Educated for Prayer

by Matthew Maule, Marketing and Member Services Associate, Christian Service Charities

 The endless cycle of idea and action

Endless invention, endless experiment,

Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;

Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.[1]

O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be our strength; By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence; where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

My journey into the Anglican way was that of a ship struggling through tempestuous seas to reach a harbor. I was raised in an independent Baptist church that abhorred any notion of sacraments, liturgy, or spiritual authority. I was taught that salvation was achieved through my putting my trust completely and only in Christ’s work on the cross.  I was responsible for endowing the Christian life with meaning – baptism was merely my declaration of belief, communion was merely my attempt to remember Christ’s death, faith was my response to God. None of these were to be seen as God’s gracious gifts designed to bring me into closer communion with him. I was the arbiter of my fate and my eternal destiny rested in my hands.

Again and again, in the pulpit, on the radio, at summer camps, I was asked “are you sure you are going to heaven when you die? Have you trusted 100% in Christ?” Children I grew up with were “saved” again and again; they were then re-baptized since the previous occasions were meaningless. The message of “Christ Alone” was always combined with the necessity of making a “personal decision for Christ.” The Christian life became a Sisyphean endeavor of trying to find meaning in myself and my response to God.

Then I attended college and everything became much more difficult. My college strove to instill in its students both contemporary evangelical faith and the classical liberal arts; the tension was soon reflected in my soul. I read Plato and Aristotle, St. Augustine and St. Thomas, and that conflict grew. Plato taught me that, “Education, then, is a matter of correctly disciplined feelings of pleasure and pain. But in the course of a man’s life the effect wears off, and in many respects it is lost altogether.”[2]  There exists an external order to which I must submit my feelings and in which I find purpose. St. Augustine taught me that participating in that order is what it means to be virtuous, to be human.[3] Formerly, I had seen myself as imposing meaning on the world around me. These writers educated me, led me out of myself, into the world outside of me – the world that gave me meaning.

But, as I did not yet know how to reconcile reason and the faith I had been taught, I began to turn away from faith and tried fill the void with learning. This continued for 2 years until God sent me two guides. The first was a fellow student who had been on much the same path; through quiet conversations and gentle leading, and through his example as a learned man of strong faith, he turned my search for reason back to the search for faith.

At the same time, I discovered the 1928 edition of The Book of Common Prayer at a school retreat led by one of my professors. I began using it morning and evening; two weeks later, on Easter Sunday, I worshiped at my local Anglican parish (Church of Our Savior at Oatlands) and have been there ever since.

The Anglican way is a way of education through submission. The word “education” has its roots in the Latin ex ducere – to lead out. The Anglican way leads a person from the cave that is himself to the Son of God. I heard the “comfortable words our Savior Christ saith…’Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.’” Meaning could be found, not by my will’s imposition on the world, but in the Word of God and his gifts of word, sacrament, and the Church. As an Anglican, I submit myself to, and acknowledge my dependence upon, those three gifts for the maintenance of my faith.

The chief jewel of the Anglican way is The Book of Common Prayer. It assists the Church, and even a person outside the Church in my case, in the education of the soul by leading it from itself to fuller communion with Christ. As sinners, we do not know how to pray as we ought; the apostles themselves asked Christ to teach them how to pray. If prayer informs belief, then surely modes of prayer do as well. Growing up in churches that practiced only private or extemporary prayer reinforced the idea that meaning springs from the autonomous individual. Plato writes that allowing free innovation in education (he is addressing the rules of children’s games) results in:

          [N]o permanent agreed standard of what is becoming or unbecoming either in deportment or 

          their possessions in general; they worship anyone who is always introducing some novelty

          or doing something unconventional to shapes and colors and all that sort of thing. In fact,

          it’s no exaggeration to say that this fellow is the biggest menace that can ever afflict a

          state, because he quietly changes the character of the young by making them despise old

          things and value novelty.[4]

One need only look at the rise of heterodoxy and the cult of personality in contemporary evangelicalism to see Plato’s warning fulfilled.

The Book of Common Prayer, in its very title, points to the communion of believers in Christ stressed by the apostles and Church fathers. This communion is both historic and authoritative.  I soon began to see that I could not truly become a person until I ceased being an individual and opened myself to that authority and teaching. Rather than endlessly inventing and experimenting in an attempt to bring meaning into my life, I could submit to the prayer book and find my soul oriented to God. 

Through the Church, with its prayer book and sacraments, that orientation of the soul ceases to be a striving of the will and becomes, in stillness and quietness, an opening of the soul to the working of grace where faith and reason unite in contemplation of Love incarnate.

and How Anglicans Can Respond

Barton Gingerich, Research Assistant, Institute on Religion and Democracy

            American churches are losing their young people. This trend was evidenced most recently in a 2012 Pew Forum study titled “‘Nones’ on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation.” The summary of the 80-page report posits, “The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public – and a third of adults under 30 – are religiously unaffiliated today, the highest percentages ever in Pew Research Center polling.”

            Researchers use the label of “nones,” or “religiously unaffiliated,” to clarify that these young people are not falling into hardened agnosticism or atheism. Instead, they often describe themselves as “spiritual, but not religious,” perhaps echoing the common mantra that “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.” As Ross Douthat argues in his latest book Bad Religion, America suffers not from a lack of spirituality but rather an influx of self-determined, self-actualizing heresies. Mainline Protestantism, once a bastion of orthodoxy and counterweight to spiritual outliers on the American religious landscape, has compromised on its Christian convictions and has suffered an exodus in membership. Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism likewise hemorrhages baptized members, even though the statistics are buoyed by the influx of Latin American immigrants. This is not simply a crisis in denominational loyalty. Nondenominational evangelicalism, once the refuge for dissident revivalist Protestant voices, is also starting to suffer membership loss. Youth raised in the megachurch culture seem almost as likely to leave the faith as any other kind of Christian. Even America’s largest religious group, the Southern Baptist Convention, is starting to see its membership numbers plateau.

            The Pew Forum cites four hypotheses for the rise of the nones: political backlash (especially against the “Religious Right”), delayed marriage, broad social disengagement (or the “bowling alone problem”), and secularization. The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) has engaged this question with more depth and promises fruitful answers to concerned church leaders. The NSYR, encapsulated in Christian Smith’s 2005 tome Soul Searching and Kenda Creasy Dean’s 2010 book Almost Christian, offers helpful insights to the problematic world of youth ministry.

            Smith et al. noticed that this faith crisis is not simply one of popularity, but of kind. High schoolers, while calling themselves Christians at graduation, drop the label during the rigors of college. But their earlier convictions were not those of Christianity, but of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD). Smith and his colleague Melinda Lundquist Denton identified the core tenets of MTD:

1. A single god exists who created and ordered the cosmos.
2. This god wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other. Thou shalt not be a jerk.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy, which means feeling good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem. In Smith and Denton’s words, God is seen as “something like a combination Divine Butler and Cosmic Therapist: he’s always on call, takes care of any problems that arise, professionally helps his people to feel better about themselves, and does not become too personally involved in the process.”[1]
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

Even youth raised in church, Christian families, and Christian schools enunciated the precepts of MTD. Theirs was not a vocabulary (and thus not a consciousness) of the Incarnation, the Trinity, atonement, the resurrection of the dead, revelation, virtuous ethics, or the attributes of God.

