"It is not necessary to withdraw to caves": A Hackney Phalanx sermon for Saint John Baptist's Day

From A Course of Sermons for the Festivals and Fasts of the Church of England (1821) by Joseph Holden Pott - associated with the Hackney Phalanx - a sermon for Saint John Baptist's Day. Yet again Pott demonstrates the rich understanding of the liturgical calendar which could be found in the pre-1833 Church of England. He also provides a statement of the characteristic Old High suspicion of the excessive asceticism which would - in the next decade - become evident amongst some Tractarian elements. Serious repentance, as Pott states, does not not require us to withdraw to caves. This was the Old High fear, that excessive and demonstrative asceticism - itself a form of Enthusiasm - undermines the ordinary living out of the Gospel amidst daily responsibilities and duties.

The memory of him who comes so commended to us by the testimony of our Blessed Lord, may well be marked for celebration in the Christian Church. Time itself may well contribute to this just regard for the name of one who held so eminent a station, and discharged an office so distinguished . The revolving year may well bear this notice with it in its regular returns, and may renew the testimony in the stated observations which attend its course ...

The holy Baptist's own retirement was for special purposes to prepare men for his mission. He called none into deserts, there to pass their lives in solitude and deep abstraction. So far from it, that he gave them rules of life according to their several occupations in the world. It is not necessary to withdraw to caves, or to forsake society in order to escape from those communications which become pernicious when the heart is yielded to bad counsels. We may pass amidst the throngs of men as our necessities require, and yet not listen to the dangerous seducer, who takes his stand in such frequented circles. We may keep our own thoughts, and our own resolutions, although the wanton and licentious raise their clamours, and run together for any evil purpose which attracts them. The holy Baptist did not request those who came for his advice, to put on his garb of camels hair. We do not read of any one of his Disciples who did this; nor did he invite them to take up their abode in the wilderness. He directed them in every case to return to the path in which Providence had placed them, and to let their sorrow for past misdeeds, their purpose of amendment, and their labour for improvement, and, above all, their faith in him who was to come, and was even then made manifest, be displayed from thenceforth in their lives and manners.

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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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