laudable Practice

The report that a bishop of the Church of England in South Africa (CESA) ordained seven deacons on 22nd May for ministry in the Church of England has, as we might expect, raised more than a few questions. Let me say at the outset, that I have considerable sympathy for CESA. (I use this title as I think REACH-SA is rather gauche.) In our parish we had a lovely gentleman, recently deceased, who was born in South Africa and had served in the Royal Navy in the Second World War. His father was a clergyman in CESA because, he told me, "the Church of the Province was far too popish". I also have no doubt that for quite a few Irish Anglicans, worship in CESA might seem rather more familiar than in CPSA. So, yes, I do sympathy for CESA and its situation vis-a-vis the Anglican Communion.  This sympathy, however, does not extend to refusing to ask questions about a serious breach of episcopal and canonical order by means of this intervention in the life of the Church of England. The e...

And on Thursday morning, January 7, my teenage daughter asked me about what had happened on Epiphany, January 6, in our nation’s capitol building, And even after nearly twenty years of being formed in a supposedly alternate polis, I told her that the insurrectionists had “desecrated” it. And I truly believe that. I reached deep down into my heart of hearts and discovered that the American in my heart of hearts ran just as deep as the Christian did. The words are those of an Episcopal priest , shaped and and influenced by the theology of Stanley Hauerwas. Hauerwas came to mind last week when I saw Episcopal priests on my Twitter timeline lament the use of sacral discourse in condemnation of the events of 6th January 2020.  'Desecration' was used by a number of commentators.  David Brooks , for example, said: it felt like a desecration to me. I mean, this is our holy of the holies. This is where America comes, usually in awe. The Capitol was described by others as 'sacred...

The recent article ' A priest’s lament for the Church of England he loved ' caused a mild stir on Anglican Twitter.  Despite being presented as a conservative lament for the Church of England it is striking how the article's arguments are deeply unconservative and untraditional.  It is demonstrably lacking what Scruton identified as a key aspect of conservatism: "an awareness of the complexity of human beings".  Instead of discerning this complexity, it offers an ideological account of the Church of England and in doing so does that which all ideology tends to do: it flattens complexity and makes life monochrome in pursuit of political ends. Let us begin at the article's end, its conclusion regarding the Church of England: "But God speed the end of this blasphemous shambles".  In what sense can it be deemed conservative to wish for the death of the Church of England?  To again quote Scruton , conservatism begins with "the sentiment that good th...