            How has this catechetical nightmare come about? Anyone in the church who works with the young can report that there is no dearth in strategies, funds, and gimmicks to attract and somehow retain the next generation of Christians. Youth ministers—including Anglicans—need to find the root causes for this rise in apostasy: current approaches fail to produce a common pattern of faithful Christian formation and commitment.

            Kenda Dean has argued for a multi-layered assessment. First of all, many evangelical churches tend to separate youth from the rest of the congregation. The youth pastor—often an immature, goofy ecclesiastical parasite—manages an intricate cornucopia of entertainment, replete with video games, exciting music, comedic sermons, and attention-grabbing stunts (such as eating live goldfish). To be sure, the latter represent excesses. Nevertheless, once youth graduate high school or college, they are suddenly expected to join in with the rest of the grown-ups for a completely different kind of worship. Perplexed by this foreign (and often boring) order of service, young adults leave the church. Of course, many adult ministries engage in “juvenalization” in order to keep the younger hip members while impoverishing content for adults. But the fact remains that the Millennials are the most media-saturated generation this world has ever seen—even the wealthiest megachurches can barely provide sufficient entertainment for connoisseurs.

            Commodified evangelicalism describes the Christian life as exciting, radical, fun, compatible with the “American Dream,” emotionally satisfying, and an all-around cure for personal ills. Expectations remain low. Radical individualism lies regnant throughout much of the theology taught to youth today, even by the would-be reformers. There is also the belief that the young lack the patience or interest for serious, intentional study of deep theological truths, much less the uncomfortable times of correction and exhortation. Perhaps. On the other hand, what else should people be doing in church?

            According to the Pew Forum study, home life determines future faith commitments more than church structure and style. Even though children spend more and more time in the classroom, family remains the most powerful conduit for passing on religion. But what religion? There is the rub: parents who label themselves as Christians actually teach, believe, and practice MTD just like their children. At least the succeeding generation has the honesty to recognize inconsistency. As Dean said in a lecture at the 2012 C3 Conference, “Kids don’t practice because we misunderstood what we’ve taught them.”[2]

            Anglicanism has all the tools and aims necessary to meet these challenges. The Anglican way is supposed to be completely intergenerational—all ages participate in the sacramental life of the Church, local and universal. Common Prayer and Holy Communion do not mesh well with age-segregated services for good reason. The elderly, middle-aged, and young are all “invited to come to the feast.” Ancient liturgy forms the young person’s conception of worship on a noncognitive level. Why tailor worship to the desires of an irreverent culture and age?

            The Book of Common Prayer assumes that catechesis is both a churchly and parental responsibility. The shorter daily offices for families in the Prayer Book demand that entire households are engaged in intercession, thanksgiving, Scripture reading, confession, and praise on a regular basis. Happily, families can engage in celebration or contrition during various church seasons, “redeeming the time.” The Anglican catechism in historic prayer books is short, and easy to master with regular instruction.

            Parents must lead in the discipleship of their children. Traditionally, family life sees the highs and lows of human character. Thus, it presents the best opportunities to graciously apply Law and Gospel in appropriate ways for young Christians. Priests may only see the best behavior on Sundays; it can be the rest of the week that truly forms a child’s dispositions and character. As such, parents need to be growing in the wisdom, knowledge, and admonition of the Lord themselves if they are to teach their children the truths of the catholic faith. Families also need to be spending time together so that children can mimic the goals, behaviors, habits, and embodied beliefs of their forbears (a daunting thought, but this is what the family does!). The frenzied life of the contemporary age is a dangerous Siren song. Parents would rather renege on their duties, all with society’s encouragement: make sure children are influenced most by their peers, tightly schedule organized activities, and plop the troublesome offspring in front of various screens.

            The assumption behind rejecting this individualism and entertainment is the orthodox catholic sacramental vision, especially regarding baptism. For Anglicans—like the rest of Christianity for 1500 years—baptism marks entrance into church membership. This directly counters the individualism of credobaptism, which conflates originality and uniqueness with authenticity. The idea of taking on a heritage received from your forbears—and entering into that regardless of cognition and volition—is foreign if not abhorrent to most of nondenominational evangelicalism. Thus, catechism too often pivots on enticing offspring into “making a decision for Christ.”  Children raised in stable Christian homes may even envy the radical, attention-grabbing testimonies of repentant sinners and their former libertine lifestyles.

            For the Anglican, however, regeneration (the new birth granted in baptism) should not be confused with conversion, which in turn may happen gradually or rapidly in life. If a child is baptized and therefore a Christian, parents must expect him to act like a Christian. Of course, the parent needs to embody sanctification as well if he wants to avoid being a hypocrite. And it is in corporate liturgy and common churchly life in which everyone learns to live in a truly Christ-like manner. There are no guaranteed techniques for keeping people in the fold. On the other hand, it is quite apparent that current popular attitudes remain deeply flawed.

Barton Gingerich blogs at juicyecumenism.com.

The Ancient and Medieval Inheritance

In the ancient church, new Christians—chiefly adults, of course, although no doubt with their families, including little children—were initiated into theChurch (after a period of preparation as catechumens) in unitary liturgies centered on Baptism andthe Eucharist. By the early middle ages, however, infant Baptism was almost universal, and the otherelements of initiation into the Church were often detached from it, and followed later, often at an interval of years. One of the lesser rites associated with Baptism was a ceremony of anointing, consignation, and laying on of hands which from the 5th centuryonward became known as Confirmation.

Over the course of the Middle Ages, its administration,reserved to the bishop, was detached from Baptism, and came to be considered a Sacrament itself, required of the Baptized before they wereadmitted to Communion, commonly after they had attained “years of discretion” (conventionally agesseven to fourteen), and were capable of the moral discernment necessary for making their first confession(required annually of all Christians from the fourth Lateran Council of 1215). It was this pattern, inheritedby the 16th century Reformers, which became the basis of the classical Anglican pattern of Christianinitiation, with instruction in the Church Catechism taking the place of first Confession.

Already, in late antiquity, the separation of Confirmation from Baptism had stimulated reflection on its theological rationale. The most influential accountis attributed to Saint Faustus of Riez, a fifth century abbot at the great island monastery of Lerins, and bishop of the Provencal town of Riez. An orthodox Nicene catholic, who was for a time exiled by theGothic king, who was an Arian, Faustus wrote a treatise on the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and then, in the 470’s, a treatise on Grace that played a role in what has been known since the seventeenth century as the

“semi-Pelagian” controversy.

