An old Laudian vision and Advent in the Northland of Minnesota

Early in Advent, laudable Practice suggested that the experience of Advent in the Northlands - these Islands in December, sharing something of the Winter darkness of Scandinavia - hinted at the Laudian vision of 'the Union of the Churches of the Northern Kingdoms' and of contemporary Anglican-Lutheran communion. 

When I shared a link to the post on Twitter, a priest in The Episcopal Church commented that it "reflects much of the practice here in the northland of Minnesota, and the convergence of the Scandinavian and German heritage, Lutheranism, and their influence on our Anglican worship".  He pointed to an Advent Sunday experience:

Attended an Advent procession last Sunday in an Episcopal Church, where in the growing darkness the candlelit choir sang from the Anglican, and German, and Scandinavian heritage. Very fitting for Minnesota.

— Dave Langille (@cdnusboy) December 4, 2022

There is something of an echo here of Anglican-Lutheran relationships in North America during the colonial era. Such relationships were, of course, a reflection of a well-established recognition in the 18th century England of a natural affinity with the episcopal, liturgical, and national churches of the Lutheran kingdoms. This was an outworking of the Laudian understanding that the natural orientation for the Protestant Episcopal churches of the kingdoms of England and Ireland was not in a southerly direction towards Rome, nor an easterly direction towards Geneva, but northward, in the direction of the Scandinavian kingdoms. 

This Laudian vision provides a context for understanding the 2001 TEC-ELCA agreement Called to Common Mission. While not possessing the historic episcopate, this agreement provided for ECLA "to receive the historic episcopate", a fulfillment of the Laudian desire for non-episcopal churches. (It also affirmed, again in good Laudian fashion, the authenticity of the non-episcopal ordained ministry in ECLA: hence the agreement declared, "The Episcopal Church by this Concordat recognizes the ministers ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ... as fully authentic").

Alongside side, we can also consider the 2015 acknowledgement of a formal relationship between TEC and the Church of Sweden, Report on the Grounds for Future Relations between the Church of Sweden and the Episcopal Church. The report begins by recognising the historic grounds for this relationship:

The first contacts between the Church of Sweden and the Episcopal Church occurred in the colonial period in the 18th century in the areas of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. At that time there was Eucharistic sharing between Episcopal and Swedish congregations, and on occasion Swedish priests served in Episcopal churches without re-ordination (and vice versa), which presupposed recognition of each other as belonging to the Church of Christ.

There is, then, a recognition of the deep roots of the significant theological, liturgical, and ecclesial common ground shared by Episcopalians and Lutherans. 

Which brings us back to Advent in the Northland that is Minnesota, and Episcopalians being enriched in their observance of the season by the patrimony of the German and Scandinavian Lutherans who settled in the state. It is again suggestive of the convergence between Advent, Winter darkness, and the historic relationships between Anglicans/Episcopalians and Lutherans. 

The context, of course, would - to say the least - have greatly surprised Archbishop Laud. He would, however, rejoice in his vision of a 'Union of Churches of the Northern Kingdoms' finding unexpected expression in another Northland, a shared celebration of the Advent hope in northerly Winter darkness. 

(The first photograph is of Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Charles, Minnesota. The second is of a Minnesota Winter sunset.)