Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

Saturday, October 19, 2019

What does ‘Honest to God’ tell us about Britain’s “secular revolution”?

From Oxford University Press-

On 17 March 1963, John Robinson, the Anglican bishop of Woolwich, wrote an article for the Observer entitled “Our Image of God Must Go.” He was writing to advertise his new book, Honest to God, which made a deeply controversial argument: that modern Christians would eventually find it necessary to reject classical theism. God Himself, Robinson argued, was causing a radical revolution in human life, in which human nature was being altered, so that “modern men” [sic] were no longer “religious” but “secular”. In the face of this divine process of “secularization”, the Christian churches had no option but to abandon “religion”, and to embrace a radical new “religionless Christianity”, which would question almost all the tenets of conventional theology, and focus instead on building a glorious new secular social order. These ideas were part of the 1960s global explosion in radical Christianity, which deeply shaped the World Council of Churches, the World Student Christian Federation, and Vatican II.

In Britain, the reaction was intense and immediate: the Church Times wrote angry editorials, the Sunday Telegraph’s reviewer regretted that Robinson could not be defrocked, and the archbishop of Canterbury censured him on television. Nonetheless, Honest to God went on to sell over a million copies, not including its translations into seventeen languages. It was, in the undisputed judgement of its publisher, the fastest-selling new work of serious theology of all time.

More here-

https://blog.oup.com/2019/10/what-does-honest-to-god-tell-us-about-britains-secular-revolution/

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Campaigners protest ICE activity in Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building

From Oregon (but really Minnesota)

Bishop Henry Whipple, the first Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, is known in Faribault as the founder of the Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior and a proponent of Shattuck-St. Mary’s School.

On a larger scale, Whipple is known for persuading former President Abraham Lincoln to spare the lives of 303 Native Americans who would have been hung in the Dakota Uprising of 1862.

Today, some believe the deportations being carried out at a building bearing Whipple’s name leave an ugly stain on the bishop’s legacy.

While serving as U.S. senator between 1964 and 1976, Walter Mondale named a Fort Snelling federal government building in Whipple’s honor. The building today houses federal agencies like Veteran Affairs, but it also houses Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) headquarters and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a five-state region.

More here-

https://www.bluemountaineagle.com/life/national/campaigners-protest-ice-activity-in-bishop-henry-whipple-federal-building/article_f1b6312a-b176-57f0-8c12-9ecb3b47a452.html

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

How an Anglican priest became a Catholic saint

From England-

From tending to the sick during a cholera outbreak in the 19th century Black Country to healing an expectant mother in modern-day Chicago, John Henry Newman has left an indelible impression on the Catholic Church.

And the one-time temporary assistant priest in the West Midlands this week became Britain’s newest saint. 

In front of tens of thousands of pilgrims at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, the Pope Francis elevated the English theologian to sainthood. 

The Prince of Wales, who represented the UK at the ceremony, praised the legacy of the cardinal, saying in a speech after the ceremony, saying it was a cause for celebration Anglicans, Catholics and simple admirers of Newman. 

“He was a priest, a poet and a thinker ahead of his time,” said the Prince. “Above all, perhaps, he was a fearless defender of truth, whose impact on the world was as profound as it is enduring.

More here-

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/2019/10/15/how-an-anglican-priest-became-a-catholic-saint/

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Cardinal John Henry Newman might well be the patron saint of ecumenism

From Ireland-

Theologian, scholar, educationalist, poet, novelist, convert, cardinal and blessed are some of the outstanding titles of John Henry Newman we can celebrate on the occasion of his canonisation in Rome next Sunday (October 13th).

Yet, 174 years after he converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism, it is his conversion that we remember as the great watershed moment of his life.

Newman, the convert, created a huge stir at the time as did those of his contemporaries who became Catholics in the Oxford Movement. There is no doubt but that the church then, and oftentimes since, saw Newman’s conversion as a boost to Catholicism that evoked a measure of triumphalism in the church.

But there should be no hint of triumphalism in his being declared a saint by the church. It is not the final “one in the eye” for Anglicanism that shows Newman’s conversion as the natural high point of his life. On the contrary, I see him as a saint of Christian traditions Catholic and Anglican.