Like other monastics of Southern Gaul, he took Augustine’s side against the Pelagians. He followed Augustinian reasoning insofar as he denied thecapacity of the human will to respond to God without the assistance of Grace. Yet Faustus resisted Augustine’steaching on predestination, since it seemed to leave no role for human agency, for human effort,for the disciplines of prayer and of spiritual warfare. In the end, at the Synod of Orange in 529 led by Caesarius of Arles, the church affirmed the priority of grace in moving the will toward the good,but was silent on predestination—a position that hasbeen called “semi-Augustinian.” Yet in the sermon for Pentecost which supplies the rationale for Confirmation, Faustus seems already to have struck a balance between the priority of grace on the one hand, and the necessity of human striving, of human agency inthe spiritual warfare, on the other.

As the military order demands, that when theemperor receives someone among the numberof soldiers, he not only signals the engagementbut also furnishes the fighter with fitting arms, so with the baptized that blessing is a defense. You have given a soldier; give also military aid.What does it benefit if some parents bestow a great ability on a child unless they also take pains to provide a tutor? Thus the Paraclete, the guard of those reborn in Christ, is consoler and tutor. Therefore the divine word says, “Unless the Lordguards the city, in vain do they keep watch who guard it” (Ps. 127.1). Therefore the Holy Spirit, who descends upon the waters of baptism bya salvific falling, bestows on the font a fullness toward innocence, and presents in confirmationan increase for grace. And because in this world we who will be prevailing must walk in everyage between invisible enemies and dangers, we are reborn in baptism for life, and we are confirmed after baptism for strife. In baptism we arewashed; in confirmation we are strengthened. And although the benefits of rebirth sufficeimmediately for those about to die, nevertheless the helps of confirmation are necessary for thosewho will prevail. Rebirth in itself immediatelysaves those needing to be receive in the peace of the blessed age. Confirmation arms and supplies those needing to be preserved for the struggles and battles of this world.

Faustus’ rationale was remembered in the formula: “in baptism we are reborn for life; and we are confirmed after baptism for strife.” In Confirmation thebaptized receives an increase of grace and strengthening by the Spirit for the spiritual warfare of the soldierof Christ. He understands Confirmation in relation to the Church militant here on earth, for which itprepares us. Confirmation, in short, is a rite a Christian maturity, and it is in those terms that it was alsodiscussed by the 12th century scholastic theologian Thomas Aquinas.

In the reasoning of Thomas Aquinas, it is axiomaticthat grace does not destroy but perfects nature. For this reason, the Holy Spirit accommodates himselfto the various conditions or states of the human creature. The Sacraments themselves are examples ofthis gracious accommodation to human weakness: for they are invisible spiritual gifts of grace conveyedthrough material signs visible and tangible to embodiedhuman creatures. Thus the sacramental grace of theHoly Spirit is closely related to the stages of development of the human personality, or subjectivity—to thedevelopment of the powers of memory, reason, and will, whereby we may come to know and love God as our highest good. So when treating of Confirmation,Thomas makes use of a “biological analogy,” arguing by analogy from spiritual to corporal life. After citing 1Corinthians 13:11, “when I became a man, I put away childish things,” Thomas writes that in the spiritual life,as in bodily life, there is a moment of birth (generation) and a moment of “increase, by which someoneis led to a mature age. Therefore men receive a spiritual life through Baptism, which is a spiritual regeneration,and in Confirmation men receive as it were a certain mature age of spiritual life.” (Summa Theologiae3:72, 1)

Looking to the contemporary situation, the liturgists constructing the 1979 BCP have followed neither Patristic nor Thomistic theology. On the onehand there is the possibility of Confirmation, yet inconsistently, the baptized is treated as fully Christianat the moment of Baptism, making Communion open without restriction or without a public professionof the faith. Thus what has been lost from the medieval synthesis is the rationale for Confirmation, the idea that Christians grow in grace and in understanding of the Faith. Thus the new liturgy is marked by a changed anthropology or idea of the humanpersonality; the modern liturgists follow the ideas of modern psychology rather than the Aristotelian andAugustinian understanding of the human soul.

The Reformation Critique 

The Protestant Reformers approached the rationale for Confirmation offered by Thomas Aquinas with somewhat mixed feelings. They disagreed with themedieval theologians that Confirmation was a Sacramentbecause it lacked explicit warrant of Scripture,either as an action commanded or a grace promisedby Christ. As the Lutheran Martin Chemnitz wrote,in the doctrine maintained by the Roman church at Trent, upholding Confirmation as a Sacrament, “the antithesis of Baptism and Confirmation is perpetual, so that whatever effects are attributed to Confirmation are by that very fact denied to and drawn awayfrom Baptism” (Examination of the Council of Trent,On Confirmation, 3 (1566)). John Calvin could bequite scathing (as indeed, was his wont):

They have feigned that the power of confirmation is to confer, for the increase of grace, the Holy Spirit, who was conferred in baptism forinnocence; to confirm for battle those who in baptism were regenerated to life. This confirmationis performed with anointing [here follows a description of the rite]. All beautifullyand charmingly done! But where is the Word of God, which promises the presence of the Holy Spirit here? They cannot show us one jot. Howwill they assure us that their chrism is a vessel of the Holy Spirit? We see the oil—the grossand greasy liquid—nothing else. Augustinesays, “let the word be added to the element, andit will become sacrament”. Let them, I say, bringforth this word, if they would have us see in theoil anything else than oil.” Institutes IV.19.5

The claim for Confirmation, he considers, is made at the expense of Baptism, and so . . . it is an overt outrage against baptism, whichobscures, indeed, abolishes, its function; it is a false promise of the devil, which drags us away from God’s truth. Or, if you prefer, it is oil, befouled with the devil’s falsehood, which deceives and plunges the simple-minded intodarkness” IV.19.8

Yet for all his strictures about Confirmation as a Sacrament, and the rationale of Faustus of Riez, Calvin allows for, indeed recommends, what he assertedwas the true ancient practice of Confirmation:

In early times it was the custom for the childrenof Christian after they had grown up to be brought before the bishop to fulfill that duty which was required of those who as adultsoffered themselves for baptism. For the latter sat among the catechumens until, duly instructedin the mysteries of the faith, they were able to make confession of their faith before the bishop and people. Therefore, those who had beenbaptized as infants, because they had not then made confession of faith before the church,were at the end of their childhood or at the beginning of adolescence again presented by their parents, and were examined by the bishopaccording to the form of the catechism. . . . Butin order that this act, which ought by itself tohave been weighty and holy, might have more reverence and dignity, the ceremony of the layingon of hands was also added. Thus the youth, once his faith was approved, was dismissed with a solemn blessing. . . . I warmly approvesuch laying on of hands, which simply done as a form of blessing, and wish that it were todayrestored to pure use”. (Institutes IV.19.4)

It is commonly said that Calvin’s account of ancient practice is mistaken: nonetheless, the idea of a public confession of faith after instruction and examinationin the Catechism by those baptized as infants and come to “years of discretion” is consistent withthe ancient idea of Confirmation as a rite of Christian maturity. He continues to understand the nature of thehuman personality in the older way. A self-conscious profession of faith is a necessary element in Christianinitiation. What Calvin takes away from Confirmation as a Sacrament, he quietly restores with his advocacyof Confirmation as a rite of Christian maturity.

