An old Laudian vision and Advent in the Northland of Minnesota

Early in Advent, laudable Practice suggested that the experience of Advent in the Northlands - these Islands in December, sharing something of the Winter darkness of Scandinavia - hinted at the Laudian vision of 'the Union of the Churches of the Northern Kingdoms' and of contemporary Anglican-Lutheran communion.

When I shared a link to the post on Twitter, a priest in The Episcopal Church commented that it "reflects much of the practice here in the northland of Minnesota, and the convergence of the Scandinavian and German heritage, Lutheranism, and their influence on our Anglican worship". He pointed to an Advent Sunday experience:

Attended an Advent procession last Sunday in an Episcopal Church, where in the growing darkness the candlelit choir sang from the Anglican, and German, and Scandinavian heritage. Very fitting for Minnesota.
— Dave Langille (@cdnusboy) December 4, 2022

There is something of an echo here of Anglican-Lutheran relationships in North America during the colonial era. Such relationships were, of course, a reflection of a well-established recognition in the 18th century England of a natural affinity with the episcopal, liturgical, and national churches of the Lutheran kingdoms. This was an outworking of the Laudian understanding that the natural orientation for the Protestant Episcopal churches of the kingdoms of England and Ireland was not in a southerly direction towards Rome, nor an easterly direction towards Geneva, but northward, in the direction of the Scandinavian kingdoms.

This Laudian vision provides a context for understanding the 2001 TEC-ELCA agreement Called to Common Mission. While not possessing the historic episcopate, this agreement provided for ECLA "to receive the historic episcopate", a fulfillment of the Laudian desire for non-episcopal churches. (It also affirmed, again in good Laudian fashion, the authenticity of the non-episcopal ordained ministry in ECLA: hence the agreement declared, "The Episcopal Church by this Concordat recognizes the ministers ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ... as fully authentic").

Alongside side, we can also consider the 2015 acknowledgement of a formal relationship between TEC and the Church of Sweden, Report on the Grounds for Future Relations between the Church of Sweden and the Episcopal Church. The report begins by recognising the historic grounds for this relationship:

The first contacts between the Church of Sweden and the Episcopal Church occurred in the colonial period in the 18th century in the areas of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. At that time there was Eucharistic sharing between Episcopal and Swedish congregations, and on occasion Swedish priests served in Episcopal churches without re-ordination (and vice versa), which presupposed recognition of each other as belonging to the Church of Christ.

There is, then, a recognition of the deep roots of the significant theological, liturgical, and ecclesial common ground shared by Episcopalians and Lutherans.

Which brings us back to Advent in the Northland that is Minnesota, and Episcopalians being enriched in their observance of the season by the patrimony of the German and Scandinavian Lutherans who settled in the state. It is again suggestive of the convergence between Advent, Winter darkness, and the historic relationships between Anglicans/Episcopalians and Lutherans.

The context, of course, would - to say the least - have greatly surprised Archbishop Laud. He would, however, rejoice in his vision of a 'Union of Churches of the Northern Kingdoms' finding unexpected expression in another Northland, a shared celebration of the Advent hope in northerly Winter darkness.

(The first photograph is of Trinity Episcopal Church, St. Charles, Minnesota. The second is of a Minnesota Winter sunset.)

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...

1928 practices and the 1979 book: unthinking conservatism or popular piety?

Those responsible for Earth & Altar - a new blog emanating from a group within TEC - are to be congratulated for an excellent contribution to wider Anglican discussion and debate. The commitment to "an expansively conceived credal orthodoxy as fully compatible with LGBTQ inclusion, gender equality, and racial justice" is an important part of a wider retrieval of creedal orthodoxy within what we might call the post-liberal generation. It is in this spirit that I want to respond to a recent post on the site by Andrew McGowan , Dean of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale Divinity School. Against the background of another round of "ill-defined" liturgical revision in TEC, he understandably urges that a fuller reception of the 1979 BCP should occur before further reforms. In doing so, however, he takes aim at what he describes as "clinging to the ritual structures of 1928" while using the text of 1979. We ...

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