laudable Practice

The recent announcement of three new ecclesiastical patrons for the Prayer Book Society was a moment of quiet joy and hope amidst, let's be honest, the decidedly grim landscape of North Atlantic Anglicanism. That the three bishops represent various streams of Anglican thought and spirituality is itself a sign of how - amidst much division - the Book of Common Prayer can provide nourishing common ground for different varieties of Anglicans. This, of course, has been part of the historical vocation of the BCP, a shared, common order of prayer, sacrament, and blessing for differing, indeed, even rival, theological tendencies - Laudian and Reformed Conformist, Calvinist and Arminian, Latitudinarian Whig and High Church Tory, John Keble and J.C. Ryle. In addition to this aspect of the announcement, however, the various insights offered by the three bishops on the continued significance and place of the Prayer Book is particularly refreshing and encouraging. Bishop Jane Steen of Lynn po...

Theologian Andrew Davison is one of the very interesting scholarly voices in contemporary Anglicanism. With Alison Milbank, he wrote For the Parish (2010), a key text for those reasserting the centrality of the parish in the face of the insubstantial alternatives proposed by 'fresh expressions' thinking. Why Sacraments? (2013) offered an engaging sacramental theology, rooted in Catholic thought but also open to Reformed insights.  Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine: Exploring the Implications of Life in the Universe (2023) provides a serious Christian approach to the possibilities of life elsewhere in the universe. Participation in God: A Study in Christian Doctrine and Metaphysics (2020) provides one of the most significant contemporary explorations of a theme which has gained renewed attention in both Catholic and Protestant thought.  Davison is, then, a weighty theological voice. He also stands firmly within the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Both of these factors give...

The report that a bishop of the Church of England in South Africa (CESA) ordained seven deacons on 22nd May for ministry in the Church of England has, as we might expect, raised more than a few questions. Let me say at the outset, that I have considerable sympathy for CESA. (I use this title as I think REACH-SA is rather gauche.) In our parish we had a lovely gentleman, recently deceased, who was born in South Africa and had served in the Royal Navy in the Second World War. His father was a clergyman in CESA because, he told me, "the Church of the Province was far too popish". I also have no doubt that for quite a few Irish Anglicans, worship in CESA might seem rather more familiar than in CPSA. So, yes, I do sympathy for CESA and its situation vis-a-vis the Anglican Communion.  This sympathy, however, does not extend to refusing to ask questions about a serious breach of episcopal and canonical order by means of this intervention in the life of the Church of England. The e...

At Parish Communion on Saint Peter’s Day, 29.6.25 Matthew 16:13-19 “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’.” [1] Last Sunday evening, here in our parish church, was the last Choral Evensong before the summer break. As in many other churches here and beyond, prayer was offered unto God in the name of Jesus Christ, the Scriptures were read, and the praises of God the Holy Trinity were sung. At around the same time, the congregation of Mar Elias Orthodox Church, Damascus, had also gathered for their evening liturgy: just as in our parish church, they were offering prayer unto God in the name of Jesus Christ, reading the Scriptures, and singing the praises of God the Holy Trinity. There was then a confrontation at the door of Mar Elias Church. At least one gunman was forcing his way into the church. Members of the congregation sought to push him out. He then detonated the explosives on his suicide vest. At least 25 members of the congregation were killed; 65 ...

I noticed a recent discussion on Anglican 'X' between a 1662 appreciator in the United States and a priest of the Reformed Episcopal Church who uses the PECUSA 1928 BCP. The 1662 appreciator pointed to BCP 1662 as "the standard for global Anglicanism". The Reformed Episcopal priest responded by saying that Anglicanism is "primarily expressed locally" rather than "globally" and that this therefore entails a nationally authorised liturgy, as opposed to any universal claim for 1662. As readers of laudable Practice will be aware, I have a great love of 1662. I had, however, no hesitation in agreeing with the "primarily expressed locally" view. Perhaps it is the Burkean in me, deeply sceptical of abstract claims for universal human authorities, removed from particular circumstances and polities. And then there is the voice of Jewel , affirming the rights and liberties of a national church: Yet truly, we do not despise councils, assemblies, an...

When he turns to 'The Two Prayers after the Lord's Prayer' in the post-Communion of the 1662 rite, John Shepherd, in his A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Book of Common Prayer, Volume II (1801), immediately identifies the scriptural reference which shapes the first prayer, the Prayer of Oblation: A part of the first is principally designed for the practice of the advice given by St. Paul, who "beseeches us by the mercies of God, that we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service."  The fact that the Prayer of Oblation, following our partaking of the Sacrament, is rooted in the apostolic exhortation, rightly identifies the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist. As Cranmer stated in his True and Catholic Doctrine : Another kind of sacrifice there is, which doth not reconcile us to God, but is made of them that be reconciled by Christ, to testify our duties unto God, and to show ourselves thankful unto...