Partly in order to see a little bit of historic Boston we decided to make our first church visit in the Beacon Hill area yesterday. Specifically, we attended a 9:00 service at The Church of the Advent (Episcopal), a venerable Anglo-Catholic parish. We figured our Protestant sensibilities would take to the 9 o’clock Sung Mass better than the Solemn Mass at 11:15. Despite following the Book of Common Prayer Rite II Eucharist pretty straightforwardly, there was still plenty of incense, multiple priests in resplendent vestments, and other signs of high-church pageantry.

It was quite a nice service, and the sermon (on the Trinity, of course!) was excellent. The preacher emphasized how, rather than being an abstract bit of metaphysical speculation, the doctrine of the Trinity highlights the personal nature of God and the fact that God reveals himself to us and addresses us as the God of Jesus Christ. After the service we met several members of the parish as well as the young associate priest, who described himself as a “high-church evangelical.” We got on the subject of theology and politics, and he said that, though he considers himself left-leaning, the important thing is Christ and the Gospel and that he thinks the parish does a good job attracting people who want to worship God and love their neighbor, whatever their political affiliation (of course, this being Boston, one has to wonder how wide that political spectrum is).

The parish seems to have a good portion of young adult members, several of whom attend divinity school or are in the process of being ordained. They also have a “Theology on Tap” program where they get together at a local pub and with invited speakers to discuss some theological topic. Beer and theology – what’s not to like about that? It seems like a very friendly, vibrant parish that’s engaged in the community and has a strong commitment to classic Christian faith. While we’ll probably check out some other churches in the area, I could see us making it our church home.