laudable Practice

In the debates surrounding the Articles of Perth introducing kneeling to receive the Sacrament in the Church of Scotland, David Lindsay, Bishop of Brechin (1619-34 and Bishop of Edinburgh 1634-38), in his 1621 account of the 1618 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland held at Perth , reflected on how this was also a debate about liturgy.  Quoting his opponent, Lindsay noted how he alleged that because kneeling to receive the Sacrament was accompanied by words of administration, this replaced the Words of Institution: The fift breach of the institution made by kneeling is, the altering of the enunciatiue words of Christ, This is my body which is broken for you: This is my bloud which is shed for you, in a prayer, To blesse our body and soule, saying, The body of our Lord Iesus Christ, &c. This was no new debate. Hooker had responded to a similar criticism of the liturgy and practice of the Church of England by Cartwright, offering a robust defence of the words of administrat...

Addressing how critics of the Articles of Perth condemned kneeling to receive the Sacrament as 'popish', David Lindsay, Bishop of Brechin (1619-34 and Bishop of Edinburgh 1634-38), in his 1621 account of the 1618 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland held at Perth , summarised how those critics viewed the practice as contrary to the laws of the King and the Estates of Parliament: I come to consider the ordinances made, as ye alledge, against kneeling: where first yee alledge an Act made in the Assembly 1591, that an Article should bee formed, and presented vnto his Maiesty, and the Estates, for order to be taken with them, who giue or receiue the Sacraments after the Papistical manner; but by Papistical maner is meante, the giuing of the Sacrament by a Masse Priest, and the receiuing the same after the order of the Romane Church ...  Lindsay, however, points out that the purpose of such laws was to prevent conversion to the Roman obedience: The tenor wherof is those Perso...

Early in Advent, laudable Practice suggested that the experience of Advent in the Northlands - these Islands in December, sharing something of the Winter darkness of Scandinavia - hinted at the Laudian vision of ' the Union of the Churches of the Northern Kingdoms ' and of contemporary Anglican-Lutheran communion.  When I shared a link to the post on Twitter, a priest in The Episcopal Church commented that it "reflects much of the practice here in the northland of Minnesota, and the convergence of the Scandinavian and German heritage, Lutheranism, and their influence on our Anglican worship".  He pointed to an Advent Sunday experience: Attended an Advent procession last Sunday in an Episcopal Church, where in the growing darkness the candlelit choir sang from the Anglican, and German, and Scandinavian heritage. Very fitting for Minnesota. — Dave Langille (@cdnusboy) December 4, 2022 There is something of an echo here of Anglican-Lutheran relationships in North Amer...

Viewing pictures of the various Advent Processions in Anglican cathedrals across these Islands has reminded me of the Laudian vision of a ' Union of the Churches of the Northern Kingdoms '. While we do not quite experience Scandinavian darkness during late November and December, the more northerly parts of these Islands do know late afternoon darkness, a reminder that we are close to the Northlands. Today in Armagh, for example, the sun will set on Ireland's ecclesiastical capital at 4:06pm. Something of this is captured in the contrast between light and darkness which marks the beginning of Advent in cathedrals. The Winter darkness which falls over Scandinavia also touches these Islands and is illumined by our Advent processions. Why, however, might this bring to mind that Laudian ambition of a 'Union of the Churches of the Northern Kingdoms', an ambition fulfilled with the Porvoo Communion? Laudian and High Church observers frequently pointed to the 'Churches...