The Art of Living in Advent: 28 Days of Joyful Waiting as well as The Art of Living in Season: A Year of Reflections for Everyday Saints.  Here are some French words we use today:  Crèche: manger scene Santons: “little saints”; clay figurines based on ordinary people  Terroir: a people’s land and all the life in it Now remind yourself where you’ve stored away your Nativity set. Because after this conversation you might want to get it out. Perhaps it will help you remember, receive, and share the gospel over the next few weeks. More from Sylvie: theartoflivinginseason.com [http://theartoflivinginseason.com/] The Art of Living in Advent [https://ivpress.com/the-art-of-living-in-advent], discount code IVPPOD20 for 20% off plus free shipping! From the ads: Shop Living Church Books [https://livingchurch.org/living-church-books/] Give to support this podcast [https://sub.livingchurch.org/sub/?f=donate&p=LCM] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

Questions for GAFCON

This bonus episode of the podcast responds to the launch of a Global Anglican Communion, which would be separate from the Anglican Communion as we have known it. There are Anglicans rejoicing over this news. Anglicans grieving over this news. Anglicans who don’t know what to think. And a lot of Anglicans who may not know what’s going on, or may not know what this has to do with them. Today, we explore some of these feelings and questions, and pose some questions of our own. On Oct 16, a communiqué email went out from a conservative, international fellowship of Anglican churches, representing several major Anglican provinces worldwide, known as GAFCON. (There are a lot of acronyms in this episode, but we will spell them out as we go.) This communiqué dropped into people’s inboxes with the title “The Future Has Arrived.” Here are a few introductory paragraphs: “The first Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) gathered in 2008 in Jerusalem to prayerfully respond to the abandonment of the Scriptures by some of the most senior leaders of the Anglican Communion, and to seek their repentance. “In the absence of such repentance, we have been prayerfully advancing towards a future for faithful Anglicans, where the Bible is restored to the heart of the Communion. “Today, that future has arrived.” Then follow 8 resolutions for establishing a Global Anglican Communion separate from the Anglican Communion and the Instruments of Communion. TLC editor Mark Michael and executive director Matthew Olver join podcast host Amber Noel to ask questions about the meaning and contents of this communiqué, its language and propositions, the history that led up to it, its timing in light of current leadership scandals in the ACNA, and what people who want to move forward with GAFCON might be risking, particularly leaders from the Global South, or what they may still need to know. We also direct specific questions to GAFCON leaders themselves. And we invite you to join us. If you are a leader in the Anglican Communion, in GAFCON, in the ACNA, or in the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans, and you have something you want to ask, share, or correct in response to this podcast, please get in touch: ambernoel@livingchurch.org [ambernoel@livingchurch.org]. We have questions and critiques, but we also want to understand better what’s going on, and why, and how we can receive needed renewal and reformation together. Thanks for listening to this conversation. And if you have something to bring to the table, we hope to hear from you. From this episode: Resources from GAFCON: Oct 16 “The Future Has Arrived” communiqué [https://gafcon.org/communique-updates/the-future-has-arrived/] The Jerusalem Declaration (founding document of GAFCON) [https://civicrm.gafcon.org/about/jerusalem-declaration] Bishop Paul Donison’s interview on the Stand Firm podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/bs/podcast/276-we-are-the-anglican-communion-general-secretary/id1513751604?i=1000733239216] Bishop Laurent Mbanda's podcast interview [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk15-I5MZPQ] Resources from The Living Church: Analysis: GAFCON Creates Global Anglican Communion [https://livingchurch.org/news/news-anglican-communion/analysis-gafcon-creates-global-anglican-communion/] ‘You Have Broken My Heart’—A Letter to My Siblings in GAFCON [https://livingchurch.org/commentary/you-have-broken-my-heart-a-letter-to-my-siblings-in-gafcon/] Poggo Responds to GAFCON Communion Launch [https://livingchurch.org/news/news-anglican-communion/poggo-responds-to-gafcon-communion-launch/] The Inside Story on GAFCON’s Communiqué [https://livingchurch.org/news/news-anglican-communion/the-inside-story-on-gafcons-communique/] GSFA Leader Questions GAFCON Communiqué [https://livingchurch.org/news/news-anglican-communion/gsfa-leader-questions-gafcon-communique/] Podcast: Who Cares About Communion? with Christopher Wells [https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/who-cares-about-communion-with-christopher-wells/] Other resources: Nairobi-Cairo Proposals (IASCUFO) [https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/526999/Nairobi-Cairo-Proposals-Advent-2024.pdf] Chemin Neuf’s “Prayer for Christian Unity” [https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/about/christian-unity/pray-us-unity-christians] From the ads: Shop Living Church Books [https://livingchurch.org/living-church-books/] Give to support this podcast [https://sub.livingchurch.org/sub/?f=donate&p=LCM] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