Calvin vociferously defends on biblical grounds the pattern inherited from the Middle Ages of baptism administered to infants, but communion reserved forthose who come to years of discretion. At that time his argument was addressed to Anabaptists, radicalreformers who denied the validity of infant baptism, but it addresses the late 20th and early 21st centuryconcern of those who advocate administering communion as well as baptism to children (paedo-communion).Infants may be baptized without the faith and repentance of which it is the sacrament, because they are baptized into “future repentance and faith,and even though these have not yet been formed in them, the seed of both lies hidden with them by thesecret working of the Spirit.” (IV.xvi.20) The child will grow into understanding of his baptism as hematures. Meanwhile, since all are born sinners, andneed forgiveness and pardon from birth, they are notdeprived of the comfort that Baptism brings.

Calvin knows perfectly well that the ancient practice was paedo-communion, “but the custom has deservedly fallen into disuse”:

For if we consider the peculiar character of baptism, surely it is an entrance and a sort of initiation into the church, through which weare numbered among God’s people: a sign of spiritual regeneration, through which we arereborn as children of God. On the other hand, the Supper is given to older persons who, having passed tender infancy, can now take solid food. (IV.xvi.30)

Thus Calvin silently adopts the “biological,” Aristotelian and Augustinian analogy of corporal and spiritual life which we observed in Thomas Aquinas’ account of Confirmation.

Notably, Calvin defends this position on Biblical grounds. (IV.xvi.30) From the New Testament hecites the teaching of 1 Corinthians 11, in which those coming to the Lord’s Supper must be capable of “discerningthe body and blood of the Lord, of examining their own conscience, of proclaiming the Lord’s death,and of considering its power. . . . A self-examination ought, therefore to come first, and it is vain to expectthis of infants.” Indeed to do so would be to put them at risk of condemnation: “why should we offer poisoninstead of life-giving food to our tender children?”He also cites the institution narrative’s command, “dothis in remembrance of me,” and St. Paul’s teaching that those who partake of the Supper “proclaim theLord’s death till he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:25) Since infants are not capable of the acts of understanding, memory and proclamation required for the Lord’s Supper, they should not receive it. But discernment ofChrist’s Body, understanding, memory, and proclamation of Christ’s saving work, are not required of thosebaptized, so even infants may receive baptism.

Calvin also cites the example of the Old Testament, whose teaching on circumcision had already provided him with the rationale for infant baptism.But the feast of Passover, the Old Testament type of the Lord’s Supper, “did not admit all guests indiscriminately,but was duly eaten only by those who were old enough to be able to inquire into its meaning.” The allusion here is to Exodus 12:26ff: “and it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say, Itis the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover. . . .”; an instruction that developed into the Haggadah recited at the Passover seder. Something similar is said of the conjoined Feast of Unleavened bread in Exodus 13:8,”and thou shalt show thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto mewhen I came forth out of Egypt.” No such instructions are recorded about circumcision. The inference Calvin makes is that the partaker in these sacred meals must be able to understand their significance.

Beyond purely exegetical arguments, however, Calvinshares with Thomas a view that the gift of the Holy Spirit are given according to the mode and capacity ofthe receiver, and in particular to the stages of development of human subjectivity. If grace precedes allhuman memory, reason, and will (as infant baptism emphatically indicates), it does not abolish themeither. Memory, reason, and will cannot be left out ofChristian initiation: it is as we participate, consciouslyand willingly, in God’s saving purpose, that it comes to fruition in us. Here then is the necessity of Catechismand Confirmation before admission to Communion.

The Anglican Reform 

Calvin’s recommendations (which first appeared in the 1543 edition of the Institutes) are not original to him. Similar ideas for the scriptural reformof Confirmation had been expressed by Luther and Melancthon in the early 1520’s, and the compilingand publishing of catechisms for children and adolescents had already begun. This is the backgroundfor the reformed rites of Confirmation that appear in the first English Prayer Book of 1549, and (with somefurther changes) in 1552 and (eventually) 1662.

In answer to a questionnaire circulated in 1536, while the theological conservatism of Henry VIII prevailed, Cranmer denied any scriptural warrant for the institution of a sacrament of confirmation byChrist, or in the example of his apostles, or for the use the chrism. As to its efficacy, he says that “thebishop, in the name of the Church, doth invocate the Holy Ghost to give strength and constancy, withother spiritual gifts, unto the person confirmed; so that the efficacy of this sacrament is of such value as is the prayer of the bishop made in the name of thechurch.” Cranmer’s position is that, properly speaking, Confirmation is no Sacrament of Christ, but an ecclesiastical ceremony with prayer.[2]

Thirteen years later, with the theological and liturgical reform which Henry VIII had muffled now in full gear under the reign of his Protestant son,Edward VI, the Prayer Book of 1549 provided for arite that follows the prescription Calvin had givenin 1543: public examination of the children by the Bishop in the Catechism, which includes a publicconfession of faith, in the renewal of the promises of Baptism, and a laying on of hands with prayer. Moreover a rubric at the end of the service securedthe place of Confirmation as a prerequisite for admission to Communion: “And none shall be admitted tothe Holy Communion, until such time as he be confirmed, or be ready and desirous to be confirmed.”[3]

The ceremony consists in the laying on of hands (a ceremony used by the apostles). There is no anointing,the consignation is transferred to Baptism, and in 1552 the formula itself took on a new form: “Defend,O Lord, this child with thy heavenly grace, that he may continue thinefor ever, and daily increase in thy holy spirit more and more, until he come unto thyeverlasting kingdom.” Thus, general form of the older rite remains, together with the ancient prayer for thesevenfold gift of the Spirit (based on the list in Isaiah 11). Its language, very slightly modified, asks God to “strengthen . . .with the Holy Ghost the Comforter”those who had already received remission of sins andspiritual regeneration in baptism, and to “daily increasein them thy manifold gifts of grace,” which are the giftsof the Spirit necessary for Christian maturity: wisdom, understanding, counsel, “ghostly strength” (fortitude),knowledge, godliness, and holy fear. Though accepting much of the critique of confirmation found amongother reformers, and their positive program for its reform, Cranmer does not altogether abandon therationale of Faustus and the medieval doctors.

Carl Trueman, a Presbyterian theologian, reflects upon the excellence of Cranmer’s liturgy (after a visit to King’s Chapel, Cambridge).  

Read his article here:  Link 

Daily Biblical Commentary to Accompany Morning Prayer
by Rev. Jason S. Patterson

This booklet of commentary upon the Gospel readings which accompany Morning Prayer is designed as an aid to your thoughtful reading of the Bible during Advent. 

It is an excellent resource for individuals, small groups, or adult Sunday School forums. 

