Yes, Declarations of faith do change. When being pressed by one or two folk last year to support the ill-fated Franklin Graham crusade, I looked up their. I was surprised to find two sections which I'm sure his dad would never have included: one which begins, "We believe God’s plan for human sexuality is to be expressed only within the context of marriage, that God created man and woman as unique biological persons made to complete each other ..." (this is in fact the longest section in the whole Declaration); and another that starts, "We believe that human life is sacred from conception to its natural end ...". Clearly these reflect a particular American Fundamentalist agenda and would not be accepted in toto (or even in part) by quite a number of Christians.
It is a long time since Church of England vicars had to declare belief in every word of the 39 Articles. The Declaration of Assent now is
… Led by the Holy Spirit, [the Church of England] has borne witness to Christian truth in its historic formularies, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. In the declaration you are about to make, will you affirm your loyalty to this inheritance of faith as your inspiration and guidance under God in bringing the grace and truth of Christ to this generation and making Him known to those in your care?
I, A B, do so affirm, and accordingly declare my belief in the faith which is revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds and to which the historic formularies of the Church of England bear witness…
Ah yes, a solemn affirmation with so much wriggle room you could ride an overweight rhinoceros through it without touching the sides.
Yes, Declarations of faith do change. When being pressed by one or two folk last year to support the ill-fated Franklin Graham crusade, I looked up their. I was surprised to find two sections which I'm sure his dad would never have included: one which begins, "We believe God’s plan for human sexuality is to be expressed only within the context of marriage, that God created man and woman as unique biological persons made to complete each other ..." (this is in fact the longest section in the whole Declaration); and another that starts, "We believe that human life is sacred from conception to its natural end ...". Clearly these reflect a particular American Fundamentalist agenda and would not be accepted in toto (or even in part) by quite a number of Christians.
Interesting, I was reading the Great Litany found in the new Prayer Book of ANIC (Anglican Network of America) and they included this line:
"To protect the unborn and their parents, and to preserve all women in childbirth;
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord." (http://bcp2019.anglicanchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/12-Great-Litany.docx)
I can't help but wonder if it reflects ANIC taking explicitly an anti-abortion stance in contrast to the prochoice position of TEC.
Ah, an Elder Ephraim church. Say no more. He's a rather controversial guy in American Orthodoxy to say the very least. Some think he's a saint and some think he's a heresiarch. Came straight from Athos and thinks the entire world should work the same way. From what I could find keeping catecumens in the narthex is an ancient tradition of the church, and one that apparently has not gone away on the Mountain, which still flies the flag of the Byzantine Empire, ikyn. I'm sorry your experience of Orthodoxy was at one of his churches.
I've had other experiences at Orthodox churches too, some pleasant, some not so much. On balance I'm not turned on by Orthodox worship style -- too much happens behind closed doors and drawn curtains -- but I will say that those churches that I've found welcoming were very much so.
Yes, I have referred to that. Local examples include the Orthodox churches at Kingsford and Kensington in NSW - at both of which we, as wedding guests, were required to stay in the narthex - and Kingston ACT. There's an Orthodox church at a nearby suburb*, but we've not ventured into it. We were not permitted beyond the narthex at the Cathedral in Athens. BTW, in using Orthodox I mean Greek Orthodox, and the exclusion was only during the service.
*It's one of the 2 Orthodox churches north of the Harbour.
While worshipping at a Strict and Particular Baptist Church in an East Anglian town I was asked to step into the porch during the Lords Supper.
So
We all joined in together for the evening service. Then I left for the porch. Door closed. Locked. Curtain pulled across inside. Never worked out exactly why the door was locked though?
Tbh I would have preferred to have been allowed to be in one of the back rooms, but no.
Fast forward half an hour, I was invited back in and very often given the Lords Table flowers to take home, which was really very kind.
It was an odd feeling
But they were a lovely bunch and I remained worshipping with them until college ended and I moved away.
That experience certainly gave me an insight into one approach to holy communion....
I went to a wedding in the Greek Orthodox church in Liverpool. They had got a bishop up from London. The brides family were flown in en masse from Cyprus. It was a massive "do."
We were allowed right in. The people outside were all the Cypriot men who were smoking mightily!
I went to a wedding in the Greek Orthodox church in Liverpool. They had got a bishop up from London. The brides family were flown in en masse from Cyprus. It was a massive "do."
We were allowed right in. The people outside were all the Cypriot men who were smoking mightily!
A few years ago as a colleague was planning his wedding, chat at lunchtime came round to how many people were at weddings. Another colleague, a Greek-Cypriot told us her first wedding was a small affair, only about 3000 guests! She and her husband were from neighbouring villages, so the guests were both extended families, friends from university, everyone from both villages, and close family of people from both villages. They were only small villages, and the guests didn't extend to the extended families of everyone in the villages otherwise it would be a bigger wedding.
Probably a few bemused tourists caught up in the celebrations too.
[/Tangent]
Our wedding wasn't quite so large, but much the same--two congregations full of people (Vietnamese and ... not), a whole university faculty, the complete roster of Vietnamese pastors in California, plus the complete roster of Vietnamese pastors who-knew-Mr. Lamb's-pastor-father-in-Vietnam-and-were-now-in-the-States, and so forth. Plus friends and family.
Only 300 actually attended, but I think there were several other weddings the same day, so that might be why...
Oh, and we still have fun trying to identify the guy in Bermuda shorts who got caught up in ours. We have photos of him circulating, and nobody knows...
I went to a wedding in the Greek Orthodox church in Liverpool. They had got a bishop up from London. The brides family were flown in en masse from Cyprus. It was a massive "do."