More here-

Monday, September 16, 2019

Anglican Archbishop Prostrates As Apology For 1919 British Massacre In Amritsar

From The Organization for World Peace-

On the 100th anniversary of the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury embraced the bold act of prostrating at the site of the Amritsar massacre, as a deeply meaningful symbol of a personal request for forgiveness for the British colonial atrocity. Over 400 were slaughtered and more than 1000 injured on the bloody April day in the state of Punjab, 41 of the victims being infants.

Welby ensured espousing a tone centred on religious and personal forgiveness, choosing to stay clear of hinting at any sign of official government representation,  “I cannot speak for the British government … but I can speak in the name of Christ and say this is a place of both sin and redemption, because you have remembered what they have done and their names will live, their memory will live before God”. More emotively, Welby expressed the yearning of the deceased souls, “…crying from these stones warning us about power and about the misuse of power”.

More here-

https://theowp.org/anglican-archbishop-prostrates-as-apology-for-1919-british-massacre-in-amritsar/

Friday, September 13, 2019

In slavery, her family was owned by his. Now they attend a Baltimore church seeking to atone for its past.

From Baltimore-

The Rev. Natalie Conway’s tenure as the new deacon of Memorial Episcopal Church in Baltimore’s Bolton Hill was by all accounts going well last year when she received news that sparked a personal crisis and sent shock waves through the congregation.

One of Conway’s siblings, who was conducting genealogical research on their family, told her that some of their forebears had been slaves on a local plantation — and the people and the land were owned by none other than the extended family of Memorial’s founding pastor, 19th-century cleric Charles Ridgely Howard.

If that weren’t disorienting enough, a current parishioner at Memorial — a man Conway had known for years and respected — was a descendant of the slaveholding clan.

The cascade of revelations at first overwhelmed the lifelong Episcopalian and native of Baltimore.

More here-

 https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-church-slavery-atonement-20190912-3tllerewzzh7nnqsa5entffssy-story.html

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Religious, education leaders stand against racism at Buffalo Athletic Club, 1968

From Buffalo-

For the last 39 years, heading to the Buffalo Athletic Club meant you were heading to the gym. After the original BAC fell on hard times, the club’s majestic E.B. Green-designed home was renovated into a modern health club with exercise facilities for both men and women.

For decades before it was just a gym, it was a private men’s social club. Very private.

When Episcopal Bishop Harold Robinson was given an award by the Erie County Bar Association at a banquet held at the club, a group of Episcopal priests signed a letter protesting the prelate’s attendance, saying in part, “We are … concerned that any of our church's leaders can allow themselves to be honored at a reception in a club that segregates by membership and from an association that meets in facilities segregated by membership. This situation is deeply confusing when religious leaders are expected to provide the leadership and personal example in the most pressing of the country's domestic crises — the breakdown of communication and relations between black and white citizens.”

More here-

https://buffalonews.com/2019/09/11/religious-education-leaders-stand-against-racism-at-buffalo-athletic-club-1968/

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Slaves helped build Virginia Theological Seminary. The school will spend $1.7 million in reparations.

From The Washington Post-

From their offices in a building erected by slaves, leaders of the Virginia Theological Seminary announced early this month they have created a $1.7 million fund for reparations, putting one of the oldest Episcopalian schools at the forefront of a movement among universities and other groups seeking to reconcile slavery’s enduring legacy in their organizations.

The endowment fund offers a model at a time when lawmakers and presidential candidates are studying how reparations may work nationally. At Virginia Theological Seminary — a school that did not admit black students until 1951 — the plan involves more than just writing a check.

The pot of money will be used to address “particular needs” of descendants of slaves who worked at the seminary, to create programs that “promote justice and inclusion” and to elevate the work and voices of African American alumni and clergy within the Episcopal Church, especially at historically black congregations.

More here-

Monday, September 9, 2019

In Wisconsin, An Enduring Sanctuary Was A Pioneer Dream

From Wisconsin-

The small wooden church is half-hidden, nestled on a hill in southeastern Wisconsin in the city of Delafield. St. John Chrysostom Episcopal Church was built in 1851, one of the historic "carpenter Gothic" churches surviving in the United States, and on the National Register of Historic Places. It's such a quiet place residents often forget it's there, though it was established by the pioneer founders of the city.