“(This booklet) is grounded in a careful reading of Scripture, anchored in the historic Faith, and is clear and readily comprehended in its explanations. Here is guidance and help to keep the season of Advent in a way that honors Christ and prepares the soul to receive him.”

Please enjoy our current issue below.  All the Anglican Ways can be read here.

By Peter Toon & Jason Patterson

Almighty God, who showest to them that be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, that they may eschew1 those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Epistle: 1 Peter 2:11-17 The Gospel: St John 16:16-22

Historical Note

Being found in the Sacramentary of Leo (the oldest extant Sacramentary), this is one of the prayerbook’s most ancient Collects. It has undergone little change since then – Gelasius added nothing and Gregory made only a very minor addition (he added of righteousness to describe the way).2

Commentary on the Collect

To unpack the meaning of this very ancient Collect we would do well to consider the significance of its proximity to Easter Eve – a night upon which converts to the Faith were admitted into the fellowship of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church through the Sacrament of Baptism. It is primarily with these new members of the Church in mind that we offer this prayer to the God who has redeemed them (and us).

Almighty God, who showest to them that be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness. The Collect begins with the confession that whatever spiritual good we may have – whatever Truth we may be able to recognize as being true – is owing to the grace and mercy of God being operative upon us and within us. We do not come to recognize error or embrace the truth (spiritually speaking) because of our own brilliance or insightfulness. Jesus said: “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”3 Likewise even when the Apostles were preaching (after the outpouring of the Holy Ghost), St. Luke is careful to emphasize that the fruit being born was owing to the activity and will of God: “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”4 Because of these (and other) Biblical passages, the prayerbook’s baptismal liturgy begins by drawing our attention to our utter dependence upon God for our salvation.5 The Minister addresses the godparents and parents and instructs them to call upon God that “of his bounteous mercy he will grant (to the child about to be baptized) that thing which by nature he cannot have.” There is thus an important thematic unity between today’s Collect, and our theology of the manner in which the grace of God is at work in Baptism – both of which emphasize God (not us) and His gracious redemption of us (not we of ourselves).

We can hear this theme in the description of God as the One who “showest to them that be in error the light of thy truth.” As we address God, we are confessing that whatever truth with which we may be enlightened and whatever error we are able to reject is because He showest it to us. The upshot of this is that, as St. Paul says, no man will have any cause to boast before God, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”6 Whenever we witness a baptism or the repentance of a non-Christian or of a Christian – we should quickly call to mind how gracious is this Good Shepherd who seeks and saves the lost, and thus should our hearts be moved to honor and obey His word and commandment.

To the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness. Here we are remembering before God the purpose for which he shows his truth to men. As will be made more explicit in the Collect’s petition, God’s desire is that being enlightened by the Truth, we live lives transformed by it.7

When we fail to do this (through sin and unbelief), the way back into fellowship with God is through faith-filled and godly repentance. It is possible to understand the word “return” as being in reference to Christians who have strayed but are returning to the fellowship of Christ’s Church. But, in light of the fact that the petition that follows is clearly a reference to the soul’s initial conversion, it is more likely that the primary referent of this phrase is the newly baptized. The new convert has “returned” to the way of righteousness in the sense that they have returned to the purpose for which God created mankind. Having been made in God’s image, we are restored to the way of righteousness through faith and the birth from above.

Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same. We ask the Petition in which we are (again) asking the Almighty God to mercifully involve himself in our lives – granting to all who are within the fellowship of the Church the grace to practice both renunciation and

Though the primary referents are the newly baptized, any Christian may pray this prayer for himself and for the entire Church, for all Christians are called to die daily to sin and to live unto righteousness in the power of the Holy Ghost. All Christians are called to holiness of life and consecration unto the Lord and his purposes, and thus they are to think and do only that which they know to be a part of his will for them.

We must renounce all that is in any way in conflict with the Faith of Christ. The 1662 uses the old verb eschew (replaced in the American BCP with avoid). The sense is to “both avoid and deliberately repel. The Latin original is respuere, which means to eject, to vomit, as in Revelation 3:16, ‘I will spue thee out of my mouth.”8

Baptized believers are to shoo or drive away (as birds from a fruit tree) all that is evil and contrary to holiness, for in baptism we promise to reject the world, the flesh and the devil and toaccept and follow Christ in the way of self-denial and of grace. This Collect thus recalls us to our vocation as the people of God, saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 The 1928 BCP reads “avoid.”

2 The seven oldest Collects in the BCP come from the Leonite Sacramentary (either being composed or adopted by Leo I): the Third Sunday after Easter, the Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Sundays after Trinity.

3 John 14:6b.

4 Acts 2:47b (ESV), emphasis added.

5 In the BCP 1662, see pages 263-264 and in the BCP 1928 see page 274.

6 Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV), emphasis added.

7 Originally (in the Leonite Sacramentary) the Collect read simply “the way.” Gregory added “of righteousness.” Neil & Willoughby, 175.

8 See L. E. H. Stephens-Hodges, The Collects: An Introduction and Exposition, 111.

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The Rev. Gavin Dunbar along with the Prayer Book Society USA at large are happy to announce that the first portion of the Catechism Project, together with the Table of Contents and the introduction, are now ready for viewing.

View the new content

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Two colloquia will be held in the coming months under the theme: Stirred up to Godliness
the Daily Office in Anglicanism

The first will be in Dallas in partnership with the Church of the Holy Cross on January 20th, kindly hosted by the congregation and Rector, the Revd Fr George Willcox Brown. Beginning at 10 a.m. it will feature presentations and discussions exploring several dimensions from the historical to the practical and will conclude with Choral Evensong at 4.30 pm.  The cost (including the luncheon)  will be $15 (or $10 for students and seniors) per person and those wishing to attend are asked to register beforehand by writing to amacrad@hotmail.com.

The Bishop of Dallas,The Rt. Revd. Dr George Sumner will be joining the proceedings for the luncheon and his predecessor Bishop James Stanton will be speaking on the central place of Holy Scripture in the Daily Office.

The Prayer Book Society President, the Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar will explore the Office from an historical perspective through the history of Anglicanism up to Prayer Books of the 20th Century in North America (including that of 1928 in the USA and 1962 in Canada).

The Revd Fr Matthew Olver, Teaching Fellow in Liturgics at Nashotah House Theological Seminary will be looking at the future of the Daily Office in the light of the proposed revision process being launched within The Episcopal Church.

Additional speakers will include Dr Roberta Bayer, Editor of The Anglican Way, Dean William McKeachie of St Andrew’s Fort Worth and Fr. Jeremy Bergstrom Director of Vocations in Dallas as well as PBS Board member Mr. WIlliam   Murchison.  Questions to be explored include: What is the future of liturgical worship as Anglicans know it ? How do we sustain and enhance the tradition ? How do we reach out and give it a “missional focus” ?  What can be done to reach out to young professionals ?What help can be given in forming seminarians in the Anglican liturgical tradition?

