Seersucker Low, Irish Anglican variant

If you're in the United States you're probably the most likely to emphasize that you're part of the PROTESTANT Episcopal Church in the United States of America and you still refer to the 1979 BCP as the "New Prayer book" regardless of how old you are. And yes you probably would like an American Flag hanging behind the altar, all things considered. If you're in Britain you're the early service 1662 spoken service type. You have a strong sense of Christian duty, but you don't want to get into the messiness of "evangelism" or too much "liturgy" and you definitely don't want any of that High Church nonsense. For you, regular Sunday services are your main exposure to Morning Prayer, except for the four Sundays a year that you add communion on to it. It's certainly OK if your priest preaches more than 20 minutes, but they better not get too involved in how you're living your life or who you're voting for.

In recent times, this is invariably the answer I receive when I complete the 'What Kind of Anglican Are You?' quiz. At first I was slightly perturbed. Could a good Old High Churchman really be 'Prayer Book Low'? Reflecting on this blog over the years has led me to suggest that there is good reason for those of us who are Old High to be relaxed about being seen as 'Low': Old High is indeed the New Low. 

There is another reason why I found this terminology provided by the quiz to be both interesting and attractive.  'Seersucker Low' was described to me by a knowledgeable US Episcopalian friend as referring to "old school low church Virginia and the Carolinas". It is a term for a regional expression of traditional Prayer Book piety, suspicious of clericalism and Enthusiasm, with a robust role for the laity in church governance, and a preference for sober, modest liturgy and churches. And that, it seems to me, provides a rather good description of the traditional ethos of the Church of Ireland.

Is a traditional Church of Ireland ethos therefore a variant of 'Seersucker Low'? I believe a good case can be made that this is so, seen in five characteristics of a Church of Ireland ethos.

1. As a Reformed and Protestant Church

In the words of the Declaration of 1870, "The Church of Ireland as a Reformed and Protestant Church". This had also been reflected in a provision of the 1800 Act of Union, "The churches of England and Ireland to be united into one Protestant Episcopal Church". The embarrassment some Anglicans elsewhere have about the term 'Protestant' strikes the vast majority of those in the CofI as distinctly odd. Living on an island with a Roman Catholic majority, it is strikingly obvious that Anglicanism is Protestant. Walk into a CofI parish church and it is immediately apparent that it is Protestant; this is likewise the case with opening our Prayer Book. 

This, however, is a Protestantism that is episcopally ordered, with a reverent liturgy, faithfully administering the Sacraments, imposing no confession on laity beyond the Apostles' and Nicene Creed. As Jeremy Taylor said of this Protestant Episcopalianism:

We have the Word of God, the Faith of the Apostles, the Creeds of the Primitive Church, the Articles of the four first general Councils, a holy Liturgy, excellent Prayers, perfect Sacraments, Faith and Repentance, the Ten Commandments, and the Sermons of Christ, and all the precepts and counsels of the Gospel ... what could here be wanting to Salvation?

It is not, then, the Protestantism of the Enthusiasts or the Revivalists. It is not a dogmatic Protestantism, requiring subscription to a "curious search" into the mysteries of predestination, promoting entirely unnecessary "curious and unhappy differences". Nor is it a tribal Protestantism which denies that our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters are part of the Church of Christ. Rather, the Declaration of 1870 commits us to "quietness, peace, and love among all Christian people".

2. The Irish Prayer Book tradition

If we wanted to point to one text which defined the 'Seersucker Low' Irish Anglican variant, it would be the Book of Common Prayer 1926, what one excellent account of the Church of Ireland ethos from the early 1980s described as "the dignity and simplicity of the Irish Prayer Book". The 1878 and 1926 revisions were, as this account states, "a non-doctrinal revision of 1662". These revisions drew on some aspects of the 1689 Liturgy of Comprehension and PECUSA's BCP 1789, and provided a stable, unifying liturgical text for all in the CofI. Some of those elements of 1662 which had become occasions of controversy and division were addressed. While the Athanasian Creed remained in 1878/1926, the rubric directing its liturgical use was removed. The form of absolution in the Visitation of the Sick was replaced with that from the Holy Communion. The Apocrypha was removed from the lectionary. Such changes reinforced the Prayer Book's role as a unifying text for all in the CofI.

