laudable Practice

On Friday 2nd February 1787, Dr. William White and Dr. Samuel Provoost, citizens of the United States and ministers of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, were introduced by the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Moore, to King George III. William White presented a "preconceived address" to the King: we were happy in the opportunity of thanking his majesty, for his license granted to his grace the archbishop, to convey the Episcopal succession to the Church in America. The King responded: His grace has given me such an account of the gentle men who have come over, that I am glad of the present op portunity of serving the interests of religion. It was a quite remarkable meeting, related in White's Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (1820). White and Provoost had both been Patriots during the Revolutionary War. Now, by the provisions of an Act of Parliament, and welcomed by George III, they were, two days lat...

Whereas it has pleased Almighty God in his great goodness to put an end to the late bloody, extended, and expensive war in which we were engaged; we therefore, adoring the Divine goodness, and duly considering that the great and public blessings of peace do call for public and solemn acknowledgments, have thought fit, by the advice of our Privy Council, to issue this our Royal Proclamation, hereby appointing and commanding, that a general thanksgiving to Almighty God for these his mercies, be observed ... on Thursday the 29th of this instant July. This was the Royal Proclamation of King George III, issued on 2nd July 1784. Throughout the American War, days of prayer and fasting had been observed in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland. The first fast day had been 13th December 1776. Joseph Butler - then Archdeacon of Surrey, to be appointed Bishop of Oxford in 1777 - preached before the House of Commons on that occasion. He emphasised that the rebellious...

In its ' Alterations agreed on and confirmed in Convention, for rendering the Liturgy conformable to the principles of the American Revolution, and the constitutions of the several states ', the first General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, held in Philadelphia in 1785, set forth a ' Service for the 4th of July '. The thanksgiving appointed for the day included this reference to the events of 4th July 1776: O God, whose Name is excellent in all the earth, and thy glory above the heavens, who as on this day didst inspire and direct the hearts of our delegates in Congress, to lay the perpetual foundations of peace, liberty, and safety; we bless and adore thy glorious Majesty, for this thy loving kindness and providence ... The appointed Epistle opened with the words "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice"; the appointed Gospel concluded with "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed". There is littl...

George Washington and Charles Inglis. They seem to be ideological opponents. Washington, the enlightened Virginian gentleman and commander of the Continental Army. Inglis, the Loyalist parson in New York and critic of Paine's Common Sense . While both were members of the Church of England, JCD Clark in The Language of Liberty 1660-1832 (1994) has portrayed the Revolutionary War as a 'war of religion', with contrasting Anglican visions taking opposing sides. Washington represented the low church, latitudinarian ethos of the Church of England in the southern colonies. Inglis, by contrast, represented the high church orthodoxy and Toryism of the clergy of the northern colonies.  There is good reason, however, to suggest that Clark's contrast between two opposing Anglican visions is much too heavily drawn. As much recent scholarship has demonstrated, 18th century Anglicanism was defined much more by 'unity and accord' than by High v. Low conflict. William Gibson, f...

With the approach of the Fourth of July and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Laudable Practice  this week will have a series of posts considering aspects of 18th century Anglicanism in the context of the American Revolution. We begin today with a figure at the centre of that Revolution, the Virginian gentleman George Washington.  Two rival portrayals of Washington are conventionally invoked. The first is that of Washington as the icon of the founding of Christian nation. To quote a Southern Baptist publication : America’s greatest hero and first President was no deist, but a devout, Bible-believing Christian. US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth echoed this in a recent statement invoking the iconography of Washington praying at Valley Forge: Amid all the bleak nights, the loss and despair, the lack of proper support, George Washington performed a profound act — he prayed. And on this day of Rededicate 250, let us follow George Washington's example. Let us...

The picture is of this year's annual Lantern Service in Old North Church , Boston. The service commemorates the lighting of two lanterns in the church's steeple on 18th April 1775, leading to Paul Revere's famous midnight ride before the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In the 50 years since the bicentennial celebrations in 1976, the service has been an annual fixture. In the words of the Old North Church website: [it] recalls the lights of liberty that shone from Old North’s steeple on April 18, 1775, while reflecting on the meaning of faith, freedom, and American democracy today. The service culminates with the lighting of the church's two historic lanterns. When I looked at photographs of this year's service, what immediately struck me was this photograph. It encapsulates the 'Publick Religion' that traditionally has been part of the Anglican vocation: surplice, tippet, hood, bands - noble and modest; a historic church; a national commemoration.  It is,...