Bread for the Journey: It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

This is part of our continuing series, Bread for the Journey. 

"It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine: Celebrating the advent of God” with the Rev. Dr. Joel Daniels, rector at St. George's Episcopal Church in Ardmore.  

It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine: Celebrating the advent of God

Where can we find nourishment, peace, and fortitude? “Thy kingdom come” is our Advent prayer, but what does the coming Kingdom have to do with us, at a time of pandemic illness, political chaos, and social division? Scripture gives us one answer in that strange, uncomfortable book known as the Revelation of St. John the Divine. The word apocalypse means “uncovering,” and in John’s Apocalypse we see heaven and earth uncovered, revealed for what they truly are, and what we can look forward to when “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” (Rev. 11:15). Far from being a cause for panic and fear, Revelation gives us an insight into how the advent of God is the answer to our most profound desires. The season of Advent – with its simultaneous remembrance of Christ’s first coming as a child in Bethlehem and its longing for Christ’s second coming in glorious majesty – can help sustain, calm, and empower us in a turbulent and difficult world. This 1.5-hour session is open to the entire diocese as an opportunity to reflect on this great reason for the hope that is in us. 

"Bread for the Journey" is a new monthly series offered to all in our diocese to provide a time to connect in community, tune our souls to the promise and presence of God right here and now, and take in the spiritual food that can give us strength for our pilgrimage in this time. This series is being offered as a gift by our bishop, so is free and open to all who are seeking bread for the journey. Pre-registration is required to receive a Zoom link.

About the Rev. Joel Daniels

The Rev. Joel C. Daniels, PhD, has been rector of St. George’s since the first Sunday of Advent, 2018. He is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, who lived in New York City for two decades before making his home in Ardmore. After studying English at Columbia University as an undergraduate, he attended the General Theological Seminary, and was ordained to the priesthood in 2007. Following ordination, he served as Associate Rector of the Church of St. Barnabas in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, focusing particularly on ministry with children and youth, and then began doctoral studies at Boston University in 2009. He received his PhD in theology in 2015; his dissertation was published in 2016 as Theology, Tragedy, and Suffering in Nature: Toward a Realist Doctrine of Creation.

From 2015 to 2018, Fr. Daniels was Associate for Evangelism at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City. In that role he focused initially on the process of integrating new people into the parish. Eventually he took up leadership of the parish’s adult education program, Theology at Saint Thomas. He taught classes on topics as varied as early Church history and the relationship between science and religion, but focused especially on in-depth study of Scripture. He also served on the Ecumenical Commission of the Diocese of New York during that period, with a special interest in dialogue with the Eastern churches.

In addition to his parochial responsibilities, Fr. Daniels has maintained an active ministry of teaching and writing. He served as adjunct faculty at Fordham University and General Theological Seminary. At Fordham, he taught undergraduate students in the Faith and Critical Reason class, exploring the place of religious faith in the modern world. At General Theological Seminary, he led a graduate seminar on modern Anglican theology, encompassing writers from the nineteenth century to the present day. His other publications include the co-edited volume The Emerging Christian Minority, essays in various collections, and articles in peer-reviewed journals. He is a post-doctoral fellow of the Center for Mind and Culture, assistant editor of the journal Religion, Brain & Behavior, and a member of the Society of Scholar-Priests.