One of the things that we, as Americans, as Episcopalians, and maybe even as members of St. Alban’s think about all of the time is the larger body of Christ to which belong. It is very easy to think about our own world here atop this holy hill overlooking our nation’s capitol and to lose sight of the fact that we are a part of something much larger than ourselves.
With 85 million members in over 160 countries the Anglican Communion is, well, massive. Our little corner of the communion in The Episcopal Church is 2.175 million baptized members strong as of 2009. One of the ways in which the Anglican Communion stays together, and indeed is strengthened is through prayer. Thousands of churches, ours included, pray for the various member dioceses, programs, missions, and regions daily using a rota called The Anglican Cycle of Prayer.
What you may not know it that this prayer cycle was conceived and had as its chief architect an Episcopalian. Charlie Long served as the director of Forward Movement Publications from 1978 to 1994 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The picture to the left is of Charlie in his office at Forward Movement right before he retired in 1978 (photo credit: http://forwardmovement.org/first-editor-gilbert-symons.html). The son of Anglican missionaries in China, Long was deeply committed to expanding and strengthening the publications for both ecumenical groups, but particularly the Anglican Communion. In 2004 the Anglican Communion’s office in London started publishing the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, but up until that time it was published and distributed by The Episcopal Church’s own Forward Movement.
This document has linked Anglicans in prayer for decades. Click here to take a look at the 2011 Anglican Cycle of Prayer. As you scroll through the list of names of provices, diocese and bishops you get a sense that we here at St. Alban’s are indeed joined by a host of millions. One gets the sense of the sheer size and scope of the Anglican Communion, all of whom are our brothers and sisters in the risen Christ. I encourage you to take a moment and look through this prayer list and to join your fellow Anglicans in praying for our church and for our world.
Faithfully,
The Daily Cup 