As a girl in Delafield, I wondered about its strange name, and the tombstones that went from the graveyard up to the door. I was lucky enough to meet Father Steven Peay, who fills in sometimes for the regular rector. St. John Chrysostom, Father Steven Peay explained to me, was the name of a 4th century bishop of Constantinople. He was the patron saint of preachers, and the Greek name "Chrysostom" was given to him because it means "honeyed mouth" or the "golden-mouthed one." Steven Peay is an emeritus dean of nearby Nashotah House Theological Seminary, which is an influential, "high church" Episcopal seminary. While there, he taught church history and homiletics — the art of preaching and writing sermons.

More here-

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/08/758415691/in-wisconsin-an-enduring-sanctuary-was-a-pioneer-dream

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Bell-ringing ceremony to mark anniversary of first slaves landing in U.S.

From South Carolina-

The Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, invited all Episcopal churches to participate in what is being called a day of healing.
Each Church will ring their bells one minute for each of the four centuries that have passed since slavery began on wh
at is now American soil.
Many Episcopal churches were active in the civil rights movement, which is commemorated in a stained glass at St. Athanasius Episcopal Church on Albany Street in Brunswick. The stained glass memorializes martyrs of the movement.
St. Athanasius will hold its own bell-ringing observance.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Episcopal bishop calls for bell-tolling to remember 1619 slave-trade incident

From Atlanta-

The Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, based at Buckhead’s Cathedral of St. Philip, is calling on its churches and schools to toll bells on Aug. 25 in remembrance of the first enslaved African people forced to come to English North America 400 years ago this month.

That 1619 event in what was then the Colony of Virginia was recently highlighted by the New York Times Magazine in “The 1619 Project,” a package of stories about the legacy of slavery in American history.

Rev. Robert C. Wright, the bishop of the diocese, said in a press release that the bell-tolling, scheduled for 3 p.m., is intended to be part of a national commemoration involving other Christian denominations and other religions.

“At 3 p.m., we can join with people of all faiths to remember those who came enslaved, those who came to a country that one day would proclaim liberty,” Wright said in the press release.

More here-

https://www.reporternewspapers.net/2019/08/21/episcopal-bishop-calls-for-bell-tolling-to-remember-1619-slave-trade-incident/

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Apollo 11: Buzz Aldrin on Communion in Space

From Guideposts-

For several weeks prior to the scheduled lift-off of Apollo 11 back in July, 1969, the pastor of our church, Dean Woodruff, and I had been struggling to find the right symbol for the first lunar landing.

We wanted to express our feeling that what man was doing in this mission transcended electronics and computers and rockets.

Dean often speaks at our church, Webster Presbyterian, just outside of Houston, about the many meanings of the communion service.

"One of the principal symbols," Dean says, "is that God reveals Himself in the common elements of everyday life." Traditionally, these elements are bread and wine–common foods in Bible days and typical products of man’s labor.

One day while I was at Cape Kennedy working with the sophisticated tools of the space effort, it occurred to me that these tools were the typical elements of life today.

More here-

https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/life-advice/finding-life-purpose/apollo-11-buzz-aldrin-on-communion-in-space?fbclid=IwAR06xYW8fbTcOXxv9rrAffVbJ8OY4JAni-HR0BquTWLHSyV0mPNoGF54rXE

Friday, July 5, 2019

Professing Faith: The religious foundations that bolstered the Declaration of Independence

From California-

In this week, when our nation celebrates the Declaration of Independence, signed 243 years ago on Thursday, perhaps we may do well to recall some of the religious foundations that rest behind the men who signed that famous document.

In our own day and age it has become fashionable to assert that the United States was never a Christian nation. On Feb. 26, 2015, the online news source, Huffpost righteously declared, “The facts of our history are easy enough to verify. Anybody who ignorantly insists that our nation is founded on Christian ideals need only look at the four most important documents from our early history – the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Federalist Papers and the Constitution – to disprove that ridiculous religious bias. All four documents unambiguously prove our secular origins.”

More here-

https://www.pe.com/2019/07/04/professing-faith-the-religious-foundations-that-bolstered-the-declaration-of-independence/

Monday, May 20, 2019

Prayer service honors flood victims, church’s history

From Johnstown-

At the beginning of a community prayer service held Sunday to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the 1889 Johnstown Flood, rumbles of thunder and the sound of rain spread throughout the sanctuary of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. 

