#episcopalian stuff

[ache-of-saint-vick]

draft timeline of Episcopal desynchronization

Phillips Brooks lived and died at a specific time when his irenical Protestantism, and his specific style of low churchmanship, was much more defensible, and thinkable, than it is now.

The problem here is that there's basically two kinds of histories that I've seen. The first is written by us, and generally a narrative of "High Church marching from strength to strength." The second is written by haters, in the vein of "like if they're heretics, reblog if they're apostates, ignore if you want your church to be infected with [slurs] like theirs." Neither is really useful, and neither addresses why Brooks's Protestantism feels so odd to talk about.

But it is fair to say that, at the time of his death, Episcopalian worship would overall be more easily associated with that of other Protestants. Even ones that we'd now have nothing to do with (much less they with us.) The foundations for Protestant congeniality that Phillips Brooks took for granted aren't there any more - and we're not the only ones to move away from them. I'm referring to this as "desynchronization."

Here's my first attempt at a coherent outline of how those foundations didn't hold.

1894: First documented use of thimble cups as a replacement for the common chalice. (That I know of, anyways.) Most of what we'd call "low church" denominations abandon the chalice starting around the turn of the century.

The polygenic rise of Pentecostalism. (1900-1905)

The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy, which we also missed (1920s). We didn't have any major schism or fallout then (our proto-fundamentalists left in the 1870s), but the fundamentalist separations will have consequences later.

1942: the National Association of Evangelicals is founded, and controversially incorporates Pentecostal denominations. This begins the end of fundamentalist-Pentecostalist hostilities, after which liturgical cross-pollinations becomes possible and normal.

The Liturgical Movement (dates?), which as far as fundamentalism and Pentecostalism are concerned didn't happen. (Without the underpinning theology present, most of what's left of Evangelical Episcopal liturgy and worship is swept away with this.)

1950s: the RSV is published, thoroughly supplanting the KJV - except in Pentecostal/evangelical circles, where it's rejected after hot debate. (Apparently one Assemblies of God pastor spent a lot of time defending its adoption? Interesting footnote.)

The Jesus People, emergence of neo-charismatic churches, and the development of what we now know as "Christian music" (1960s)

1967: Rome approves the vernacular the Mass. Boldfaced because it's so decisive. "Catholic Lite" only became possible because of Vatican II and don't you forget it.

The 1970s breakaway of the Anglican continuum, which removed a lot of our evangelicals again.

1976: First use of the Proposed Book of Common Prayer, formally ratified and adopted in 1979. This is a strategic Anglo-Catholic win. For the first time we officially have a calendar of saints, and weekly Eucharist becomes an expected norm.

1978: First complete publication of the NIV. From this point forward, evangelicalism largely abandons KJV-descended translations. 

The emergence of the IRD and similar political attempts to break mainline churches on confessional grounds (1980s), provoking some degree of counter-confessionalism (certainly from myself) that were probably the death knell of mainline merger pipedreams.

The "worship wars" (1970s-1990s? please help me date this better), at the end of which "contemporary service" is ubiquitous and here to stay. The ascendancy of the contemporary service marginalizes older Protestant liturgical forms. (Pentecostal churches used to publish hymnals? This was a thing? Does anybody believe me?)

As a result of these things, TEC's worship has become increasingly distinct from a majority of America's Protestantism.

This list is very incomplete. Notably, it totally fails to account for other Bible translations (the rise and fall of the NKJV, and the rise of the ESV); our several attempts to address our whiteness; the 1970s-1980s turn toward heteropatriarchy as an evangelical standard of unity (whose full repercussions have yet to be seen, but absolutely feeds an anti-Protestant sentiment that's very visible on Tumblr); and the rise of Wikipedia in 2001 (the most important thing to happen to liturgical churches so far this millennium and I will fight you if you disagree.)

But it's a start. Let me know if you see anything I missed.

[ache-of-saint-vick]

protectorateandcircuit replied to your post “+Phillips Brooks is one of those blesseds who hasn’t aged well. Partly...”

It doesn't seem to me like I would get much from reading this material, but do you think I might?

Probably not the precise stuff I've got queued. Phillips Brooks was first and foremost a pastor and preacher; he wrote lectures and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of sermons (of which there are seven anthologies in the local college library, and I suspect that isn't complete), but not really books. And I haven't read the sermons enough to pick out important Tumblrable excerpts.

But the sources I reblog them from? Possibly. At the very least I'd have someone else to sort out what the hell was in the water we were drinking in those days.

[ache-of-saint-vick]

How the Daily Office actually works

Evening Prayer: sun hasn't risen yet, there's still time

Compline: haven't fallen asleep yet, there's still time

Morning Prayer: sun hasn't set yet, there's still time

Noonday Prayer: fuuuuck

[ache-of-saint-vick]

FOR A FUN™ TIME 1. Prepare thurible and place on stable, non-combustible surface. 2. Add incense-equivalent volume of chipotle pepper. 3. Have Fun™! (NOTE: Close windows for best results.)

left on an index card in the sacristy cabinet, under a backup thurible that probably won't see use for years

[ache-of-saint-vick]

Also, related to tonight

In case of religious vocation, I am absolutely going to do something about the quality of preaching.

[ache-of-saint-vick]

Dear Episcopalians

Way back in the time of the South African divestment campaign, the church pronounced racism to be a sin.

I expect to hear something about police violence. Something more than hand-wringing condemnation, too, because we can do better than that and everybody knows it. (And on the subject, nothing about ~diversity~. Funerals are never okay to recruit at, and it’s some callous mercenary shit if we try.)

I want some hamartiology of racism. Seriously. We called racism a sin? Very well then.; let’s talk about it the way John Cassian talked about acedia. Let’s show some analysis of how racism as a sin works and what it does to people. (Especially us. We’re very white and shouldn’t pretend otherwise.)

I’m willing to help if this seems to difficult.

[ache-of-saint-vick]

As a general rule I'm pretty okay with the 1979/LFF liturgical year

but we desperately need to add both the Beheading of St. John the Baptist and the Nativity of Mary to the kalendar

[ache-of-saint-vick]

Even when I'm sober, I don't see or feel how Anglican prayer beads draw the kind ire they do.

I freely admit that they are NOT rosaries. They should never be called rosaries, because they aren't. As a devotional format it was probably inevitable, but they're no more (and much less) rosaries than the Franciscan Crown.

I also freely admit that, as a devotional format, we aren't praying or playing with it nearly as much as we ought to. Which is a shame, because it's considerably more adaptable as a technique of prayer than the rosary is, if only because the rosary's format predates the rosary itself.

But the rosary, sorry, does not NOT exist in kairos, rosary from God, rosary from light, rosary from true God, begotten, not made. By their existing the beads do not negate the existence of the rosary, with which they are not intended to compete. To the best of my knowledge they aren't even sanctioned, much less endorsed, by the ABC, so it's not as if this is digging deeper any schisms.

So I'm not getting how they draw the kind of flak they do.