laudable Practice

Throughout 2022 laudable Practice shared extracts from the sermons of Joseph Holden Pott , associated with the Hackney Phalanx. This year, we will turn to sermons from a variety of associates of the Hackney Phalanx, exploring the thinking of this vibrant and influential expression of the Old High tradition. We begin with sermons by John Lonsdale, who received orders in 1815, becoming Principal of King's College, London in 1839, and consecrated Bishop of Lichfield in 1843, remaining in the see until his death in 1867. That year, of course, was the midway point between the publication of Tract XC and Newman's conversion to Rome.  The first of Lonsdale's sermons for consideration is that preached at the 1827 episcopal consecration of Hugh Percy , Bishop of Rochester (translated the same year to Carlisle, in which see he died in 1856). Perhaps what is most striking about the sermon is the modesty of its claims for the episcopal office.  It is thoroughly Hookerian, without a...

From Andrewes' famous "A cold coming they had of it at this time of the year, just the worst time of the year to take a journey, and specially a long journey", to John H. Hopkins's Epiphany carol 'We Three Kings', to Eliot's 'The Journey of the Magi', there has been a warmth to reflection on this feast in Anglican piety. This warmth is very evident in the writings of Jeremy Taylor, who draws out aspects of the Epiphany which have a particular resonance for the form of piety Taylor was seeking to encourage. In his devotional manual The Golden Grove , Taylor provided a series of "Festival Hymns, celebrating the Mysteries and Chief Festivals of the Year", including one for 'Upon the Epiphany, and the Three Wise Men of the East coming to Worship Jesus': A comet dangling in the aire, Presag'd the ruine both of Death and Sin; And told the wise-men of a King, The King of Glory, and the Sun Of Righteousness, Who then begun To draw to...

And we also bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear; beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom ... There is a deeply catholic, ecumenical emphasis to the commemoration of the faithful departed in the Prayer for the Church Militant: " all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear". All. Irrespective of the theological school to which they subscribed. Irrespective of the ecclesiastical polity in which they lived (or governed). Irrespective of confessional disagreements. We give thanks for all who, having confessed the faith of Christ in their earthly lives, now rest in the fullness of the heavenly kingdom. Hooker points to how an understanding of the Church invisible underpins this generous, catholic, ecumenical emphasis: That Church of Christ which we properly terme his body mysticall, can be but one, neither can that one bee sensiblie disc...

Three tweets over the Christmas season warmed my Laudian heart. The first from an Episcopal priest reminded us of the beauty of the Authorized Version of the Scriptures: Watching a church service, and they're reading lessons from the Authorized Version (1611) for Christmas. Absolutely lovely. I wonder if this is something that could be done more? The beauty of the text is almost overwhelming at times. — Scott Gunn (@scottagunn) December 24, 2022 Now, to be clear, I am not at all an AV-only person. The AV is not suitable for all contexts and, of course, is not appropriate for use with contemporary liturgical texts. The RSV can be superior in places. That said, however, the AV was written for public proclamation in divine service. It was, in other words, written to be a liturgical text. As John S. Tanner has stated: The translators signaled their concern for the sound of the text on the title page. The phrase “Appointed to be read in Churches” announced a fundamental function of t...

From the sermons of Cornelius Roosevelt Duffie, Rector of Saint Thomas, New York City, 1824-27, an extract from a sermon for the New Year , on the text from Ps.101:1 "My song shall be of mercy and judgment".  Two aspects of this extract are particularly noteworthy.  The first is the robust realism of its account of our earthly life, at the beginning of a new year.  This reflects the Prayer Book: "Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies ... and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies ... From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us ... We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out". Such a robust realism addresses the uncertainties that surround us as we enter another year and its intimations of our mortality. Mindful of the anxieties and uncertainties of our own times, we can see a need for the P...

As we prepare to receive the holy Sacrament at Christmas, words from a John Henry Hobart sermon  (from a collection published in 1824) for Christmas Day. This short extract may seem quite unremarkable but it is this which has drawn me to it.  The Church calls us, on this day, sacred to the commemoration of his nativity, to display our penitence, our gratitude, and our love, in that holy supper which he hath instituted, to set forth all that he hath done for us, and to assure us of the blessings which he hath purchased for us, and in which we offer to him, who hath visited and redeemed us, ourselves, our souls, and bodies, a holy sacrifice. Its very modesty and reserve aptly captures something important to Anglican piety. Here there is no Enthusiasm, no dramatic asceticism, no urgent revivalism. But, rather, the quiet, prayerful reception of the holy Sacrament on the feast of the Lord's Nativity. How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given. The extract is a succession...

As the year draws to a close, I am looking back on the best books I read in 2022, including a 'book of the year' recommendation. In  Transubstantiation: Theology, History, and Christian Unity (2019), Brett Salkeld offers an interpretation of Aquinas' articulation of transubstantiation which offers important points of contact with the Reformed tradition. Particularly striking, however, was its positioning of Aquinas as considerably closer to Calvin - and, indeed, Zwingli - than Luther, who was much more a 'late medieval'. There is a superb chapter on Calvin and his "remarkable agreement" with Thomas "on signs and signified in the Eucharist". Similarly, on the relationship between the Ascension and the Eucharistic presence, "Calvin (and Zwingli too!) follows Aquinas rather precisely": How ironic, then, Calvin's reputation as a Zwinglian is based largely on his theology of signs and his affirmation of the ascension, two points on whic...