“You know, I didn’t ask God for the sound effects, but God provided them,” said the Rev. Nancy L. Threadgill, priest in charge at St. Mark’s. 

The service honored Father Alonzo Potter Diller, rector of St. Mark’s, his wife, Marion Diller and their children, all of whom perished at the church, as well as other victims of the flood. 

Behind the altar, an inscription reads, “to the glory of God and in loving memory of Alonzo Potter Diller – many waters cannot quench love.” A stained glass window at the church pays tribute to Marion Diller, displaying the date of her birth and her death. 

Threadgill said Diller was known to spend time out in his community and, about a month before he and his family were killed in the flood, he turned down an offer at a larger rectory in Pittsburgh. 

More here-

https://www.tribdem.com/news/prayer-service-honors-flood-victims-church-s-history/article_75508cf0-7ab1-11e9-b34a-cbc017c0fd3c.html

Friday, May 17, 2019

1889 Johnstown Flood commemorated Guided tours will be available at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

From Western PA-

In the aftermath of the 1889 flood and despite considerable damage to the 1874 church building and rectory, the death of its rector, and over half of its communicants, St. Mark’s congregation continued meeting in the “Ark,” a temporary small wooden structure furnished by the American Red Cross. The response to the 1889 Johnstown Flood marked the first time the Red Cross was mobilized. The head of the organization, Clara Barton, decided to build “Red Cross Hotels” to house the homeless of Johnstown and surrounding areas. 

Bishop Cortlandt Whitehead of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh gave the St. Mark’s site to the American Red Cross for use in the Johnstown recovery efforts. The first “Red Cross Hotel” was built on the St. Mark’s site. 

Later, the site of St. Mark’s was returned to the Diocese and the present day church was built and consecrated on May 31, 1891, the second anniversary of the 1889 flood. 

More here-

http://www.altoonamirror.com/life/area-life/2019/05/1889-johnstown-flood-commemorated/

Thursday, May 16, 2019

‘Mad’ preacher made his mark in Haworth

From The U.K.-

Visitors flock in their thousands to the parsonage museum every year to learn more about the lives of the famous literary siblings. 

But some 70 years before their father Patrick became curate in the village, another colourful character held the post and was making his own impression on parishioners. 

William Grimshaw was a fiery man renowned for some strange behaviour, yet was also a hugely popular preacher who packed out churches. 

A glimpse into his fascinating life is provided in a new, illustrated book,
William Grimshaw: The Perpetual Curate of Haworth. 

More here-

https://www.keighleynews.co.uk/news/17643813.mad-preacher-made-his-mark-in-haworth/

Sunday, April 28, 2019

The story of the fifth Bishop of Calcutta

From India-

Sometime ago it was reported that the coffin of Daniel Wilson was found in a vault under the main altar of Calcutta’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. Wilson was the fifth Bishop of Calcutta and founder of St. Paul’s, which came up in 1847.

“This is not some out-of-the-box discovery. We were all aware that the coffin was kept there,” says an official from St. Paul’s Cathedral who does not want to be identified. He continues, “In fact, there is a small opening on the outer wall of the cathedral for ventilation. It was kept covered so that no stray dogs could go in. We could see the ornamentation on the coffin. The remains of the bishop were never missing. It was just that we had never gone down into the vault.”

It seems Wilson himself had made provision for the vault under the altar. “There is a reference to his musings in the book, The Final Report of St. Paul’s Cathedral, Calcutta, written by Archdeacon Pratt, who was a close associate,” says senior researcher Mary Ann Dasgupta.

St. Paul’s is said to be the first Anglican cathedral of the Victorian age. In his book, Splendours of the Raj: British Architecture in India, 1160-1947, Phillip Davies writes: “The building was constructed in a peculiar brick especially prepared for the purpose, which combined lightness with compressional strength; the dressings were of Chunar stone, and the whole edifice was covered inside and out with polished chunam.” Up the stairs of the cathedral and next to the main door is a marble bust. Would that be of Wilson? No, it belongs to Reginald Heber, who was Bishop of Calcutta in 1827.

More here-

https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/heritage/the-story-of-the-fifth-bishop-of-calcutta/cid/1689553

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Philadelphia's historic Christ Church tests its fire sprinkler system ahead of renovations

From Philadelphia-

Should a fire ever spark on the roof of the historic Christ Church in Philadelphia's Old City, it is prepared to mimic the Old Testament's account of Noah's Ark, when "all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened."