Recent developments in the Reformed Episcopal Church and  the Anglican Church of North America will also be explored and there will be a presentation on Music and Daily Prayer.

The Revd. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, the Society’s International Advisor and sometime Dean of All Saint’s Cairo, Egypt. will preach during the closing Evensong

A second colloquium on the same theme will be held over the the course of one day, in the second week after Easter in partnership with parish of St John’s Savannah, Georgia

For further details and registration, please write to: amacrad@hotmail.com.

The first of two colloquia to be held by the Society this year took place in Dallas in January under the theme: Stirred up to Godliness the Daily Office in Anglicanism.

This was held in partnership with the Church of the Holy Cross on January 20th, where we were kindly hosted by the congregation and the Rector the Revd Fr George Willcox Brown. It featured presentations and discussions exploring several dimensions from the historical to the practical and concluded with Choral Evensong at 4.30 pm.

The Bishop of Dallas,The Rt. Revd. Dr George Sumner joined the proceedings for the luncheon along with Bishop Anthony Burton of the nearby Incarnation Parish and the Bishop Emeritus, James Stanton.

The Prayer Book Society President, the Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar explored the Daily Office from an historical perspective through the history of Anglicanism up to Prayer Books of the 20th Century in North America (including that of 1928 in the USA and 1962 in Canada).

The Revd Fr Matthew Olver, Teaching Fellow in Liturgics at Nashotah House Theological Seminary looked at the future of the Daily Office in the light of the proposed revision process being launched within The Episcopal Church.

Additional speakers included Dr Roberta Bayer, Editor of The Anglican Way, Dean William McKeachie of St Andrew’s Fort Worth and Fr. Jeremy Bergstrom Director of Vocations in Dallas as well as the PBS USA Board member Mr. WIlliam Murchison. Questions explored included: What is the future of liturgical worship as Anglicans know it ? How do we sustain and enhance the tradition ? How do we reach out and give it a “missional focus” ? What can be done to reach out to young professionals? What help can be given in forming seminarians in the Anglican liturgical tradition?

Recent developments in the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of North America were also explored and there was a presentation on Music and Daily Prayer by Mr Graham Schultz the Assistant Director of Music at the Parish of the Incarnation.

The Revd. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, the Society’s International Advisor and sometime Dean of All Saint’s Cairo, Egypt. preached during the closing Evensong.

A second colloquium on a similar theme is being planned for the Fall in Philadelphia and further details about this will be made available short but any enquiries can be directed in the meantime to Canon Macdonald-Radliff: amacrad@hotmail.com.

BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW via http://anglicanism-2017.bpt.me

In the anniversary year of Luther’s promulgation of the ninety-five theses which started the Reformation, this conference will explore the ways in which Anglicanism emerged with an identity that is both truly reformed and enduringly catholic.

This important event for all those interested in a deeper understanding of the nature and history of Anglicanism will be held at St John’s Church, Savannah, Georgia from midday on Thursday 16th  to midday Saturday 18th February 2017.

Leading speakers will include

Oliver O’Donovan (Professor of Christian Ethics Edinburgh University and formerly Regius Professor of Moral Theology  and Canon of Christ Church Oxford) who will be addressing the theme of Sanctification

Dr Joan Lockwood O’Donovan (Hon. Fellow in the School of Divinity, Edinburgh University) who will be addressing the area of Church Government

The Rt. Revd. Dr. Geoffrey Rowell former Bishop in Europe and previously Chaplain of Keble College Oxford who will be exploring those elements of continuity found in the midst of change,

Neil Robertson, Professor of Philosophy at King’s College Halifax, will speak on”Two Kinds of Righteousness and the Possibility of a Catholic Reformation: Luther, Hooker and Shakespeare”.

Gillis Harp, Professor of History, Grove City College, PA will address the Historic Streams that shaped and emerged from the Reformation.

Dr. Roberta Bayer, Professor of Government, Patrick Henry College & Editor The Anglican Way.
In addition to the further papers to be given,  there will be opportunities to hear selected shorter presentations about current research and work in progress in the study of Anglicanism and the Reformation. (Such as, A. Macdonald-Radcliff:   From Private Judgement to Private Conscience, Institutionally Mediated Truth and the Contemporary Crisis of the Conscience).

For more information and to register for the conference please use the following links

(via BrownPaperTickets):

http://anglicanism-2017.bpt.me

Space is limited so early booking is advised (and comes with a significant discount).

For further information see:

More about the PBS Conference – Leading Speakers

The Revd. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff

International Advisor

The PBS USA

History records that the Episcopal Church in America was very nearly Lutheran.  This is because in 1783, when American Anglicans came to Britain to resolve how they might establish their own indigenous episcopate, their chosen bishop-elect had a distressingly difficult time.

The Archbishop of Canterbury ‘received him “politely,” but was “cool and restrained.” The Bishop of London gave him personally a “cordial reception,” but “was not disposed to take the lead in the matter.”,’ while, ‘The Archbishop of York would express no opinion’ at all.  (See, Samuel Seabury, the First American Bishop, by the Revd. S.C. Hughson)

Having fruitlessly waited in the ante-chambers of the House of Lords for sixteen months and more, it was therefore a happy development when some sage advice was received from that striking Oxford figure,  the Revd. Martin Routh, President of Magdalen College for sixty three years; someone who was  thus well placed to give advice from the perspective of the longue durée, not to mention a certain Jacobite sensibility. His counsel was to go north and, more specifically, to Scotland.

Thus was it that, on 14th November 1784 Samuel Seabury of Connecticut, in circumvention of the Church of England,  was at last consecrated a bishop in that hardy Scottish extremity that is the Ancient University City of Aberdeen.  (By Robert Kilgour, the then Bishop of Aberdeen and Primus of Scotland, Arthur Petrie, the Bishop of Ross and Moray, and the coadjutor-bishop of Aberdeen, John Skinner.)

The happy outcome, at the last, of these many adventures has unfortunately tended to obscure the fact that there had also been developed an alternative and equally cunning plan. This was for Dr. Seabury to venture once more upon the high seas and cross the Chanel to obtain consecration at the evidently willing hands of the Lutheran Bishops of Denmark.

The felicitously looming occasion of the anniversary year of Luther’s ninety-five theses makes it, therefore, particularly appropriate to recall just how close the American Episcopal Church came, thus, to being an apostolic fruit of Lutheranism. Had this occurred,  it would have anticipated by some centuries, the ecumenical blessings and substantial fullness of mutual recognition, brought to us only recently by the Porvoo Declaration, signed at Trondheim in Norway, on 1st September 1996. This was described at the time, by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, George now Lord Carey,  as “the most important ecumenical agreement of the century”, comprising as it did, a definitive “bridge across the Reformation gap” to quote the memorable words of the host Bishop of Trondheim, the Rt. Revd. Dr. Finn Wagle.

