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.
Special Mass in February 2006
All Saints Anglican Church was blessed with a full house of 25 communicants on Sunday, February 5, 2006 for a special Mass conducted according to the 1549 Book of Common Prayer by the Rt. Rev. Wellborn Hudson. He was assisted by Fr Bob Gregory, Vicar of All Saints. Bishop Hudson's sermon/homily centered on the history of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, but he also linked the ancient Canon of the Mass to modern forms of worship and gave it a current relevance. Visitors expressed their thankfulness for his informative talk. Our Guest Book records visitors from as far away as Colorado and Iowa and as close as Tubac and Green Valley. This was an inspirational day for all.
Bishop Hudson's Remarks
A Brief History of the Emergence of the English Liturgy
Reform of the Church's worship was one aspect of the larger Reformation movement of the 16th century which affected Christian doctrine, organization and morals. Concern with liturgy was to be found among both Roman Catholic and Protestant reformers. In the case of the Roman Catholic Church, there was a thorough-going revision of its inherited rites.
In England, there were a number of rites throughout the country, and one would find variations depending on which diocese one found oneself in.
All these reforms acted upon one another, but it is commonly conceded that the liturgical reform accomplished in England exhibited unusual marks of genius. For this we are chiefly indebted to the learning and literary skill of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533 to 1556. The two prayer books issued during the reign of Edward VI (the 1549 and 1552 books) were largely the work of Archbishop Cranmer.
The basis of Cranmer's reform was the Sarum adaptation of the Roman liturgy. It was from the Diocese of Sarum, now known as Salisbury. Cranmer also made large use of a Breviary issued by Spanish Cardinal Quinones, a work that was originally commissioned by the Pope. Cranmer borrowed freely from the Lutheran experiments in liturgical reform, and he tapped into the liturgical work of Saints Basil and Chrysostom, for he was thoroughly familar with the old Greek liturgies. From these sources, Cranmer derived ideas, forms and phrases. The whole heritage of the Church's worship contributed to the making of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.
The liturgy was conservative in character: the form and structure of the older rites was preserved and most of the old ceremonies were kept. But what had originally been Latin or German or Greek was now translated into English. One of Cranmer's most brilliant strokes was his decision to put the liturgy into his native tongue.
The old canonical hours (all eight of them) were reduced to two and are known as Matins (Morning Prayer) and Evensong (Evening Prayer). This was partly due to the dissolution of the monasteries which were organized around a twenty-four hour cycle of prayer: now there was no longer a need for lengthier and more elaborate daily offices.
Our focus today is on the Holy Communion. We should note here that with the Cranmerian revision, the Holy Communion again became a corporate act, including regular offerings by the people of both alms for the poor and the bread and wine that were to be used in the Communion service. Non-communicating attendance was discouraged. (The Burial Office saw a shift away from emphasis on Purgatory to a new emphasis on resurrection, joy and the triumph of the redeemed soul.
Inevitably in the times of reformation, there are those who are dissatisfied with the work of the leading reformers. Such was the case in that age: those of strongly Protestant sympathies felt that the 1549 Prayer Book had not gone far enough in reaction against certain "medieval abuses." Any suggestion that the Eucharist was in any way a propitiatory sacrifice for sin and any trace of the dogma of transsubstantiation as a definition of the Real Presence of the Lord in the sacrament was especially abhorrent to them. The communion rite was thoroughly re-arranged in the 1552 book. All mention of the Offertory of bread and wine was eliminated and the consecration prayer was broken into several parts, some of them coming before and some of them coming after the communion.
The so-called "Black Rubric" appeared just before the 1552 book was issued. It was added at the last moment solely at the direction of the King's Council and over the strenuous objections of Cranmer. It declared that by kneeling to receive the sacrament was not meant "...that any adoration is done, or ought to be done, either unto the Sacramental bread or wine bodily received, or unto any real and essential presence there being of Christ's natural flesh and blood."
All of this came to naught, for Edward died eight months after the 1552 Book of Common Prayer was issued. Queen Mary, a devout Roman Catholic, succeeded him and promptly did away with both versions of the English Prayer Book. England didn't have another Prayer Book until some time after Queen Elizabeth took the throne, near the end of the Reformation. The book currently in use in England is the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which was also used by the Anglicans in the United States until 1789.
There was a time when what a man believed meant everything, but by the end of the Reformation, public consensus was that religion was no longer worth fighting over What one believed was a private matter and didn't make much difference in other areas of life. And that is pretty much how matters stand today.
So why is all of this such a big deal? It is because we believe that there is a spiritual continuity across generations of Christians who have always believed in a Saviour who transcends time and space. It is important to us to worship God in the same way our ancestors worshipped, and this first English liturgy is the way we English-speaking Anglican Catholics do it. It has to do with Christian family, not with ancestor worship, because the focus is upon God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holyt Ghost, and all who have been redeemed as a result of Christ's promise.