Ideally, I would write that in the summer of 2015, but it looks like my energy next year is going to be poured in immersion Spanish-language training so that I can more effectively lead St. John's El Corazón Latino Ministry Initiative, seeking not only to find ways to welcome Latinos at our church but also for our church to lead the way in dismantling the segregation and prejudice that persists in Northwest Ottawa County.
That said, like I did last year, and the year before, I am posting below the papers I wrote for this summer's courses.
Liturgical Time, class taught by the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander (Dean of the School of Theology, Professor of Liturgy, and Charles Todd Quintard Professor of Dogmatic Theology) and the Rev. Dr. Melissa M. Hartley (Associate Chaplain for the University of the South). A class that could also be retitled as "The Church Year is NOWHERE NEAR as simple and clear cut as you think it is!"
One Paper — A Robust Feast of the Incarnation: An Analysis of the Development of the Incarnation Cycle in English Christianity from the Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, with Application to Current Questions of Liturgical Practice
From the Introduction,
The liturgical calendar is something that most Christians in liturgical traditions take for granted. Those who have been raised in liturgical traditions assume that this is the way Christianity has been practiced since ancient times throughout the ages, the way it has always been. Those who have converted to a liturgical tradition from one that is not liturgical often perceive the church year as a way of reconnecting with ancient Christianity. At the same time, any scholar of liturgical history knows that the development of the church year came much more slowly and with much greater complexity than is often assumed.
The Anglican tradition of Christianity is perhaps one of the most ancient streams that exist, with roots that may come from as early as the first century and with evidence of a developed enough Christian presence for an archbishop to attend a council in the early fourth century. From these earliest days, the Anglican tradition has had a tendency to do things differently than other areas, a tradition that has persisted throughout the centuries. For example, the English retained the practice of the new year beginning on March 25 (the Feast of the Annunciation), up until the middle of the eighteenth century, long after most had started seeing January 1 as the beginning of a new year. The sources and reasons for those differences are, unfortunately, often lost to history. However an exploration of the way that an aspect of Christianity developed in the Anglican tradition can reveal important new lenses to the Christian faith and can provide wonderful resources for critical reflection upon current practice.
The nativity (or incarnation) cycle is an excellent example of where development in the British Isles happened differently than elsewhere, particularly differently than Rome. Even the common name “nativity cycle” betrays a later understanding of what is going on in this observance: a focus solely upon the birth of Christ instead the incarnation, a focus upon an historical event instead of the reality of God taking on flesh among us. Hence, I will be using “incarnation cycle” to refer to the celebrations and fasts related to the coming of God in Christ.
It is often said that Anglicanism is an incarnational faith. What is particularly fascinating is that the peculiar Anglican focus upon the incarnation is much more ancient, much more rooted in specific liturgical observances of the church year, than is often realized.
Anglicanism: Love's Redeeming Work?, class taught by the Rev. Dr. Benjamin John King (Associate Professor of Church History at the School of Theology). I sort of asked him to teach a course using the text Love's Redeeming Work, knowing this was the only way I would get around to reading all 832 pages. Am I ever glad I did!
First Paper: The Distinctive Quest: A Critical Assessment of the Claims of Love's Redeeming Work & the Anglican Tradition of Christianity
From the Introduction,
Those in the Anglican tradition exist in a tradition that has always been a little hesitant to speak too strongly about a distinct identity. Indeed, at those times in our history when any one group has sought to do this, the experience has usually ended rather badly. As the editors of Love’s Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness note, many books about Anglican identity are focused on questions of history, ecclesiology, or theology. They suspect, however, that the true value and distinctive nature of Anglicanism is actually found in our spiritual practice, in the peculiar way that Anglicans pursue holiness of life and deeper relationship with God.
What is most fascinating as one reads this book is how easy it is to forget what age in which one is reading or what camp in which a particular author falls. Certain themes, ideas, and concepts appear again and again, across centuries and party lines, as clergy and laity invite the people of God deeper into the divine life. The contribution this book makes to a renewed appreciation of this reality—despite any (very fair and important!) qualms we might have about editorial decisions of which authors are included and how much space is devoted to each—is, indeed, immense.
What seems to unite Anglicans is not merely a particular book of worship or a hierarchical system adapted to modern circumstances. What remains present is the idea that God truly does call us to holiness—and that the bedrock practices of that journey, regular prayer and Holy Eucharist, can indeed change our very selves. A persistent journey that seeks holiness of life and a deeper relationship with God can even change the world in which we live.
Second Paper: The Life and Writings of John A. T. Robinson
From the Introduction,
In a powerful image for the life of this controversial bishop, John Arthur Thomas Robinson was born in the precincts of the Canterbury Cathedral in 1919. His father, Arthur William Robinson served as a canon at the cathedral, as did his maternal grandfather. However, Arthur Robinson had married later in life, when he was sixty-two, and he died when his son, John, was only nine. John retained a close relationship to the church, even after his father’s death. Six of his uncles who also served as clergy persons, including one, J. Armitage Robinson, who was dean of Westminster and then Wells...
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