The current iteration of the Irish Prayer Book tradition, BCP 2004, incorporates 1926 and authorises continued use of the 1926 Psalter. The contemporary version of Morning and Evening Prayer retains the Cranmerian structure. The 1662/1926 collects are (with a few sad exceptions) retained. All of the 1926 occasional offices are also retained: Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Burial, Ordination. While the contemporary rite for Holy Communion has the structure 20th century wrongly liturgists assumed to be necessary, many of the Cranmerian texts are retained, with other echoes of 1662 to be heard. It still is the case that one can find the contemporary Holy Communion rite celebrated in surplice and tippet or stole, at the North End, the Prayer of Humble Access said, administered with ordinary bread, with the sentences of the 1662 words of administration heard in the invitation 'Dear near with faith'.

And, crucially, still all in one Common Prayer volume, shared by laity and clergy.

3. In spirit and in truth: sober worship

The Canons adopted at disestablishment - although revised in the 1970s - have profoundly shaped the Irish Anglican experience and have done so for the better. Those Canons were often regarded as horribly 'Low' by Anglicans elsewhere: no eucharistic vestments, no stole, candles only when required to give light, ordinary bread at the Sacrament, North End. As F.R. Boulton noted, however, the Irish Canons "were designed to check innovation and to perpetuate what was then the normal ceremonial of both Churches", that is Ireland and England. This was, as Boulton terms it, "the older Anglican usage". Regarding the North End canonical requirement, he reminded critics "the present Irish rubrical and canonical ... should be regarded as a perpetuation of traditional Anglican usage, which cannot be condemned without condemning the Caroline Divines".   

These Canons preserved a Laudian ideal of uniformity in the Church of Ireland, and prevented the divisions around ritual matters that afflicted and disordered the lives of other Anglican churches in the 19th and 20th centuries. What is more, they ensured the continuity of a pattern of sober, modest liturgical worship that would have been instantly recognisable to Jeremy Taylor, who had instructed his clergy "Let no Minister of a Parish introduce any Ceremony, Rites or Gestures ... but what are commanded by the Church, and established by Law".

Related to this, the services in CofI parish churches are rather like those of Barchester: "the services were decently and demurely read in their parish churches, chanting was confined to the cathedral, and the science of intoning was unknown". Outside of cathedrals and a few parish churches with a choral tradition, CofI Morning and Evening Prayer (3 out of 4 Sunday a month) are almost always said, with the exception of psalm, canticles, and hymns. In the majority of parishes, the Gloria in excelsis and Sanctus at the Holy Communion are said. While Choral Evensong is a gift to be treasured, the quiet simplicity and congregational focus of the said service is no less joyful.

4. A peaceable moderation

The Preface to the revision of 1878 addressed the angry, divisive controversies following the 1850 Gorham Judgement:

In the Formularies relating to Baptism we have made no substantial change, though some have desired to alter or omit certain expressions touching which diversities of opinion have prevailed among faithful members of our Church. At the same time, we desire fully to recognize the liberty of expounding these Formularies hitherto allowed by the general practice of the Church.

And as concerning those points whereupon such liberty has been allowed, we hereby further declare that no Minister of this Church is required to hold or teach any doctrine which has not been cleanly determined by the Articles of Religion.

The Prayer Book rite of Baptism was unchanged: all clergy said at Holy Baptism, "Seeing now, dearly beloved brethren, that this Child is regenerate". As to what those words meant, however, a wise latitude was granted, reflecting the diversity of opinion amongst divines in Churches of Ireland and England in the centuries since the Reformation. Note, too, the reference to "faithful members of our Church", reinforcing the sense of the legitimacy of this diversity. Also evident is the role of the Articles of Religion as a statement of a generous, moderate Protestantism, not seeking to give dogmatic definition to all matters. In the words of the great Burnet:

Where then the Articles are conceived in large and general words, and have not more special and restrained terms in them, we ought to take that for a sure indication, that the church does not intend to tie men up too severely to particular opinions, but that she leaves all to such a liberty as is agreeable with the purity of the faith.

