If we really value the Church of England for its
own sake and for our own souls' sake, can we fail of
wishing to transmit its benefits to our children? As
we have received it from our forefathers, how can we
show our gratitude so well as by handing it down to our
posterity? As God has been pleased to ordain that his
truth should be preserved in the world by natural
descent, shall we not fail in our duty to Him if we do
not our part in delivering on that which we have received? Nay, will not our offspring themselves have
just cause to rise up in judgment against us, if we
have had it in our power to convey to them so great
a blessing, and have neglected it? In short, how is it possible that one who really values the Church of
England, should not desire to perpetuate her ministrations to the remotest posterity? Indeed this very edifice, so durable in its material, is I trust a pledge
that such is the wish and intention of all who have
contributed to raise it. Let us then be careful and
Earnest in the performance of this duty. Let us train up our children in the principles and doctrines of the
Church. Let us habituate them to her worship.
Let us, as they become gradually fitted for her higher
ordinances, prepare them and lead them on to a participation of them. And let us not neglect her minor
habits and traditional usages. They are all parts of one great whole.
From a sermon by
James Beaven,
"Ask for the Old Paths:" A Sermon, Preached at the Opening of the New Church of St. James, at Dundas, Upper Canada, on Sunday, December 31st, 1843. It is a wonderful expression of Old High Church confidence and joy in the gift of the Anglican tradition. The penultimate sentence - "And let us not neglect her minor habits and traditional usages" - demonstrates significant insight into the how a tradition functions: "all parts of one great whole". What is more, this extract also points to a key cause of Anglican decline in North Atlantic societies: the failure within families, churches, and communities to pass on both the practices, usages, and habits, and "the principles and doctrines", of the Anglican tradition.
We can see here, then, two important sources for contemporary Anglican renewal. Firstly, a recovery of a proper, joyful confidence in the Anglican tradition, "for its own sake and for our own souls' sake". Secondly, an unembarrassed commitment to passing on this tradition - practices and doctrine - within families, parishes, and communities.
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