laudable Practice

When discussing the plain character of older Anglican and Episcopal churches - such as The Middle Church , King Charles the Martyr, Shelland , and Old Wye Church, Maryland - it is not uncommon to hear this character and its lack of imagery dismissed as somehow 'unAnglican', an unfortunate expression of a thankfully long-forgotten, ill-considered theology, replaced by richer Victorian tastes, not at all averse to imagery. Plain windows, whitewashed walls, with a simple, wooden God's Board: this is deemed to be little more than prejudice at work, with the lack of imagery regarded as a denial of the sacred. This is where we turn to Jeremy Taylor. He can hardly be regarded an unimpressive divine or a purveyor of shallow theological thought. Nor, to state the very obvious, was he a 'Puritan' or, indeed, even a Reformed Conformist. Taylor's critique of Calvinist soteriology, his robust defence of episcopal order, and his commitment to the "holy Liturgy" of...

On a recent Sunday without duty, I attended Morning Prayer in a nearby parish. It was a fine example of low church Anglicanism: unfussy Morning Prayer Two (1662 structure, contemporary language), metrical canticles (the parish does not have a choral tradition), and a very good sermon from a lay reader, quoting Augustine and George Herbert.  What particularly captured my thoughts and feelings regarding the service was hymn 343 from the Church of Ireland's Church Hymnal , sung after the sermon: ' We love the place, O God '. As we were singing the hymn, I reflected on how it wonderfully captured an Old High piety that was at home in this low church context (remember, Old High can be the New Low ): Prayer Book, surplice and tippet, a relatively plain church building (stained glass, but no candles, no icons, no statues), said service with hymns, a solid expository sermon.  As the hymn gathers up in thanksgiving the various ministrations experienced in the parish church - prayers...

The May Day holiday - a gentle but joyous celebration of Spring - is a now yearly opportunity for laudable Practice to reflect on the pleasing correspondence between Prayer Book piety and the quiet, plain, sober character of the older Anglican parish church. This year, against the backdrop of The Middle Church , in the heart of Jeremy Taylor country, I am contemplating how, from its consecration in 1668 until it was replaced by a new parish church in 1824, The Middle Church and its parishioners would have known only plain, said services, with metrical psalms being the only singing heard in the church over the century and a half during which divine service was celebrated within it. There certainly would have been no intoning of services. This came to mind when recently reading Ian Meredith's study of how the 19th century Scottish Episcopal Church lost the allegiance of migrant Irish Episcopalians in the west of Scotland. The Ritualism embraced by elements of the Scottish Episcopal...

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, ...

That the Lord's Supper is a feast on, or after, a sacrifice, is an explication of it which has been adopted by the ablest and most learned men. Dr. Cudworth, a great and venerable name, first suggested it in this country; and it has been firmly supported by the ingenious arguments of succeeding Divines - Vicesimus Knox,  Considerations on the Nature and Efficacy of the Lord's Supper (1799). The priest does not absolve in his own name. He simply promulgates the terms of pardon, granted by the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That this may be misunderstood by none, is probably one reason, for which our form repeats the nominative case. "He," that is, Almighty God, "pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe his Holy Gospel" - John Shepherd, A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796). I assure the reader further, that I am none of your passive obedience and non-resis...

A recent Tweet by an Episcopalian expressing regret that some members of their congregation did not cross themselves led to a number of comments from other Episcopalians sharing this regret, suggesting that refusal to make the sign of the Cross was an unfortunate, lamentable left-over of a low church, Protestant Episcopalian culture. I admit that the Tweet and subsequent comments did immediately bring to mind Trollope's words concerning Archdeacon Grantly (a sound High Churchman): "He certainly was not prepared to cross himself".  The Twitter exchange, however, did lead me to consider the theological, liturgical, and devotional case for not making the sign of the Cross. To be very clear at the outset, this is not an argument against Anglicans crossing themselves. We should heed the wisdom of C.S. Lewis : One meets people who are perturbed because someone in the next pew does, or does not, cross himself. They oughtn't even to have seen, let alone censured. "Who a...

Recently on Twitter , I shared pictures of  Aquia Episcopal Church, Stafford, Virginia , built in 1757. Somewhat to my surprise, the tweet proved modestly popular. Perhaps the plain glass, Commandment boards, box pews directed to triple-decker pulpit, and quiet modesty of God's Board resonated in an age in which we are bombarded with the loud and the glaring. As with last year , May Day - a gentle but joyous celebration of the yearly gift of Spring, not yet overwhelmed by the loud heat of raucous Summer - offers an opportunity for laudable Practice to reflect on the relationship between Old High piety and Georgian church interiors. There is a correspondence between the two. They cohere, with the modesty and reserve of the one reflected in and confirmed by the other. We begin with the closing words of the Exhortation at Morning and Evening Prayer: Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the...

Prior to Lent, laudable Practice shared extracts from two sermons by John Lonsdale, an associate of the Hackney Phalanx and later Bishop of Lichfield (1843-67). The Life of John Lonsdale (1868), by his son-in-law, provides an interesting insight into Lonsdale as a representative of the Old High tradition. The work describes Lonsdale as "a High Churchman of the old school, broadened by experience, and inclining always to moderation and comprehension". In this, he was not dissimilar from other bishops in the Old High tradition as, for example, Christopher Bethell (Bishop of Gloucester then Exeter,1824-30) and William Jacobson (Bishop of Chester, 1864-84). On ritual matters, it is stated that this "High Churchman of the old school" did not at all identify with ceremonies the Tractarians imported into parish churches from cathedrals, such as bowing to the Holy Table or facing east for the Creed: Neither did he, either in the reading desk, or at the Table, or in his ...

Arvo Pärt might not, to say the least, be the most obvious choice of a cultural figure to illustrate aspects of the Old High tradition. The Estonian composer, a devout Orthodox believer, and recent recipient of the Polar Music Prize , is rather far removed from the conventions of Old High piety. That said, Peter C. Bouteneff's study Arvo Pärt: Out of Slience (2015) reminds us of the "ecumenical nature of" Pärt's "Christian faith and identity", contrasting with the reactionary sectarianism of some elements in Orthodoxy, marked by the "kind of impassioned devotion one might have for a nation or a football team".  This, then, might allow us to reflect on some similarities between Pärt's music and the Old High tradition.  And so a  profile of Pärt  by conductor and composer Carmen-Helena Télle did bring to mind aspects of Old High piety: By the mid-1980s, Pärt began to be grouped among other composers labeled colloquially as “Holy Min...