About Amateur Anglican
I’m Richard Reeb III, and I write Amateur Anglican exploring the depths of Anglican theology and tradition. I began this blog as a layman and have been a postulant to holy orders since August 7, 2024. I’m a member of St. Andrew’s Reformed Episcopal Church in Tinley Park, Illinois, which is part of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and aligned with the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) movement.
Current Anglican Commentary
While this website focuses on systematic Anglican education through the catechism and Coffee & Catechism podcast, I also write about current Anglican issues and church governance challenges. My substack Amateur Anglican applies the same careful, historically-informed analysis to contemporary ecclesiastical matters. Recent topics include ACNA constitutional analysis and early church governance models.
This blog serves as my attempt to work through questions of faith, doctrine, and discipleship within the Anglican tradition. I write because it helps me think more clearly about the things that matter most – Scripture, tradition, reason, and the life of faith. Through catechesis, the occasional book review, theological commentary, and pastoral reflections, I hope to contribute something useful to the broader conversation about what it means to be Anglican in the 21st century.
Why “Amateur”?
“The word amateur has come by the thousand oddities of language to convey an idea of tepidity; whereas the word itself has the meaning of passion. . . . A man must love a thing very much if he not only practises it without any hope of fame or money, but even practises it without any hope of doing it well. Such a man must love the toils of the work more than any other man can love the rewards of it.”
— G.K. Chesterton
My Christian Identity
This does take as an assumption that I am a Christian. Or, maybe better: Am I a Christian? No, but by the grace of God I am becoming one.
My Anglican Approach
My approach is unapologetically orthodox, rooted in Scripture and the historic formularies of Anglicanism – the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the teachings of the Church Fathers. At the same time, I embrace C.S. Lewis’s wisdom from Mere Christianity that denominational traditions like Anglicanism are “rooms off the main hall” of historic Christianity. The goal is not Anglican triumphalism, but faithful discipleship within this particular expression of the catholic faith.
What is Anglicanism?
To be an Anglican is to be of the lineage of the Church of England, as opposed to say The Church of Rome, which is the Roman Catholic Church. The Anglican Church speaks of the Churches in the lineage of the Church planted in the British Isles some 1900 years ago.
High Church Tradition
I am of the High Church tradition. We are Episcopal in governance as commanded by St. Paul: Bishops, priests and deacons. They wear vestments, to clothe themselves in the unchangeable nature of the office they hold. We burn incense as commanded by scripture for the prayers of the saints (that’s the whole company of believers). We have communion every week in something called the Eucharist.
The Church Catholic Through Time
The Church Catholic (universal) does not reside just in our time, but resides in the distant past and into the future. We individually are just a breath, a blade of grass that withers and dies in the heat of the sun. We would be prudent to listen to the voices of our mothers and fathers in the faith from years before. From Abraham to Noah to David to Solomon to Peter to John to Paul to John Chrysostom through innumerable men and women to our time. We should walk in humble regard for the wisdom laid down by those who came before us.
The Book of Common Prayer
The English Reformation returned the service to the congregation. It chucked the wrongheaded idea of transubstantiation out, without losing the baby that is the core of worship. It restores to the congregation a blueprint for the common settings in which worship and prayer take place. It then lays out plans for how to do it in something called liturgy: “a form or formulary according to which public religious worship, especially Christian worship, is conducted.”
The English Reformers rescued worship from the multitude of books that existed in the Medieval Church and were only possessed by the clergy. The English Reformers restored the Catholic worship in England away from the Innovations and Distortions of the Medieval Catholic Church of Rome.
The book itself starts with a lectionary – a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christian worship on a given day or occasion. It’s a read through the bible plan, in this case a three year one. Emphasis is given to the psalms.
Why This Tradition Speaks to Me
I’m an Anglican because of the accumulated practical wisdom that is reflected in the Book of Common Prayer. The BCP is a lot like a bookcase that already has some books on it. It has a lot of structure and some initial guidance. But there’s plenty of room for other things. Like the sermons. The preacher still needs to read the bible, and understand and reflect and then teach the flock. Yes, there are formal prayers for group settings. But in saying those prayers, one learns a common language of prayer. The prayers are all reflections of prayers and promises found in scripture.
In the Anglican Tradition I’ve found that practical approach to the Christian walk. The Christian life is lived out in motion. We move through our lives, we walk in faith. There is much ordinariness to life, a lot of repetition. I brush my teeth every day. I eat. I sleep. Various other things. Repeat. We share our lives in common with other Christians. Morning prayers. Mid-day prayers. Evening prayers. All written out, so even if you are saying them alone, you aren’t really. Because somewhere, someplace, another Anglican is saying the same prayer with you.
Coffee and Catechism
Coffee and Catechism, my ongoing podcast series working through the ACNA Catechism, represents the heart of what I’m trying to accomplish here – systematic, accessible teaching that helps ordinary Christians grow in their understanding of the faith once delivered to the saints.
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For My Readers
Whether you’re new to Anglicanism, a lifelong Anglican seeking to deepen your understanding, or simply someone interested in thoughtful Christian reflection, I hope you’ll find something here that encourages you in your own journey of faith. My writing has certainly improved over the years (as any comparison of recent posts with older ones will demonstrate), and I’m grateful for the patience of readers who have walked alongside me in this endeavor.
Contact: amateuranglican@gmail.com
Amateur Anglican 