tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post777545785151346266..comments2023-09-08T06:21:49.797-04:00Comments on The Potter's Shed: Good ConfessionKerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08779939436015866490noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post-14063477458623840132008-02-10T07:59:00.000-05:002008-02-10T07:59:00.000-05:00Oh, Kate - as a mom of three myself, I love this! ...Oh, Kate - as a mom of three myself, I love this! I do a lot of laundry, which just might keep up with the amount of confessing I need. HAHAHA!Kerry - A Ten O'Clock Scholarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08779939436015866490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post-89563652050757802162008-02-10T07:51:00.000-05:002008-02-10T07:51:00.000-05:00I was just outside hanging out the laundry and the...I was just outside hanging out the laundry and then came in to read your post about confession, and the two reminded me of a friend of mine who makes a confession as she loads the washing machine (she's a mother of three, so that's a lot of confessing!). Sometimes she'll have something specific in mind, sometimes she'll use the confession from the Book of Common Prayer, and then she'll say, 'Lord, wash me of my sin' as she's closing the door of the washing machine. It's a lovely, quite Celtic way of combining the sacred and the mundane, I think. Though I agree with Sam that there is certainly a place for confession in the presence of a priest.Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09253650164308025457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post-61161013955796527852008-02-09T21:34:00.000-05:002008-02-09T21:34:00.000-05:00Yes, the face-to-face confession is hard, but I gu...Yes, the face-to-face confession is hard, but I guess that's part of its value. There's no hiding from anybody. There's no convincing yourself that God doesn't care, because there's the representative of his Church sitting right in front of you!<br><br>On the confidentiality bit, one might note that the 1979 prayer book describes the confidentiality between priest and penitent as "absolute." And if the Episcopal Church is willing to use such a big and shocking word, I daresay others would take it at least if not more seriously.samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046817618324786021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post-77537451741451081472008-02-09T21:28:00.000-05:002008-02-09T21:28:00.000-05:00Thanks, Sam, for more good input. I am blessed wi...Thanks, Sam, for more good input. I am blessed with a good priest, who does hear confessions by appointment. But I am a bit hesitant to go to *my* priest...even Catholics have the benefit of a screen of some sort. It aleast gives the impression of anonymity. :) I do trust him to keep confidences, so, perhaps it is time to make a regular habit of confession.Kerry - A Ten O'Clock Scholarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08779939436015866490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post-30917674113807728522008-02-09T09:11:00.000-05:002008-02-09T09:11:00.000-05:00Would that it were easy to find a good confessor! ...Would that it were easy to find a good confessor! You can always start with your local priest, by simply asking whether he hears confessions. He may also be able to recommend someone if he doesn't (whether another priest in the new jurisdictions or a priest in TEC that he knows is orthodox). I wouldn't recommend making a first confession to someone who is <em>hearing</em> their first confession; it is also essential that confessors themselves make regular confession. (Even the pope has a confessor, and certainly the Archbishop of Canterbury does.) <br><br>Obviously Anglo-catholics more readily practice confession than classic evangelicals, but there aren't very many of those around. You may have to travel a bit. And that's not bad. Unless you're a die-hard catholic who makes confession every Saturday, you should plan on going a few times of year (Advent, Lent, Pentecost). My priest at Holy Family is very good, and I'm sure he would receive people from outside the parish -- if you felt like traveling to Chapel Hill. (I also just noticed that Church of the Redeemer, a TEC parish in Asheville, appears to have anglo-catholic roots, though I don't know anything about it.)<br><br>Really, one of my most consistent complaints (and I have many! *sigh*) is that those priests who <em>do</em> offer auricular confession often do so by appointment, and then only when asked. While I see problems with the medieval confessional booth, I do see the real value in having regular times when anyone could come and make their confession. It is beyond me why such a great gift of the Church should be tossed aside simply because at times it was abused.samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046817618324786021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post-84196208985096486782008-02-09T08:23:00.000-05:002008-02-09T08:23:00.000-05:00Hi, Sam! Thanks for your excellent comment! You&...Hi, Sam! Thanks for your excellent comment! You've hit the nail on the head on many things here - particularly "Anglican reluctance", and lack of good confessors.<br><br>Personally, I've been feeling the Lord nudging me to making confession with a priest. I agree that our general and personal confessions are not always adequate for us to experience restoration. <br><br>So, how did you find your confessor?<br><br>(We are Anglicans under the Diocese of West Africa - at least for the time being.)Kerry - A Ten O'Clock Scholarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08779939436015866490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7777224150587573630.post-48880609011037937562008-02-08T22:52:00.000-05:002008-02-08T22:52:00.000-05:00Kerry, the self-examination you found is quite goo...Kerry, the self-examination you found is quite good. I feel somewhat compelled, though, to supplement your statement that we are "not required to go to a priest" with, "but that is best" -- it is certainly what the meditation in question is made for! There's an Anglican tentativeness to the Roman rigor which outlines certain conditions in which sacramental confession is obligatory. But sacramental confession -- not simply the general confession or our "private" confession to God, is essential to true penitence, unless we are very holy indeed. For confession is as much about <i>restoration</i> as it is about cleaning up the filth of our sin; and that is something that is very difficult to do alone.<br><br>I hasten to add: Anglican priests are unfortunately pretty bad about making sacramental confession available, and they may be bad at hearing it. So there's that tentativeness again. (I think I've picked up that you're part of an Anglican jurisdiction that's not the Episcopal Church -- though I'm not sure which one. I have a wonderful confessor, though I admit that I would be <i>very</i> reluctant to make my confession with the vast majority of Episcopal priests in this area who don't have the first idea what sin is!)<br><br>(Oh, and I think this is the first time I've commented here... I'm a friend of the Confessing Reader, and I remember he linked to you a while back. I'm in Chapel Hill.)samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18046817618324786021noreply@blogger.com