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Why anchorhold? Primarily in tribute to the anchoresseses, such as Julian of Norwich, who pursued their vocations in little cells, mostly in towns, at once remote from the business of the world and intimately involved in it, through their prayers and work as advice-givers and spiritual directors. But there's a literal sense to 'anchorhold' too - the anchor of faith which connects us to God, the ground of our beings (this is what happens if you take a Sea Scout brought up on rousing old fashioned hymns such as "Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?" and let her read Meister Eckhart).

Of course, I'm no Julian - though I did take her name at confirmation - but like many others, I find her example of hope and faith in God's love a very inspiring one. In general, I'm inspired by the riches of the Christian spiritual tradition, the beauties of its sacraments, and the robustness of its theology as a means by which we find God (or rather, he finds us). It's too bad that the church has not always managed to communicate the resources it offers.

I'm currently trying to finish a doctoral thesis on thirteenth century German mysticism, but will shortly be taking up a job as parish assistant, somewhere in the South East, and am in the process of 'discerning my vocation' (as church jargon would put it).

I'm a twenty-something Anglican in the catholic tradition, would describe myself as orthodox in terms of doctrine, but believe that God does not limit his call, to the priesthood or to anything else, based on sex or sexuality. I quite like Ekklesia's aspiration to be 'subversively orthodox' - what matters to me is the transforming, redeeming love of God, which calls us into full humanity and never, ever makes us less than we are. I'm also a complete and utter geek on many topics, ranging from liturgy to SFF.

That said, people of any faith tradition or none are welcome here.


Some websites I like:

Ekklesia, a British think-tank "promoting transformative theological ideas in public life" (there's an RSS feed available on DW).

Affirming Catholicism - "Inspiration and Hope in the Anglican Communion"; because the catholic tradition is about proclaiming the incarnational, self-giving love of God and his transforming presence in the world, and doesn't have to mean opposing the ordination of women or being depressed about the future of the church.

Articles, interviews and sermons by Rowan Williams, 104th Archbishop of Canterbury (and theologian and poet). His video reflections on youtube are always worth a look, too.

I usually don't get on with praying in front of a computer (seems like I spend my whole life looking at one as it is!) - but the Common Worship daily prayer feed is a very useful resorce, particularly if you're not used to praying the Office, because all the prayers and readings for the day are in the same place, in sequence. And you can always print it out....

Facinating set of resources and primary electronic texts from the history of the Anglican Communion: Project Canterbury. Also invaluable should you wish to read the BCP in Xhosa (what do you mean, you don't?)

Christian Aid: because 'life in all its fullness' also includes life before death.

Save The World - One Click At A Time!

On each of these websites, you can click a button to support the cause -- each click creates funding, and costs you nothing! Bookmark these sites, and click once a day!





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