Such moderation found admirable expression in the conclusion of the Preface to the 1878 revision, words which provide which exemplify this characteristic of the CofI ethos:

And now, if some shall complain that these changes are not enough, and that we should have taken this opportunity of making this Book as perfect in all respects as they think it might be made, or if others shall say that these changes have been unnecessary or excessive, and that what was already excellent has been impaired by doing that which, in their opinion, might well have been left undone, let them, on the one side and the other, consider that men's judgements of perfection are very various, and that what is imperfect, with peace, is often better than what is otherwise more excellent, without it.

5. Against clericalist pretensions

According to the Declaration of 1870, "chief legislative power" in the CofI rests with General Synod". This affirmation is at the heart of the CofI's Constitution. General Synod consists "of the Archbishops and Bishops, and of Representatives of the Clergy and Laity". Laity sit with clergy in one deliberative, voting chamber - the House of Representatives - not in separate 'houses'. The House of Bishops may exercise a veto over the House of Representatives but, since disestablishment in 1870, this veto has (very wisely) never been employed. Diocesan synods and diocesan councils administer the diocese, under the presidency of the bishop. Boards of Nomination, which are majority laity, nominate incumbents for parishes, with the parochial nominators (laity elected triennially by parishes) choosing and interviewing candidates. Select vestries, elected by parishioners, govern the parish's finance, fabrics, and fittings, chaired by the incumbent.

To be perhaps somewhat controversial, the governance of the CofI has rightly retained the Erastian characteristics of our previous establishment status, ensuring that the rights of the laity are integral to our constitution, checking any clericalist pretensions. We might also suggest that the CofI is not that far removed from Ussher's vision of a 'reduced episcopacy'. It is difficult to regard our bishops as 'prelates', with their role much more pastoral and akin to superintendency, ensuring a well-ordered ministry for parishes as the ministers of Confirmation, Ordination, and Institution.

It is also unusual in the CofI to hear our clergy routinely referred to as 'priests'. Yes, we know our clergy are ordained priest and we know the Prayer Book rubrics use the term. But, as was the case throughout most of Anglican history, our clergy tend be 'the minister' or 'the Rector'. Thus, for example, Jeremy Taylor's 'Rules and Advices' to his clergy uses the term 'minister' fifty times and 'priest' once. 

... in truth the word Presbyter doth seeme more fitt, and in proprietie of speech more agreeable then Priest with the drift of the whole gospell of Jesus Christ (LEP V.78.3).

I have previously suggested that the use of 'priest' signifies the language of order, describing a lawfully, duly ordered corporation. By contrast, 'minister' and 'rector' signify the language of common prayer, piety, and pastoral experience. It is right that this latter language is found in daily, pastoral, and parochial usage, indicating that sacerdotal language does not capture the qualities of these experiences and relationships. Something of this is also suggested by the Declaration of 1870 employing the phrase "Priests or Presbyters" when describing the CofI's threefold ministry, and in the Canons consistently using the term 'presbyter'. Sacerdotalist notions are, therefore, rarely found within the CofI.

This, then, outlines the Irish Anglican variant of 'Seersucker Low'. It is, I believe, an attractive, sober, and wise tradition, offering spiritual resources to sustain us in the Christian life. Are there other good and godly expressions of the Christian faith on this island? Of course there are and that is a cause for joy - but this is the Christian tradition which has nurtured me, sustained me, guided me, ministered to me. Are there other accounts of what it is to be Church of Ireland and Anglican? Of course there are and my purpose here is not to dispute with them. Rather, my purpose is to give an account of the form of Irish Anglicanism which shaped my formative years and which now, in mid-life, I cherish afresh: the Irish Anglican variant of 'Seersucker Low'.

(The second photograph is the title page of the CofI BCP 1926. The third shows Holy Communion being celebrated at the CofI General Synod in 1965. The fourth is the Holy Table in St. Catherine's parish church, Killead, County Antrim - a glorious example of a rural CofI church.)