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June - August 2025

In the church calendar, more than half of the year is given over to “Ordinary Time.” Coming from the word ordinal, which means “counted,” this time is far from a mere placeholder between holidays. We are urged to count each day, each hour, each minute like precious stones on an altar.

Yet, this simple call is not an easy one. It is often hard to recognize the moments of our days, filled with miscellaneous and routine tasks, as the holy ground where we encounter God. And while life is punctuated with extraordinary and defining moments, we live in the ordinary and average, day in and day out. Whether it is due to sheer boredom from the monotony or sheer exhaustion from our burdens, we forget to notice the everyday glories which are teeming over in praise to their creator. How do we begin to have the ears to hear, the vision to notice, and the courage to join their song?

This season, we will seek to cast our eyes, once again, to what’s in front of us — at the glories found in the ordinary, the plain stuff that fills our schedules, our closets, and our worries — and not stopping there, but seeing through them to what Grand Story they participate in. It may, possibly, be only then that we can genuinely have the capacity to revel in the lilies of the field while not diminishing the reality of our pains and struggles. For only in the narrative of Christ’s cosmic story do both aptly fit In this season, we will focus on what “ordinary” truly is (and what it isn’t) and lean into each site of worship, no matter how routine, humdrum, simple, awful, or awesome it is.

For this is the day the Lord has made.

FOR THIS SEASON

Featured Articles
Imagination Redeemed
- Finding the Great Story in the Kitchen Sink
Believe to See (Featured)
- Man Behind The Mythmakers
- Wisdom in Creation: Josh Tiessen Lecture
  Saturday, June 27, 2025
  7:00pm-8:30pm
- Rosas & Mimosas
  Saturday, June 21, 2025
  10:00am – 12:00pm
- Bombadil: A Four-Week Study of Vocation, Calling, and Mastery
  Wednesday, June 4, 2025
  7:00pm
Visual Artist Feature
- Slow Noticing: The Rhythmic Artmaking of Rebekah Blum
Musician Feature
- Finding Magic in the Mundane: John Mark McMillan’s Latest Album

View full 2025 calendar

June

Ordinary Places

The totality of our lives are mostly spent doing simple tasks: tying our shoes, doing the dishes, brushing our teeth. What are we as Christians to make of the humdrum days, tasks, and moments that pervade our schedules? What if Christians viewed those tasks, not as humdrum, but as gifts from God to mobilize the world immediately around us to the glory of God? We explore those questions this month!

Featured Content

Blog

Wandering With Leif Enger and a Shot of Stoicism

Quirky characters, steadfast
determination, and Norse spirits
in this edition of Annie Nardone’s
Pages, Pints, and Pours.

What Will Our Attention Make of Us?

Show up, slow down, and
discover that what you focus on
has the power to shape who
you are, says Matthew Clark

Joining in the Magic of Singing

After all, God designed us
to sing—and to wake each
other up to beautiful things.

On A Porch Sipping Dandelion Wine

Annie Nardone recommends
a tale from Ray Bradbury in
her Pages, Pints, and Pours.

Bearing Witness in Between

For creative Christians, art
embodies worship. But how
do they make that work
when life blocks creativity?

Lavinia Fontana: A Renaissance Artist Fairy Tale

Community & church launch the painting career of an ordinary woman.

CULTIVATING A NARNIAN HEART SERIES

This four-part series by Karissa Riffel explores how we can fulfill our calling as Christians by cultivating “Narnian” hearts that sow the kingdom on earth, growing “little Edens.”

Part 1: “The Planting of Toffee Trees”

Part 2: “Take of My Fruit for Others”

Part 3: “A Love of Beauty Will Save the World”

Part 4: “Healing Is Coming”

Imagination Redeemed Podcast (June Episode)

In every episode, we retell one of the great stories, then follow its illumination to delve deeper into conversation about how to enter into the life of the Christian imagination.

Finding the Great Story In the kitchen sink

Join us as we explore Disney’s Encanto and how our daily faithfulness in seemingly mundane tasks isn't preparation for the Great Story—it is the Great Story. Discover why there are no ordinary things, and how Christians can learn to mobilize the world immediately around them for the glory of God.

LISTEN NOW

Want to dive in?

Subscribe to Anselm’s Substack to receive the full show notes, which includes: a detailed list of topics covered, resources mentioned in the episode, further recommended reading and listening, and discussion questions to utilize for further thinking and conversation with friends!

ACCESS LISTENING GUIDE

Anselm Voices

Anthony esolen’s “An Encounter with the Ordinary”

How does leaving a tenured professorship at Providence College for a small liberal arts college in New Hampshire, apply to the Anselm Society? Read Anselm Fellow Dr. Esolen’s motivations and see for yourself!

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Gianna Soderstrom's "The Kitchen of Transfiguration"

Anselm Member and Arts Guild Assistant Director unpacks the gift that comes through faithfulness in everyday obedience to the small, unseen actions given to us by God.

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