Writing While Christian with H.S. Cross

What does faith have to do with fiction? Can romance teach us something about God's presence in imaginary worlds? Today’s episode is a conversation with novelist H.S. Cross, recorded live at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Savannah, GA [https://stjohnssav.org/], as part of their Sunday Night Sessions.  We talk with Heather about 1920s Oxford; love stories and their theological significance; what it’s like to create and then watch your creations surprise you. We discuss the importance of play; why skipping the hard parts risks a story no longer feeling “real”; and the need to “Hold your nerve and not rush the ending.” And finally, since her novel is a messy and complicated romance, in some parts, as she puts it, “rated R" for sexuality, what does it mean, in this kind of story, to “tell the truth” or to get caught “writing while Christian”? H.S. Cross has been a tutor and a writer and is the author of three novels: Wilberforce, Grievous, and her latest novel, Amanda. Now rock your best Oxford bags and handkerchief hemline. We’re heading to the 1920’s where we’ll meet a couple of God-haunted lovers, the woman who created them, and discover what faith has to do with fiction. We hope you enjoy the conversation. From this episode: Watch this conversation on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaGzYAfRkZM] Amanda and other books by H.S. Cross [https://hscross.com/] Associate for Youth and Young Adults job posting at St. John’s Savannah [https://stjohnssav.org/bulletins-all-sjc/associate-for-youth-young-adults/] (October 2025) Related podcast episodes: Christmas chat with Heather Cross [https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/books-and-boarding-schools-a-christmas-chat-with-h-s-cross/] Music and ministry with Jon Jameson [https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/music-performance-and-priesthood/] From the ads:  Shop Living Church Books [https://livingchurch.org/living-church-books/] Attend a Living Church event [https://livingchurch.org/events/] Other events you might enjoy: Nashotah House intensive course on “The Prayer Book Tradition” [https://www.nashotah.edu/winter-2026/] (January 2026) The Anglican Way Conference [https://anglicanway.org/] (February 2026) Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

Living with Nicaea with Peter Casarella and Daniela Augustine

How does Nicaea speak to social and political life today? In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s Nicaea’s 1700th birthday party all year long. Theology, church politics, Christian unity, we’re here for all of it.  This is one of two episodes this year focusing specifically on Nicaea itself. Our first one was in January: Learning from Nicaea with Lewis Ayers [https://livingchurch.org/podcasts/learning-from-nicaea-with-lewis-ayres/]. Today, we'll learn how we live with Nicaea. We're joined by Catholic theologian Peter Casarella and Pentecostal theologian Daniela Augustine for an ecumenical chat about the council and its importance for the church and world today. We’ll consider time travel, uncover some things about Nicaea I never knew, explore political and social implications of the council, and make 1700th birthday speeches. And if you ever asked yourself what Nicaea has to do with the Bolshevik Revolution or American empire, today’s your lucky day. Dr. Daniela Augustine is Professor of Theological Ethics at Lee University and Honorary Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, Theology, and Religion at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Dr. Peter Casarella is Professor of Theology at Duke Divinity School and one of the founders of the Catholic Initiative at Duke. Now, whether you’ve been at this party a long time, or just coming in and wondering what it’s all about, we hope you enjoy the conversation. -- Attend a Living Church event [https://livingchurch.org/events] Give to support this podcast [https://sub.livingchurch.org/sub/?f=donate&p=LCM] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]

Poetry for the Church with Abram Van Engen

Why read poetry? If poetry is esoteric, confusing, and time-consuming, why bother?  Our guest today, Dr. Abram Van Engen, has a strong case for why poetry isn't esoteric at all, but extremely useful, concrete, relational, enjoyable, and meaningful, not just for you, but for the Church. His latest book is called Word Made Fresh, an Invitation to Poetry for the Church [https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802883605/word-made-fresh/]. Today we’ll discuss: the point of poetry and why anyone should bother reading it, how to read a poem, what it might mean that Scripture is full of poetry, what church leaders learn from the art of being apt, and what the heck a poem even is. Whether you're a "poetry person" or not, this conversation may just get you jazzed up about the ability of a poem to invite our attention in a special way, delight us, deepen us; even give us a little cross-training in the kind of attention we hope to develop in life with God. Abram is Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities, Chair of the English Department, and Professor of Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. He is also the director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. His new book on poetry as spiritual practice, Word Made Fresh, won the 2024 Christianity Today award for art and poetry. Now whether you dislike it, or you believe poetry, like the world, "is charged with the grandeur of God" (a little Gerard Manley Hopkins for you), we hope you enjoy the conversation. Attend a Living Church event [https://livingchurch.org/events] Check out Abram’s book [https://www.eerdmans.com/9780802883605/word-made-fresh/]. Use promo code LIVINGCHURCH40 for 40% off. (Through the end of 2025. Valid for books shipped to U.S. addresses only.) Give to support this podcast [https://sub.livingchurch.org/sub/?f=donate&p=LCM] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands]