The Queen Anne Project: three things we might learn from 18th century Anglicanism

What practices from 18th century Anglican might have relevance for contemporary Anglicans? Below, three suggestions prompted by some recent hints at such practices having continued relevance. And flowing from this, a proposal for how these could assist in sustaining and renewing Anglican life, presence, and witness.

Firstly, this photograph (from the Prayer Book Society Facebook page) of Evensong at Coombes Church, in the Diocese of Chichester, wonderfully captures how Evensong does not require an organ and large choir.  There is something in the photograph reminiscent of the 18th century West Gallery tradition and its less formal approach to music in divine service.  

The vibrant, popular West Gallery tradition was intensely disliked by Victorian parsons under the spell of the Ecclesiological Society, pushed aside in favour of organs and robed choirs. It does not take much imagination, however, to think of its relevance for contemporary smaller churches, without organist or regular choir, seeking to offer Mattins and Evensong. 

Musical resources for Mattins and Evensong in smaller churches, including simple settings for the canticles, would assist in ensuring that these forms of divine service are not regarded as 'second best' or lacking the singing that often encourages participation in worship. It would also represent a retrieval of an older, pre-Victorian tradition which was the norm in 18th century parishes, an alternative to the assumption that chanting and robed choirs should characterise parish Mattins and Evensong.

Secondly, the diocese in which I serve recently published a pamphlet to aid those discerning a vocation to ministry, lay and ordained.  While some (myself included) have been fearful that moves to 'Ordained Local Ministry' would undermine the ministry of Readers, the pamphlet not only reaffirmed the ministry of Diocesan Readers, it also encouraged that of Parish Readers.  Parish Readers do not preach but assist at divine service, ministering in their own parish under the direction of the Incumbent.  

In many ways, it echoes the old post of the Parish Clerk: indeed, the title of 'Reader' was often regarded as being interchangeable with 'Clerk'.  In his study of Anglicanism in colonial Virginia, John K. Nelson notes how the Parish Clerk often read the service: 

On Sundays a clerk assisted the minister in worship in one congregation.  Simultaneously in the parish's other churches or chapels, clerks read the Divine Service ... When a parish was without the services of a minister, whether temporarily because of travel or illness of for longer periods due to death or removal, clerks provided worship continuity.

Recovering (where it has been lost) and expanding this ministry of Parish Readers would be a means of ensuring that Mattins and Evensong could be offered each Sunday in parishes without clergy or in groups of parishes in which clergy cannot be expected to officiate every Lord's Day.

Thirdly, Nelson also makes mention of the fact that in colonial Virginia "in lieu of preaching, moreover, a clerk was permitted to read an authorized homily". (It would be interesting to know of any research on this practice occurring in 18th century England and Ireland.)  This came to mind when a friend - an incumbent in two mid-Ulster rural churches - mentioned that during his absence a Parish Reader read Morning Prayer and then read a short sermon, written by a cleric.  

It is true, I think, that even those of us who are ardent fans of the Book of Homilies would have to admit that the style in which they are written is not always suitable for a 21st century context.  Nevertheless, there are significant parts of the Homilies that would indeed be wholesome and appropriate.  It would, then, be beneficial to have these sections collated and presented in contemporary English, offering a robust, credal orthodox, catholic and reformed resource for Parish Readers, ensuring that - in the absence of clergy - teaching does occur in the parish church. Alongside this, other resources which would offer homilies for such a context would be welcome.

There is, in other words, wisdom in these 18th century Anglican practices, wisdom which has significance and relevance for many Anglican churches in these Islands and in North America.  They offer a meaningful alternative to the false choices offered by a 'Parish Communion only' approach, an approach which leads to clericalism and which undermines smaller churches and their presence in local communities.  

The alternative begins by recognising that Mattins and Evensong are rich forms of divine service for Sundays, not antiquated expressions gladly forgotten in the light of the progress offered by the Parish Communion movement. Then we begin to consider how the above practices - derived from 18th century Anglicanism - can be applied to Mattins and Evensong in a contemporary setting.  We acknowledge that while the choral tradition is, where it may be had, a gift to be received with gratitude, it is not - as 18th century parish life demonstrated - a necessary accompaniment to Mattins and Evensong.  We can learn from the West Gallery tradition, that another approach to music in divine service can accompany Mattins and Evensong in smaller churches.

We also recognise that while clergy cannot ensure that divine service is offered in every church, every Sunday, laity - with minimal training - can lead Sunday Morning and Evening Prayer. Encouraging the ministry of Parish Readers, perhaps having the ambition that each church will have two, would be a means of facilitating this. This would ensure that local churches could offer worship each Sunday, a prayerful presence in each community.

And then, mindful that solid teaching is important to any local church, helping to ground Christians, old and new, in catholic and apostolic faith, we should consider how passages from the Homilies might be offered in contemporary language, and other resources which would enable such teaching to occur at Mattins and Evensong when led by a Parish Reader.

Alongside many of the highly ambitious schemes designed by central church bodies to promote growth, these proposals will, of course, look ridiculously modest.  They would have none of the glitz associated with those plans. But perhaps that is the point. The expensive, ambitious plans have rarely delivered.  They tend to minimise and sideline the parish church, particularly smaller churches. These, by contrast, are modest initiatives, focussed on the parish, seeking to sustain and renew the worshipping life of smaller churches embodying the Anglican presence in countless local communities, often without the full-time ministry of clergy.  

Aim to have Mattins or Evensong offered every Sunday in every such smaller church, knowing that musical accompaniment can be simple and local. Encourage vocations to the ministry of Parish Reader, with practical, straightforward training.  Based on the Book of Homilies, offer material for teaching in lay-led Sunday Morning and Evening Prayer.

This project would, of course, require a name.  How about the 'Queen Anne Project'? She did, after all, lay a foundation for 18th century Anglicanism with Queen Anne's Bounty: practical, unglamorous but significant. And it would remind us that, despite the persistence of the caricatures, we do have much to learn from 18th century Anglican wisdom.