Activities at All Saints
"Our Anglican Roots" Seminar Series
“OUR ANGLICAN ROOTS” a seminar series sponsored by All Saints Anglican Church, Green Valley, Arizona, took place during seven Wednesday evenings at space provided by the Green Valley campus of Pima Community College from October 8 to November 19, 2008 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM
Session I. The Background of Christianity in England, Wednesday, October
8. Shaw Kinsley, introductory speaker and moderator of the series, opened
this session with a discussion on the introduction of the Christian faith
into England. Shaw discussed England’s original conversion, Celtic
Christianity, and the roles of Sts Augustine and Aidan. He talked about
the great British church historian the Venerable Bede, showed images of
some of the books the missionaries brought and created to help them, and
briefly sketched events up to the English Reformation.
The assigned readings are still available and included “The
Anglican Church and Henry VIII,” and Chapters I and II of Part
II of Vernon Staley’s The Catholic Religion.
Session II. Cranmer and the English Books of Common Prayer, Wednesday, October 15. Fr Kingsbury, Anglican Church in America Diocese of the West Canon Missioner, flew in from California and discussed the roots of the Book of Common Prayer and Worship in the Western Catholic Tradition - and the ways in which the English church grew out of the Roman and Orthodox traditions. Fr. Kingsbury briefly discussed the life of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the developments that led to the first English Book of Common Prayer (of 1549), the Continental influences that led to +Cranmer's Second Prayer Book (of 1552), and what is still the official Prayer Book of the Church of England (of 1662).
Session III. The Colonies and the emergence of the American BCP, Wednesday,
October 22. Canon Rivers, Dean of Arizona and Archdeacon of the Diocese
of the West drove down from Phoenix and gave a wonderful talk on the history
of the Church of England in what ultimately became the United States of
America. The changes necessary in the Prayer Book and in the liturgy and
ceremonial after the American Revolution were discussed, as was the story
of Bp Seabury’s consecration. Some stated after this session, "If
you think the Episcopal Church is divided now, you should have see what
it was like at the time of our nation's founding!"
The assigned readings are still available and included Bp Charles C. Grafton’s
chapter on “The Church in America” from his The Lineage of the
American Catholic Church (p. 201 ff).
Session IV. Liberal Theology and its impact on liturgy and public worship, Wednesday, October 29. The Rt Rev’d Wellborn Hudson III, Retired Bishop of South Africa, Anglican Church in America presided at this session. Bp Hudson was present during the formation of the Continuing Church, and he spoke in the first person of his observations of the emergence of the Traditional Anglican Communion and its impact on the world. He described the events leading to the Affirmation of St Louis and the beginning of the continuing church. He also discussed how the Anglicans departed from the Episcopalians and reviewed the shifts in theological thinking that ultimately became unacceptable to Anglicans. His paper is entitled “Shattering the Anglican Communion” and it is viewable by clicking on the title. The assigned readings are still available and included electronic versions of The Declaration of St. Louis; Apb Falk’s article “Anglicans – Who Are They?”; “Anglicans and Catholics;” “An Unofficial History of the Anglican Catholic Church;” and “Episcopal Innovations 1960 - 2004” by Peter Toon.
Session V. The impact of the The Episcopal Church’s 1979 BCP on the American Church, Wednesday, November 5. This session was superbly discussed by the Rt Rev’d Daren K. Williams, Bishop Ordianry of the DOW. He pointed out and examined the differences between the 1928 and the 1979 Books of Common Prayer. The changes in wording reflect significant shifts in the theology as well as liturgy. Bp Williams spoke about female ordination, the shift in the moral stand of the Episcopal Church regarding sexuality; and the difficulties faced by parishioners holding a traditional view of faith. The assigned readings are still available and included electronic versions of: “Priestesses in the Church” by C. S. Lewis; and the part of “Episcopal Innovations 1960 – 2004” by Peter Toon dealing with the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.
Session VI. The variety of Anglican Prayer Books, Wednesday, November 12, was moderated by Shaw Kinsley. The session described the great variety of prayer books within the Anglican Church. From the standpoint of worship we looked the two versions of the Anglican Missal and at translations of the 1928 BCP for use in foreign lands. We talked about the other books of prayer that inform our worship – St Augustine’s Prayer Book, The Practice of Religion, and others. A variety of prayer books were made available for examination. We talked about the bibliographical complexities of the BCP and examined several fine examples. Shaw introduced Fr Massey Shepherd’s Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary and described its use. The assigned readings are still available and included Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary by Fr Massey Shepherd; and other photocopied notes related to the topic.
Session VII. Summary and the theological beauty of our liturgy, Wednesday, November 19, was given by Bishop Hudson. He summarized the ground covered by the previous six sessions and closed with a description of how our Anglican liturgy expresses its theology and how it brings us all closer to God.
If you would like to receive any of the readings in printed form, please use this link to request them.