But, amidst all these happy historical ruminations,  the reference to Dr. Martin Routh (shown here upon the occasion of his ninety-ninth birthday in a rare early Daguerrotype held by the College) may also serve to remind us of two comments that are very apposite to the coming conference,  dedicated to exploring the nature of Anglicanism in the light of the Reformation. The first is that, as an Anglican, Dr Routh was theologically:

“…of the right stamp, orthodox but not intolerant, profound, not obscure, wary, not sceptical, very, very, very learned, (but) not pedantic at all”.

(To quote the comment of the Revd. Samuel Parr, DCL., upon reading the fifth volume if Routh’s  Sacrae reliquiae, and those familiar with Routh’s life will note the particular importance of verifying the reference….)

While John Henry Newman observed that, Routh was fated, in particular, with the weighty charge:

“…to report to a forgetful generation what was the theology of their fathers”.

(In dedicating his Lectures on the Prophetical Office of the Church of 1837 to him, and on this, see Ian Ker, John Henry Newman. A Biography, Oxford, 2010)

Addressing just this need in such a manner is very much the project of the coming PBS conference in Savannah. This will explore the unique theological heritage and identity that was bequeathed to the Church of England as it passed through and emerged from the tumults of the Reformation,  and which it was then able to transmit to succeeding generations worldwide,  through what we now know as the Anglican Communion.

Alistair  Macdonald-Radcliff

(Photo Image of Bishop Samuel Seabury (1729-1796) above from Project Canterbury, http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/seabury/)

    Lutherans departing from Salzburg in 1732, whence some later settled in Georgia USA

The Following draft program for the coming conference has been announced

(though it remains subject to change):

Thursday 16^th February

12.15    Introductions and overview of the conference    (in St John’s Church)

The Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar, President of the Prayer Book Society USA, The Revd. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, PBS

12.30    Opening Session

              Toward an Historical Understanding of Anglican Identity   

              Dr. Gillis Harp, Professor of History, Grove City College and PBS Board Member

14.15    Session II,   Sanctification

              Dr. Oliver O’ Donovan, Professor of Moral Theology, Edinburgh and formerly Oxford

16.00    Tea

16.30    Session III  The nature and future of the Reformation liturgy

               The Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar, PBS President

18.00    Said Evening Prayer 

18.30    Conference Reception (for Registered Participants) 

Friday  17^th February

8.00      Said Eucharist (Chapel)

8.30      Light Breakfast (Cranmer Hall)

9.00      SESSION IV,    “It is required that you do awake your faith*”

              The Elizabethan Settlement and the Drama of a Catholic  Reformation:

               (*The Winter’s Tale, V.3 ll.94-5)    

             Dr. Neil Robertson Professor of Humanities, University of King’s College Halifax

10.45    Coffee

11.15    SESSION V    The Public Authority of the Church in the Cranmerian Tradition, 

            Dr. Joan O’Donovan, University of Edinburgh

13.00   Luncheon break

13.45    SESSION VI    The Anglican Quest for Holiness 

The Rt. Revd. Dr. Geoffrey Rowell,  Anglican Bishop in Europe (retired)  and former

Chaplain of Keble College Oxford

15.30    Tea

16.00    SESSION VII  Anglicanism catholic & reformed: Quo Vadis?

              Panel Discussion   Chaired by William Murchison,

Radford Distinguished Professor of Journalism Emeritus, Baylor University,

With all the earlier Session speakers   Dr Oliver O’Donovan, Dr. Joan O’Donovan,

Bishop Geoffrey Rowell, Dr Gillis Harp, Dr Neil Robertson et al.

17.30    Choral Evensong 

With Sermon by Professor Oliver O’Donovan

Saturday 18^th February

8.00      Eucharist (Chapel)

8.30      Light Breakfast in Cranmer Hall

9.00      Session VIII   Apologetics Now, Science Faith and Contemporary Culture

              Dr Paul Julienne, Adjunct Professor University of Maryland and of the NIST Emeritus

(The National Institute of Standards and Technology, Specialist in Atomic, Molecular,

and Optical Physics, and ultracold matter) and leader of the PBS Blog on Science and Faith

10.30    Working Coffee break with Short Presentations and Overviews of Research Work in Progress

              Private Judgement, institutionally mediated truth

             and the contemporary crisis of the Conscience, Canon A. Macdonald-Radcliff

New Institutions for Conveying Classical Truths, Dr, Stephen Blackwood.

11.00    Session IX    Liturgy Now:  New Anglican Prayer Books

              and the Coming Liturgical Reform in the Episcopal Church

Dr. Jesse Billet, Toronto School of Theology and  The Revd. Dr. Arnold Klukas,

Bishop Geoffrey Rowell and others

12.30    Closing Conference Eucharist with Sermon

The Editor of the Anglican Way, Dr Roberta Bayer, is pleased to announce that the next edition of the Society’s Magazine is currently on its way to subscribers.

To read online, the Magazine may be downloaded here: download

If you are not yet on our mailing list for the Magazine do please sign up online on this site at http://www.pbsusa.org/contribute/  or via AnglicanWay.org  our companion site.

The Contents of this edition include

Reflections from the Editor;

From the President of the Society: Incarnation and image, An essay reflecting on the sense of divine presence and activity and especially the sense of Christ’s suffering and humanity jeopardized by Reformation iconoclasm, Fr. Gavin Dunbar;

New and Old Learning and the Reformation in England, Dr. Roberta Bayer;

Society Outreach in the Anglican Province of Tanzania, Christian Marriage in the Book of Common Prayer (1662), an Address to the Youth Conference of Western Tanganyika, Fr. Edward Rix, PBS Vice President;

Obergeffel and the End of Marriage, Professor Eric Enlow, Dean of Handong International Law School;

Finding Pipe Organs for Small Congregations, Peter Bayer, A Student at the Catholic University of America  in Washington DC.

Evelyn Underhill and the Book of Common Prayer, The Rt. Revd. Council Nedd;

A German Retrospective,  on the visit there of the choir of St Andrews Episcopal Academy;

An Epiphany Sermon, Fr. William Martin, member emeritus of the PBS Board.

The Magazine can be downloaded here:
download

The Revd
Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff

The Society looks forward with growing anticipation of the Conference opening in Savannah all being well on Thursday 16th February and the revised schedule for the conference  can be seen below.

It is with deep regret that, on account of an acute episode of spinal pain,  Bishop Geoffrey Rowell has had to cancel all his overseas engagements for the next few months and will therefore not be able to join us and we send our fervent prayers and good wishes for his speedy recovery.

The PBS is hugely grateful to the Revd. Dr. George Westhaver, the Principal of Pusey House in Oxford, as well as Dr. Jesse Billett from Trinity College of the University of Toronto and the distinguished former Professor of Liturgy at Nashotah House,  the Revd. Dr. Arnold Klukas, for taking on additional roles now, in lieu of Bishop Rowell.

