"Bringing forth fruits meet for repentance": An early PECUSA Eastertide sermon

Another Eastertide sermon from Cornelius Duffie - rector of Saint Thomas, New York City 1824-27 - in which we see an Old High emphasis on the penitential aspect of Eastertide. This is reflected in the collects of the First and Second Sundays after Easter: "Grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may alway serve thee in pureness of living and truth"; "and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life".

It is a reminder that a straightforward 'the 40 days of Easter are celebratory', a liturgical season in which penitence should be minimised and de-emphasised, obscures a significant aspect of Pauline teaching, that our participation in the life of the Resurrection requires a dying to sin. As the epistle of Easter Day declared, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth". It is therefore right and proper that the penitential aspects of both Morning and Evening Prayer and the Holy Communion in the traditional Prayer Book pattern should remain in full during Eastertide, a season in which we are called to bring "forth fruits meet for repentance" as a means of sharing in the Resurrection life.

My brethren, the emotions with which we have hailed the festival dedicated by the Church to the memory of the resurrection of our Lord, and the feelings with which we have together celebrated its recurrence, should not be the impulse of a momentary gladness, nor the expression of a transient joy. Nor will it be, if we consider duly our interest in it, and the consequences it involves ...

And since all these promises and assurances are made only to those that believe, let us perceive how necessary it is that repenting of every cherished sin, and bringing forth fruits meet for repentance, ours should be the unfeigned and availing faith in the Gospel - that faith which worketh by love, and purifieth the heart--that faith which inspires the resolution to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, and to give all diligence to make our calling and election sure - that faith which shall distinguish us from the world by its transforming power, experienced inwardly in the renewing of our minds, and manifested outwardly in making us a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Thus, by a true and living faith, embracing the interposition of Christ in our behalf, and being conformed to his image by cherishing continually the effectual influence of his Holy Spirit, we shall be authorized to believe that our sins are forgiven; that we are justified from all things from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses; that the majesty of the Father is reconciled; that we are again restored to the favour of the Most High; that it is our privilege, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And sustained by his grace to the end of this mortal pilgrimage, we may pass through the valley of the shadow of death, and fear no evil; we may quit the world in peace, in confidence, in triumph; rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.

(The painting is George Harvey, 'Nightfall, St. Thomas Church, Broadway, New York', c. 1837.)

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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