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...

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...

Following on from Friday's post on PECUSA worship in 1900, and reflecting on a recent photograph from Pohick Church with the description "the old Virginia tradition", I came across Old Churches, Ministers, and Families of Virginia (1857), by William Meade, Bishop of Virginia 1841-62. Meade refers to the "liberty" and "variety" regarding the surplice that "has ever existed in the Church of Virginia". What is more, he also presents this as within the canonical context established and maintained by PECUSA: As to the vestments, the same liberty and the same variety has ever existed in the Church of Virginia, without interruption to its harmony. It is well known that the controversy in our Mother Church concerning the use of the surplice was a long and bitter and most injurious one ... At the revision of the Prayer Book by our American fathers, this and other changes, which had long been desired by many in England, and still are, were at once mad...

In March 1900, the US publication Literary Digest provided a fascinating glimpse of life in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Noting the "marked demarcation in matters of doctrine and worship" within PECUSA, the article provided a breakdown of "the relative strength of the High-, Low-, and Broad-Church parties". High Church is defined as "not elaborate ritual alone" but also "the importance of the sacraments" and a belief "in the place of the church, as preceding the Bible, not founded upon it". Low Church is taken to mean "attach[ing] less importance to the sacraments", being "evangelical in method, and sometimes "employ[ing] extempore prayer". As for Broad Church, it refers to "the liberal constructionists, sometimes of the Bible, oftener of church practises". Perhaps what is most significant about these introductory comments is that a Low Church, evangelical tradition...

Rogationtide. It is a time, surely, for the Benedicite at Morning Prayer. In his 1805 An Exposition of the Book of Common Prayer according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America , the New Jersey PECUSA cleric Andrew Fowler offered an effective summary of well-established 18th century Church of England commentary on the place and use of the Benedicite in the Prayer Book .  It is worth noting the 1786 proposed PECUSA revision - which provoked a critical response from the bishops of the Church of England - did not include the Benedicite. This was probably influenced by the 1689 Liturgy of Comprehension, albeit that the latter, unlike the 1786 proposals, provided Psalm 148 as a replacement for the Benedicite. It is probable that its restoration in 1789 was to reassure the bishops of the Church of England that PECUSA was not seeking radical reform of the Prayer Book. We can be grateful, then, that the Benedicite was restored to the PECUSA Prayer ...

The King's state visit to the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, had me searching online for photographs of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II attending Episcopal services during their respective state visits.  During his state visit, George VI, with FDR, attended divine service at St. James Episcopal Church, Hyde Park, New York City on Sunday 11th June 1939. The first photograph, taken after the service, shows the King and Queen, President and Mrs. Roosevelt, Bishop Henry St. George Tucker (then PECUSA Presiding Bishop), and two Episcopal clergy.  The second and third photographs are of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attending divine service in Old North Church on Sunday 11th July 1976, as part of the bicentennial celebrations.  The photographs evoke something that, in many ways, been lost. Reflecting on the photographs, however, is neither a counsel of despair nor a call for reactionary outrage. It is, instead, an i...

On Epiphany 1813, William White, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Presiding Bishop of PECUSA, preached in Christ Church, Philadelphia. The sermon addressed the newly-established Society for the Advancement of Christianity in Pennsylvania, founded by White in the previous year to support the creation of Episcopal churches in the state.  What is striking about the sermon is how it is defined by what White terms "the festival of this day". Remembering that White is regarded as an exemplar of the low church tradition in PECUSA, and that there was little, if any, high church influence in Pennsylvania, the sermons points to how the feast of the Epiphany was meaningfully observed in pre-1833 Anglicanism: It has been often remarked concerning the calling of the Gentiles, that the great event became distinct a prophecy, in proportion as the time of its accomplishment drew near. The truth of this is especially evident in the text. The ...

In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. And so begins, of course, Washington Irving's ' The Legend of Sleepy Hollow '. That Irving was a parishioner of the Episcopal congregation in Tarrytown, "on the eastern shore of the Hudson", adds to the story: he was writing about the place which was his home from 1835 until his death, the place in which he worshipped (in the Episcopal congregation, Christ Church), the landscape in which he rejoiced. It is the custom of laudable Practice on Thanksgiving Day to give thanks for an aspect of the Protestant Episcopal Chur...