SCHEDULE FOR THE CONFERENCE:

Anglicanism Catholic and Reformed:

Revisiting the Reformation Legacy 1517-2017

SCHEDULE 

Before the Conference

Wednesday 15^th February

Information about historic Savannah and possible tours and places of interest will be available along with a list of restaurants people may wish to visit.

Conference Day I,   Thursday 16^th February

9.30      Walking tour available – meet in front of the Green-Meldrim House (of St John’s Parish, beside the church).

11.00 & onwards  – Arrivals and Registration at the Green-Meldrim House

Box Luncheon available for conference registrants

Said Noonday Prayer at 12.15 (in St. John’s Church)

12.15    Introductions and overview of the conference                                            (in St John’s Church)

                        The Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar, President of the Prayer Book Society USA

The Revd. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, (PBS Intl. Advisor and Conference organiser)

12.30    Opening Session Chaired by Dean William McKeachie (PBS Board member)  (in St John’s Church)

An Historical Overview of the Reformation Context                                   

Dr. Gillis Harp

Professor of History, Grove City College and PBS Board Member

Interlocutor, (giving an initial response and opening the discussion)

The Revd. Dr George Westhaver, Principal of Pusey House, Oxford

14.00    Break

14.15    Session II  Chaired by the Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar, (PBS President)

Sanctification – Defining the Anglican Tradition… 

The Revd. Dr. Oliver O’ Donovan, Professor of Moral Theology Edinburgh and formerly of Oxford

Interlocutor Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, PBS Intl Advisor Quondam Dean All Saints’ Cathedral Cairo

16.00    Tea

16.30    Session III Chaired by The Very Revd. Fr. David Thurlow (PBS Board)

The Nature and Future of the Reformation liturgy

The Revd. Fr. Gavin Dunbar,

Interlocutors:  The Revd. Fr. Edward Rix, (PBS Vice President)

         The Revd. Dr. Arnold Klukas, Quondam Professor of Liturgy, Nashotah House

18.00    Said Evening Prayer (St. John’s Church)

After which participants are free to make their own dinner arrangements

Conference Day II,  Friday  17^th February

8.00      Said Eucharist (St. John’s, Chapel)

9.00      SESSION IV Chaired by the Revd. Fr. Edward Rix,

“It is required that you do awake your faith*” The Elizabethan Settlement and the Drama of a Catholic  Reformation:  (*The Winter’s Tale, V.3 ll.94-5)                                                                                                                                                                           

Dr Neil Robertson, Professor of Humanities, University of King’s College Halifax

Interlocutor:  Dr. Stephen Blackwood, President, Ralston College, (PBS Board)

10.30    Coffee

11.00    SESSION V chaired by the Revd Jonathan Kell

The Public Authority of the Church in the Cranmerian Tradition

Dr. Joan O’Donovan, University of Edinburgh

Interlocutor:

Dr. Roberta Bayer, Professor of Politics, Patrick Henry College, Editor of The Anglican Way  (PBS Board)

12.30    Lunch (registrants free to lunch at local restaurants)

14.00    SESSION VI       Chaired Dr. Roberta Bayer

Interlocutors Dr. Gillis Harp and Dr. Neil Robertson

14.00 – 14.45

“The Holy Scriptures, or That Which Is Agreeable to the Same”: The Scriptural Catholicity of the Prayer Book

 Dr. Jesse Billett, Trinity College, University of Toronto

14:45-15:00 Discussion

15.00 – 15.45         

Incarnational Reading: A Tractarian View of the Authority of Scripture

The Revd. Dr. George Westhaver, Principal of Pusey House, Oxford

15:45-16:00 Discussion

16.00.    Tea

16.30 – 17.20

SESSION VII  Anglicanism catholic & reformed: Quo Vadis?

A Panel Discussion Chaired by William Murchison,

Radford Distinguished Professor of Journalism, Baylor University (retd.), (PBS Board)

Dr. Jesse Billett, Dr. Joan O’Donovan,  Dr. Oliver O’Donovan,  Fr. Gavin Dunbar, Dr. Gillis Harp, Dr. Neil Robertson, Dr. George Westhaver.

17.30    Choral Evensong 

With Sermon by Professor Oliver O’Donovan (on Romans V)

Evening free for informal fellowship

Conference Day III, Saturday 18^th February

8.00      Eucharist (Chapel)

9.00      Session VIII  Chaired by The Revd Fr. Patrick Bright, All Souls Oklahoma City

(In the Cranmer Hall building of St. John’s, Ralston Room  on the 3^rd Floor)

Apologetics Now, Science Faith and Contemporary Culture

Dr. Paul Julienne, Professor University of Maryland and of the The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) emeritus, Specialist in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, and ultracold matter) and leader of the PBS Blog on Science and Faith

10.30    Coffee break.

11.00    Session IX Panel Discussion chaired by the Revd. Fr Gordon Anderson, (PBS Board Secretary)

Liturgy Now –  American, English and Canadian Perspectives

(In the Cranmer Hall building 3^rd floor)

The Revd Fr. Gavin Dunbar,

The Revd. Dr. Arnold Klukas,

The Revd. Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff

Dr. Jesse Billett

12.30    Closing Conference Eucharist

Sermon: The Revd. Dr. George Westhaver

The Society was pleased to welcome well over one hundred participants to its 2017 Conference in Savannah.  Such has been the positive response that the Board at its meeting on the last day of the Conference decided announce its intention to hold another conference next year in what it is hoped will become an annual event. Further details of the time will be announced later this year in good time to allow for plans to be made well in advance.

Meanwhile, the Society looks forward to making the addresses and summaries of the interlocutor responses from the 2017 Conference available as soon as the technicalities allow.

Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff

Conference Organiser

PBS USA  International Advisor

The Sessions were as follows

Session I: An Historical Overview of the Reformation Context

Dr. Gillis Harp

The Society is delighted to announce that we are now able to make available audio recordings of the presentations made in the main Sessions in our 2017 Conference Anglicanism Catholic and Reformed 1517-2017

We start with the opening lecture of Session I:

An Historical Overview of the Reformation Context

Dr. Gillis Harp,  Professor of History, Grove City College and PBS Board Member

This is followed by the opening response given by the interlocutor

The Revd. Dr George Westhaver, Principal of Pusey House, Oxford

The audio stream may be accessed here:

Audio Content of PBS Conference Sessions now available

The Society is delighted to be able to make available now further recordings of the main additional Sessions of the 2017 Conference although it is still intended to issue a printed version of the Papers presented also in due course.

The Sessions now available include

Professor Oliver O’Donovan on Sanctification

and Fr. Gavin Dunbar on The nature and future of the Reformation liturgy

Audio of Professor Oliver O’Donovan and Fr Gavin Dunbar at the PBS Conference 2017

Dr. Neil Robertson Professor of Humanities, University of King’s College Halifax

,    “It is required that you do awake your faith*” 

         The Elizabethan Settlement and the Drama of a Catholic  Reformation:

               (*The Winter’s Tale, V.3 ll.94-5)    

Audio of Professor Neil Robertson from the PBS Conference 2017 now available.