Thanksgiving for Anglicanism in the True North: 'for such a time as this'

For some years now, it has been the custom on Laudable Practice to mark Thanksgiving in Canada by giving thanks for an aspect of Anglicanism in the True North. Today, as Canadian friends rejoice in the beauty of Fall, give thanks for the harvest, and enjoy family and home, my thoughts turn to a meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in June 1788. Gathered were the Church of England clergy of the Province of Nova Scotia, assembled by their newly-appointed Bishop, Charles Inglis, for his primary episcopal visitation. 

At the outset of his visitation charge, Inglis referred to his appointment by the King as part of a wider ecclesiastical policy for post-1783 British North America:

Our gracious Sovereign, in His Royal wisdom, and pious solicitude to promote the best interests of religion in His American Dominions, hath been pleased to erect this Province into a Bishop's See, or Diocese, thereby intending to compleat the Polity of the National Church in this country, and to Supply a defect under which it formerly laboured, and was attended with many and great inconveniences. For this benefit, which has been long and earnestly desired by the members of our Church, they should be sincerely thankful to Almighty God, the fountain of every blessing; and they should also testify their gratitude to our Sovereign for this, among many other instances of His paternal care, by unshaken Loyalty and attachment to His sacred Person and Government.

On me the Lot hath first fallen to carry into effect His Majesty's design ...

These were among the very first words officially spoken by the first Anglican bishop in the lands that would become Canada. Any gratitude for Canadian Anglicanism must necessarily to pay tribute to the British Crown for its actions and policies in securing the Anglican presence in those lands. 

Inglis, who had, of course, been a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War, was also addressing clergy who almost all had been Loyalists, now serving communities of newly-settled Loyalists. Such communities were the cradle of Canadian Anglicanism. Inglis' clergy and congregations - recalling their sacrifices in the colonies to their south in the years following 1775 - would have entirely endorsed his reminder that the Church of England in the Province of Nova Scotia should be characterised by loyalty to the Sovereign: 

Among the relative duties, which it is Your business to explain, one of the principal is that which is due from subject to the Sovereign. On this, the peace, order and welfare of Society greatly depend. Accordingly, holy scripture has strongly inculcated this duty, and bound it on the consciences of Christians.

We are commanded "to fear God and honour the King - to submit ourselves to the ordinances of man, for the Lord's sake: Whether it be to the King, as supreme, or unto Governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well." We are injoined to "be subject unto the higher powers, as ordained of God; and this for conscience sake, because rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil."

In addition to the obedience to which Scripture calls the subject - teaching which had been heard from Loyalist pulpits in the rebellious colonies during the Troubles of 1775-83 - Inglis also articulated a belief in the liberty and order of the British constitution, a belief which had motivated Loyalists during the conflict:

We have every motive of attachment to our Sovereign and the Constitution that can influence the human heart. To be a British subject, with its concomitant advantages, is to possess more political happiness, and greater privileges, than fall to the share of any other subjects on earth ... These things exhort and teach, and they will be conducive to order, peace, and happiness in our land.

Here are the foundations of Canadian Anglicanism: the Crown, the Loyalists, a constitutional order which, as Inglis would go on to say, secured "Harmony, Order, and Loyalty". For those - whether conservatives or progressives - who regard any such talk of a secular order providing foundations for Canadian Anglicanism as blasphemy, I would encourage them to read Richard Hooker. The foundation of the invisible church is Jesus Christ alone. The visible church, however, is a polity, and it exists within the secular order. This is what Hooker terms "a power externall and visible in the Church exercised by men", of a different order to Christ's headship which "worketh secretly inwardly and invisibly" (LEP VIII.4.9). One may, of course, disagree with Hooker - but if so, perhaps it is best to become an Anabaptist or Covenanter, rather than to reject a foundational aspect of the Anglican experience.

My point, however, is not to engage in that particular controversy. It is, rather, to recognise with gratitude and thanksgiving the role of the Crown and the Loyalists in the foundation of Canadian Anglicanism. I am well aware that the institutions of the Anglican Church of Canada have, for decades, rejected this reality, regarding it as a matter of shame. At best, the role of the Crown and Loyalists in the foundation of Canadian Anglicanism has been entirely ignored. In more recent years it has become, we are told, a reason for lament and shame. 

In its place, the official organs of Canadian Anglicanism have become an ecclesiastical expression of Justin Trudeau's view that Canada is the "first post-national state", with "no core identity". This was very fashionable in the last decade. For the official organs of the Anglican Church of Canada, it provided a further reason for disowning and disclaiming the Crown and the Loyalists.

And then came President Donald Trump. 

The emptiness of Trudeau's "post-national state" was exposed for all to see, weak and vacuous before the nationalistic boasts of Donald Trump.

Trump has demonstrated the need for something much deeper, more meaningful than a "post-national state". He has led Canada to rediscover its identity as a constitutional monarchy.

On eve of King Charles III of Canada opening the 45th Parliament of Canada in May 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney said:

Tomorrow, His Majesty King Charles III will deliver the Speech from the Throne in the Senate Chamber, nearly 70 years after Canada’s Sovereign first opened Parliament. This historic honour matches the weight of our times. It speaks to our enduring tradition and friendship, to the vitality of our constitutional monarchy and our distinct identity, and to the historic ties that crises only fortify.

The King said in his Speech from the Throne:

The Crown has for so long been a symbol of unity for Canada. It also represents stability and continuity from the past to the present. As it should, it stands proudly as a symbol of Canada today, in all her richness and dynamism ... As the anthem reminds us: The True North is indeed strong and free!

When Canada unveiled its new $20 bill in September this year, for the first time in 70 years it featured a portrait of the Monarch, together with the Vimy Ridge memorial. 

Earlier this year, a summary of opinion polling amongst Canadians on the future of the monarchy was entitled, 'Public Appetite for a Republic Dwindles Across Canada'. Amongst those most supportive of the monarchy are voters for the governing Liberals, the party which holds a commanding lead in the polls:

Canadians who voted for the Liberal Party in the 2025 federal election are more likely to favour keeping the monarchy (37%) than those who cast ballots for candidates representing the Conservative Party (29%) or the New Democratic Party (NDP) (27%).

Now, think again about Bishop Inglis addressing his clergy in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1788. Think again about the role of the Crown and the Loyalists in the foundation of Canadian Anglicanism. What has been an embarrassment for the official organs of the Anglican Church of Canada can now have a renewed resonance. Canadian Anglicanism can abandon the hollowness of the "post-national state" and rediscover its goodly heritage of the Crown and the Loyalists, a heritage fit - Esther-like - 'for such a time as this'. 

The prayers for the King. The historic churches associated with the Loyalists. His Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks. The very fine collect in the BCP 1962 for national occasions, such as Canada Day and Accession: "Vouchsafe so to bless thy servant our King, and his Government in this Dominion of Canada". The commemorations of the United Empire Loyalists. This is what Canadian Anglicanism should rediscover 'for such a time as this', the Anglican roots of Canada's peace, order, and good government.

Of course, it may very well be the case that the official organs of the Anglican Church of Canada will continue to reject their foundational heritage of the Crown and the Loyalists. They may very well continue to be "the post-national state" at prayer. Ironically, however, this will align them with anti-monarchist Trump-supporters on the Right. It will make the Anglican Church of Canada a useful idiot for Trump.

The alternative is to read Bishop Inglis' primary visitation charge with pride. To gratefully rejoice in the role of the Crown and the Loyalists in the foundation of Canadian Anglicanism. And, amidst the red maple leaves of the Canadian Fall, to say God Save The King, Dieu sauve le Roi.