This Advent season, I’m praying, exploring, reflecting on my faith. My frame of reference is my Anglican traditional upbringing. My lifestyle for my life, home, and activity is inspired by this. My father went to seminary at https://www.nashotah.edu/ The buildings, grounds, and Michael the bell are my comfort zone. When my dad hand-picked the church for me to attend in Texas, it was the catalyst for my own deeper journey into my faith. Being a part of a loving parish family helped set me on a path that is keeping me on track now! The challenge of COVID has disrupted how we approach our faith and fellowship. I truly believe these are the best of times because we are being guided on how to help others in new ways. In my new chapter of diving deeper into my faith, I’m practicing discernment. Taking time to do this makes my day. I still have cassette tapes of Mass from my first Texas church. In one of Bishop Ackerman’s recent sermons, he talked about the time he was at the Consecration of Bishop Parsons and wanted to preserve history, so Bishop Ackerman had a traditional tape recorder tied around his waist with a rope! When Bishop Ackerman was Consecrated as the successor to Bishop Parsons, it was an incredible experience to be there with my husband Kurt, my mom and my dad! Bishop Ackerman granted me special access to his scrapbooks, here are a couple of photos from that day. I’m pretty sure that is Kurt and I in the back row with my 80’s hair-do, and shoulder pads! The other photo is the moment where Bishop is laying face down on the ground during his Consecration. Our Anglican tradition is rich with symbolism, and it is exciting to know “why we do what we do!” An excellent resource to answer these questions is the https://theparishpress.com/ Bishop Ackerman has produced DVD’s which are very informative. He also continually shares this information during his daily livestreamed Mass. I taped a special interview with Bishop where he explains how their home was named Dovehaven2. My goal is to design our new home in that style as it reminds me so much of Nashotah and the traditions I grew up with! You are always welcome to join our virtual Mass and Bible Study on Wednesdays. Send me a PM and I will assist! May God bless you and keep you this holiday season!