The building is equipped with an "open headed deluge" sprinkler system, which when triggered creates an artificial rainstorm on the outside of the building.

The wooden steeple, built in 1754, has about 30 sprinkler heads installed on its surface. In the event of a fire, a dedicated water pump in the basement ramps up, sending potentially thousands of gallons of water up 200 feet, shooting out each nozzle at about 100 psi.

"Deluge" is no understatement. Water rains down hard and fast.  Similar sprinkler systems are often used on industrial buildings.

"You see it a lot in chemical [buildings], like Ashland Chemical on Columbus Avenue," said Mike McGovern, of Oliver Fire Protection, which installed this system. "Things where they want full protection right away."

More here-

https://www.witf.org/news/2019/04/philadelphias-historic-christ-church-tests-its-fire-sprinkler-system-ahead-of-renovations.php

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Why Calculating Easter’s Date Is So Complicated

From Refinery 29 (Fascinating read)-

Unlike Christmas, which falls on the same date every year, Easter is what’s called a “moveable feast." That means that Easter falls on a different date from year to year, moving throughout the calendar. In 2019, Easter falls on April 21 — a full three weeks later than Easter in 2018, which fell on April 1. The way that Easter moves throughout the calendar has a surprising factor: the moon.
 
To understand way, we have to go back to the roots of Easter. The Bible doesn’t spell out the exact date that Easter occurs on, but it does say that Jesus was crucified during the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to the Catholic magazine America: The Jesuit Review, in the year 325, the Council of Nicaea decided to celebrate Easter “at the very time of Jesus’ Passion," the Christian term for the final days of Jesus' life before his death and resurrection. The Jewish calendar is calculated based on lunar months, so to link Easter with Passover, the Council of Nicaea decided that Easter would be observed “on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox.” Basically, because the moon affects when Passover falls, the moon also affects when Easter falls.
 
But this year, the vernal equinox fell on March 20, which was also a full moon. So, according to that calculation, Easter should have been held on the first Sunday after March 20, which was March 24. However, that wasn't the case — and we have to go into some more Church history to understand why.
 
More here-
 

Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion Diocese of Mbamili, Anambra State, has read the riot act to priests and members of the laity who may involved in homosexuality, saying anyone caught in the act will be shown the way out of the diocese.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/anglican-communion-warns-priests-laity-against-homosexuality-2/

Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion Diocese of Mbamili, Anambra State, has read the riot act to priests and members of the laity who may involved in homosexuality, saying anyone caught in the act will be shown the way out of the diocese.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/anglican-communion-warns-priests-laity-against-homosexuality-2/
Church of Nigeria Anglican Communion Diocese of Mbamili, Anambra State, has read the riot act to priests and members of the laity who may involved in homosexuality, saying anyone caught in the act will be shown the way out of the diocese.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/04/anglican-communion-warns-priests-laity-against-homosexuality-2/

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Never Forget: Recalling the Death of Bonhoeffer

From The Deacons Bench-

The great preacher, writer, theologian and witness to the faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was executed on April 9, 1945, just days before the Nazi camp where he was held, Flossenbürg, was liberated. He was 39.

Here’s what happened: 

On 4 April 1945, the diaries of AdmiralWilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, were discovered, and in a rage upon reading them, Hitler ordered that the Abwehr conspirators [those who had plotted for Hitler’s assassination] be destroyed. Bonhoeffer was led away just as he concluded his final Sunday service and asked an English prisoner, Payne Best, to remember him to Bishop George Bell of Chichester if he should ever reach his home: “This is the end—for me the beginning of life.”
Bonhoeffer was condemned to death on 8 April 1945 by SS judge Otto Thorbeck at a drumhead court-martial without witnesses, records of proceedings or a defense in Flossenbürg concentration camp.  He was executed there by hanging at dawn on 9 April 1945, just two weeks before soldiers from the United States 90th and 97th Infantry Divisions liberated the camp,  three weeks before the Soviet capture of Berlin and a month before the surrender of Nazi Germany.

More here-

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/deaconsbench/2019/04/never-forget-recalling-the-death-of-bonhoeffer/