A Latitudinarian deathbed?

From Tillotson's sermon at the funeral in 1683 of Cambridge Platonist Benjamin Whichcote. It is difficult to see how the piety represented here - the praise for the Prayer Book's office for Visitation of the Sick, the devotion surrounding the reception of the Sacrament as death approaches - differs from the piety which shaped the High Church throughout the 18th century:

During his sickness, he bad a constant calmness and serenity of mind; and under all his bodily weakness, possest his soul in great patience. After the Prayers for the Visitation of the Sick (which he said were excellent prayers) had been used, he was put in mind of receiving the Sacrament; to which he answered, that he most readily embraced the proposals: and, after he had received it, said to Dr. Cudworth, “I heartily thank you for this most Christian office: I thank you for putting me in mind of receiving this Sacrament:” adding this pious ejaculation: "the Lord fulfill his declarations and promises, and pardon all my weaknesses and imperfections." He disclaimed all merit in himself, and declared that whatever he was, he was through the grace and goodness of God in Jesus Christ. He expressed likewise great dislike of the principles of separation, and said - He was the more desirous to receive the Sacrament, that he might declare his full communion with the church of Christ all the world over.

The scene here described and praised by Tillotson could be taken to exemplify the dynamic described by William Gibson in The Church of England 1688-1832: Unity and Accord:

High Church and Low Church were not exclusive categories of thought and churchmanship. They were blurred and broad streams within Anglicanism that often merged, overlapped and coincided. The mistaken assumption that these were hard and fast categories helped to construct an appearance of division and disunity. As a result, moments of controversy and division have become archetypes for the Church in the 18th century. Instead of seeing the Convocation, Sacheverell and other episodes as untypical, transitory moments, historians have seen them as symptomatic of divisions that reached from the top to the bottom of the Church. Yet there is no evidence for this.

Why I support the ordination of women: a High Church reflection

A number of commenters on this blog have asked about my occasional expressions of support for the ordination of women to all three orders. With some hesitation, I have decided to post a summary of my own views on this matter. The hesitation is because I have sought on this blog to focus on issues and themes which can unify those who identify with or have respect (grudging or otherwise!) for what we might term 'classical' Anglicanism (the Anglicanism of the Formularies and - yes - of the Old High Church tradition). Some oppose the ordination of women (and I have friends and colleagues who do so, Anglo-Catholic, High Church, and Reformed Evangelical). Some of us support it (again, friends and colleagues covering a wide range of theological traditions). Below, I have organised my thinking around 5 points (needless to say, no reference to Dort is implied). 1. The Declaration for Subscription required of clergy in the Church of Ireland states: (6) I promise to submit ...

How the Old High tradition continued

Charles Gore's 1914 letter to the clergy of his diocese, ' The Basis of Anglican Fellowship ', can be regarded as a classical expression of the Prayer Book Catholic tradition. A key part of the letter - entitled 'Romanizing in the Church of England' - addressed the "Catholic movement", questioning beliefs and practices within it which tended to "a position which makes it very difficult for its extremer representatives to give an intelligible reason why they are not Roman Catholics". Gore provides the outlines of an alternative account and experience of catholicity within Anglicanism, defined by three characteristics. What is particularly interesting about these characteristics is their continuity with the older High Church tradition. Indeed, the central characteristic as set out by Gore was integral to High Church claims over centuries: To accept the Anglican position as valid, in any sense, is to appeal behind the Pope and the authority of t...

Pride, progressive sectarianism, and TEC on Facebook

Let me begin this post with an assumption that will be rejected by some readers of laudable Practice , but affirmed by other readers. Observing Pride is an understandable aspect of the public ministry of TEC. On previous occasions , I have rather robustly called for TEC to be much more aware and respectful of the social conservatism of the Red states and regions in which it ministers. A failure to do so risks TEC declining yet further into the irrelevance of progressive sectarianism. At the same time, TEC also obviously ministers in deep Blue states and metropolitan areas - and is the only Mainline Protestant tradition in which a majority of its members vote Democrat .* With Pride now an established civic commemoration, particularly in such contexts, there is a case for TEC affirming those aspects of Pride - the dignity of gay men and lesbian women, their contribution to civic life, and their place in the church's life - which cohere with a Christian moral vision. (I will n...

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