Photos of our newest Anthonite

The Liturgy of Profession of Vows for The Rev. Robert-James Laws took place during the principal Eucharistic liturgy of Sunday, March 14th at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Fr. Robert-James, OPC is our first ordained brother.  It was a great day!

Father Robert-James is prostrated before the altar and the Order's Icon of St. Anthony.  Abbot Kenneth is standing to the right.

The receiving of the Anthonite habit.  Yours truly is standing to the right.

From Parish Church to Minister: Halifax Gets a Raise

The newly elevated Minster Church of St. John the Baptist

Halifax, West Yorkshire

In late 2009, West Yorkshire received its second minster church with the elevation of Halifax Parish Church, otherwise known as the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist.  The other such church of note resides in Dewsbury.  Of course the grandest of minster churches in the region is that of York, the archiepiscopal see of the Primate of England.   

When a friend of mine relayed this news to me recently, I was not at all surprised, given the energy and charism of the new Vicar, The Rev. Hilary Barber.  It was here, during the months of May and June 2009, that I worked with the Vicar on a field education placement while at the College of the Resurrection doing an independent study on Anglican-Islamic relations.  

I found the parish church to be extraordinary.  The history, the architecture, and the people who are the church, made for an exciting worship service every time.  It was impossible to take a step on the church grounds without stepping on a floor memorial, etched deeply by time and love.  Interestingly, the church is not located in the center of Halifax, but rather sits quietly below the fringe of the commercial heart.  I admit that I was lost the first time I visited Halifax in order to meet with the vicar, my growing hunger amid the cold rain did not help my sense of direction in the least.  

There is no question, however, that the minster is struggling financially.  The church is over 900 years-old and has weathered the religious storms and showing its age.  There are several windows inside that were smashed during Cromwell's Protectorate, the replacements are clear glass and affectionately called "Commonwealth windows."  With so much local history embedded in the floors and walls of the minster, the parish is poised to be a house of prayer for the people of Halifax.

By contrast, Dewsbury Minster has completed an extensive renovation of the buildings and created a cafe, gift shop, and a modern museum chronicling the history of the Minster.  Dewsbury is not only staying relevant, but is apart of the revitalization of the area with its exemplary vision and determination.   

I enjoyed my time worshipping with the people at Halifax.  The highlight was the celebration of the parish's Patronal Feast Day on that of John the Baptist.  The former Archbishop of York, Lord David Hope was the preacher and the new Muslim Mayor of Calderdale, Arshad Mamoud was there along with a local Imam. It was a great evening for the town.  

Towards a Baptismal Ecclesiology

What Not to Do:

Holy Water font filled in with sand for Lent.

The 1979 American Book of Common Prayer accomplished an extraordinary thing for The Episcopal Church by reuniting--in theory--the ancient rite of Christian initiation of water and post-water bath anointing.  The Church, through this prayer book reform, has re-ordered the entire life of the Church around baptism, or moving towards a baptismal ecclesiology.

The rubrics contained in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer concerning the rite of Holy Baptism describe clearly the Church’s teaching on initiation, “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church.  The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble” (BCP, 298).  From the inception of the 1979 Prayer Book, a new ethos of Baptism, its theology, and its ecclesiology permeate the whole of the American Prayer Book.  Gone are the days of private baptisms and now the rite is placed on appointed Sundays throughout the Church calendar to be celebrated as a ritual mass in the midst of the full assembly of the faithful.  The Liturgical Movement, along with the initiation reforms of the Second Vatican Council, swept across liturgical churches to instill principles of clear and simple symbolism while reaching back to the ancient rite itself for insights into developing reforms. Here's an instance, at least arguably so, when Prosper of Aquitaine's saying,  lex orandi, lex credendi, does not apply.  With the new addition of a Baptismal Covenant, the Church is proclaiming to all of God’s people the ongoing responsibilities of the bonds forged in the waters of Baptism.  The past event in the believer's life is to made known and re-presented every day.  Moreover, there is a greater emphasis on the ministry of all the baptized, seeking to involve the laity in every possible way into the worshipping life of the Church.  

The Baptismal Covenant, a new interrogatory innovation prior to the water bath, created a new ethos which has taken root in the life of some parts at least of the Episcopal Church.  The 1979 prayer book has taken hold and permeated its inclusive baptismal theology into all aspects of church life.  Most sermons today somehow inevitably allude to the theology and ecclesiology of the Baptismal Covenant found in the rite of Holy Baptism because of the efficacy of the Covenant and its relationship to ongoing discipleship.  Even on appointed days for Baptism on the Church calendar when there are no candidates to be baptized, it is recommended to use the Baptismal Covenant in the liturgy to remind the assembly of the promises made at the font.  The Baptismal ecclesiology revealed in the Baptismal Covenant is clear:  that Baptism is now the primary identity marker for all Christian people and from that comes responsibility to God, to the great fellowship of believers, and to the whole of God’s creation.  Everything is ordered around Baptism because this is how we are fully and completely initiated into the Body of Christ.  With this ecclesiology, then, all baptized Christians share the responsibility of participation and governance in the Church.  While the clergy retain important sacramental functions relating to their orders, the laity has been empowered and approved to serve in additional liturgical and governmental roles in the Church. 

“Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church.  The bond which God establishes in Baptism is indissoluble”

With the ecclesiological implications in place, the Baptismal theology that flows from the Baptismal Covenant effectively ends an age-old two-tiered system of initiation, meaning Baptism and Confirmation.  Baptism is the full and complete rite of initiation in the Church now in the 1979 prayer book.  Even small children who have been baptized are now encouraged to receive Holy Communion.  This radical change sets us apart from some of our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion where Confirmation still holds the meal ticket.  The promises made in the Covenant help move the faithful into a greater participation in the Paschal Mystery—the life in Christ.  There is a call for social justice and stewardship.  There is a call to work for peace among all people, and the invitation to seek and serve Christ in every person.  The Baptismal Covenant shifts the Episcopal Church away from seeing Baptism as simply a way to wash off sins; rather, this new covenant is about enacting discipleship.  This is a major move away from the medieval idea of infant baptism, especially by making adult baptism the norm.

Now with my official GOE (General Ordination Exam) answer out of the way, why do we find sand in some baptismal fonts during Lent?  What image and message, then, does that symbol send the faithful?  I maintain that the "tradition" of filling up fonts with sand diminishes the ongoing, ever-present reality of Christian baptism.  No liturgical season can supplant this; the water is living and flowing ever deeper into the hearts of the faithful especially in a season such as Lent.

While there is the invitation in the prayer book for observance of a Holy Lent, this does not mean that the baptismal water and its implications for discipleship magically disappear for a time.  The symbolism of sand and the notion of wrestling with temptation in the desert is a good one, but it confuses baptism and thus not appropriate for baptismal fonts.   

Chad, Bishop and Saint

Today, the Church commemorates the death date of Chad, Bishop of Lichfield (c. 672).  We know some of Chad by the historian Bede.  Below is the excerpt from The Oxford Dictionary of Saints.

St Chad was the first bishop of Mercia and Lindsey at Lichfield. He was the brother of Cedd, whom he succeeded as Abbot of Lastingham, North Yorkshire, and a disciple of Aidan who sent him to Ireland as part of his education. Chad was chosen by Oswi, king of Northumbria, as bishop of the Northumbrian see, while Wilfrid, who had been chosen for Deira by the sub-king Alcfrith, was absent in Gaul seeking consecration shortly after the Synod of Whitby (663/4). Faced with a dearth of bishops in England, Chad was unwise enough to be consecrated by the simoniacal Wine of Dorchester, assisted by two dubious British bishops. Wilfrid on his return to England in 666, found that Alcfrith was dead or exiled and retired to Ripon, leaving Chad in occupation. But in 669 Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, restored Wilfrid to York and deposed Chad (who retired to Lastingham), but soon reconsecrated him to be bishop of the Mercians. This unusual step was due both to the new opening for Christianity in Mercia and to the excellent character of Chad himself, whom both Eddius and Bede recognised as being unusually humble, devout, zealous and apostolic. Chad's episcopate of three years laid the foundations of the see of Lichfield according to the decrees of Theodore's council at Hertford, which established diocesan organisation. Wulfhere, king of Mercia, gave him fifty hides of land for a monastery at Barow (Lincolnshire); he also established a monastery close to Lichfield Cathedral.

Chad died on March 2nd 672 and was buried in the Church of St Mary. At once, according to Bede, he was venerated as a saint and his relics were translated to the Cathedral Church of St Peter. Cures were claimed in both churches. Bede described his first shrine as 'a wooden coffin in the shape of a little house with an aperture in the side through which the devout can...take out some of the dust, which they put into water and give to sick cattle or men to drink, upon which they are presently eased of their infirmity and restored to health'.

His relics were translated in 1148 and moved to the Lady Chapel in 1296. An even more splendid shrine was built by Robert Stretton, bishop of Lichfield (1360-85) of marble substructure with feretory adorned with gold and precious stones. Rowland Lee, bishop of Lichfield (1534-43), pleaded with Henry VIII to spare the shrine: this was done, but only for a time. At some unknown date the head and some other bones had been separated from the main shrine. Some of these, it was claimed, were preserved by recusants, and four large bones, believed to be Chad's are in the Roman Catholic cathedral of Birmingham. A fine Mercian illuminated Gospel Book of the 8th century called the Gospels of St Chad was probably associated with his shrine, as the Lindisfarne Gospels were associated with the shrine of St Cuthbert; it is now in Lichfield Cathedral Library. The 11th century shrine list mentions the relics of Cedd and Hedda resting at Lichfield with Chad. Thirty-three ancient churches and several wells were dedicated to St Chad, mainly in the Midlands. There are also several modern dedications.

From The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, by David Hugh Farmer, 3rd edition, 1992

Now I doubt that my parents had all this in mind when deciding on my name in 1980.  However, I was not to discover Chad's witness to the faith until my teenage years when a friend and Orthodox priest told me the story of Saint Chad.  From that point forward, I was committed to celebrating this great, humble witness of the Church in pre-Roman Britain!  

I searched for a number of years to find an icon of Saint Chad.  When I began my discernment in 2005, I decided that I would take up the holy practice of icon writing.  The icon above was the fruit of that labor and it hangs above my desk in my study.  

Here are the arms of Saint Chad's College, University of Durham.  I was able to visit the College when I was in Durham this past summer.  There are numerous parishes in the Church of England bearing this great saint's name.  Ironically, our seminary recently hired the chaplain from Saint Chad's College to be our theology professor.  We've swapped icons of Chad.

I pray that I may seek daily to embodied the humility and faithfulness that Saint Chad serves as an exemplar for us today.