Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs and Practices, by Scott Gunn and Melody Wilson Shobe (Forward Movement, 2018). My rating: 5 of 5.
Someone asks you after church what Episcopalians actually believe. You know the answer, more or less. Then you try to explain why the priest wore purple last month and red this week, and you realize you know the practice better than the reason. This is the book I hand that person now.
What the book covers
Gunn and Shobe are both Episcopal priests, and they built the book around the Book of Common Prayer. They walk through the basics of the Christian life, the sacraments, daily prayer, the church year, how Episcopalians read Scripture, the saints, and the habits that shape a life of faith. It runs about 340 pages, and the publisher pitches it to inquirers’ classes and confirmation groups. Longtime members will get just as much from it.
The tone is plain and warm. They explain without talking down, and they answer the questions newcomers are often too polite to ask.
What stayed with me
Seven sacraments, two names. The Prayer Book calls Baptism and Eucharist “sacraments” and the other five “sacramental rites,” but the authors are clear that all seven are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace. That is a clean answer to a question that confuses a lot of people in the pews.
The Daily Office, made for ordinary people. Cranmer took the monastic cycle of prayer and cut it down to Morning and Evening Prayer so anyone could pray it. The 1979 book added Noonday Prayer and Compline. Evensong, which you won’t find by that name in the Prayer Book, is simply Evening Prayer sung.
The calendar and the colors. Easter moves every year, and everything else is counted from it: Ash Wednesday comes 46 days before, Pentecost on the 50th day. The authors explain purple for preparation and penitence, blue as an Advent option, the plain Lenten array, red for Palm Sunday, Pentecost and the martyrs, and white and gold for the great feasts. If you have ever wondered what the altar guild is up to, this is the chapter.
Scripture, read seriously. The authors put it simply: “Episcopalians take the Bible seriously. But that doesn’t mean that we read the Bible literally.” Much of the Prayer Book itself comes straight from Scripture, including all 150 psalms.
Saints and practice. The line I keep coming back to: saints are “people who have submitted themselves to be made holy by God.” The closing chapters make the same point about prayer and discipline. You don’t pray to earn God’s love. You pray to notice where God is already at work.
Two small notes
The book gives a short version of how Easter is set. The precise rule is the first Sunday after the church’s full moon on or after March 21. The book also repeats a common claim that about 70 percent of the Prayer Book is Scripture. It is a good line, but I have not found a solid source for the number, so I would just say “much of it.”
Who should read it
Anyone new to the Episcopal Church, anyone preparing for confirmation or reception, and anyone who has been in the pews for years and wants the reasons behind what we do. It works well as a group study, and the chapters include questions for discussion.
Quotes are short excerpts credited to the authors. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. The price you pay does not change. I read this book on my own, and no one asked me or paid me to review it. My faith writing reflects my own views, not those of my parish or diocese. See Disclosures.