We were allowed right in. The people outside were all the Cypriot men who were smoking mightily!
A few years ago as a colleague was planning his wedding, chat at lunchtime came round to how many people were at weddings. Another colleague, a Greek-Cypriot told us her first wedding was a small affair, only about 3000 guests! She and her husband were from neighbouring villages, so the guests were both extended families, friends from university, everyone from both villages, and close family of people from both villages. They were only small villages, and the guests didn't extend to the extended families of everyone in the villages otherwise it would be a bigger wedding.
Probably a few bemused tourists caught up in the celebrations too.
[/Tangent]
It puts the amount of water-turned-to-wine st the wedding at Cana into perspective.
Oh, and we still have fun trying to identify the guy in Bermuda shorts who got caught up in ours. We have photos of him circulating, and nobody knows...
My wedding was pretty small, and there's still some random guy in a suit in the photos. At one point, Mrs C and I looked at each other and said "I thought he was one of your uncles. Still no idea who he was, or whether he was just passing...
I know I've told this story before, but I love it.
Back in New York, I had a certain acquaintance who made a hobby of crashing weddings, parties, black tie events, etc.
At one such party he crashed, there was in attendance Arthur Bell, who was at that time the film critic for the Village Voice newspaper. Arthur Bell was a bit, erm, flamboyant ("obvious," my mother would have said).
Anyway, Bell spotted my acquaintance and walked up to him saying, "Are you SOMEBODY?"
My acquaintance, of course, quoted Emily Dickinson in reply:
I'm nobody --who are you?
Are you nobody too?
Then there's a pair of us? Don't tell --
They'd advertise, you know!
A work colleague of mine long ago (late 1960s) during his training was sent to a meeting in another town. In those days the train service was not that frequent. He had quite a gap after the meeting until his train back. He had an imposing presence, was wearing a suit and was a bit of ecclesiastical in his interests.
He saw a funeral going into church. So he followed it in and attended the service. Unsurprisingly, nobody recognised him but they all assumed he was a relative from the other side of the family, somebody the deceased had known from a different part of his or her life or whatever.
At the end of the service he was invited back to the tea. He was hungry and it was fairly near and convenient for the station. He accepted. From a position of total ignorance he made polite conversation of the 'he will be sorely missed' variety. He got away with it, and in due course took his leave, went back to the station and caught his train.
A few years ago I was in Rome for an important religious event. One late afternoon I was passing the main Jesuit church (Il Gesu) and went in to participate in the Lord's Supper which was being celebrated along with the ordination of two young Jesuits to the ministerial presbyterate.
After the ordination there was a general invitation to the friends of the new priests to come to a reception in the courtyard at the side of the church. There was an absolutely wonderful Italian buffet with splendid drinks and I enjoyed an hour or so of pleasant chat and didn't have to buy a meal in the evening. There must have been about 200 people present.
He saw a funeral going into church. So he followed it in and attended the service.
There's the old urban legend, possibly apocryphal, of an elderly lady in New York, wheelchair bound, whose caregiver took her out for her daily constitutional. They passed a funeral home, and the elderly lady, out of respect, asked to be taken in. No other mourners were there. So the elderly lady signed the guest book and, after a respectable interview, was taken out again and back home.
A week or two passed, and the elderly lady received a letter from a law firm advising her that [name], who was apparently not much loved, had willed that whoever attended his funeral would inherit his entire estate. Since the elderly lady had been the only attendee, and had signed the guest book, guess what?
Comments
Ah yes, a solemn affirmation with so much wriggle room you could ride an overweight rhinoceros through it without touching the sides.
I have.
Interesting, I was reading the Great Litany found in the new Prayer Book of ANIC (Anglican Network of America) and they included this line:
"To protect the unborn and their parents, and to preserve all women in childbirth;
We beseech you to hear us, good Lord." (http://bcp2019.anglicanchurch.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/12-Great-Litany.docx)
I can't help but wonder if it reflects ANIC taking explicitly an anti-abortion stance in contrast to the prochoice position of TEC.
Ah, an Elder Ephraim church. Say no more. He's a rather controversial guy in American Orthodoxy to say the very least. Some think he's a saint and some think he's a heresiarch. Came straight from Athos and thinks the entire world should work the same way. From what I could find keeping catecumens in the narthex is an ancient tradition of the church, and one that apparently has not gone away on the Mountain, which still flies the flag of the Byzantine Empire, ikyn. I'm sorry your experience of Orthodoxy was at one of his churches.
Yes, I have referred to that. Local examples include the Orthodox churches at Kingsford and Kensington in NSW - at both of which we, as wedding guests, were required to stay in the narthex - and Kingston ACT. There's an Orthodox church at a nearby suburb*, but we've not ventured into it. We were not permitted beyond the narthex at the Cathedral in Athens. BTW, in using Orthodox I mean Greek Orthodox, and the exclusion was only during the service.
*It's one of the 2 Orthodox churches north of the Harbour.
So
We all joined in together for the evening service. Then I left for the porch. Door closed. Locked. Curtain pulled across inside. Never worked out exactly why the door was locked though?
Tbh I would have preferred to have been allowed to be in one of the back rooms, but no.
Fast forward half an hour, I was invited back in and very often given the Lords Table flowers to take home, which was really very kind.
It was an odd feeling
But they were a lovely bunch and I remained worshipping with them until college ended and I moved away.
That experience certainly gave me an insight into one approach to holy communion....
We were allowed right in. The people outside were all the Cypriot men who were smoking mightily!
Probably a few bemused tourists caught up in the celebrations too.
[/Tangent]
Only 300 actually attended, but I think there were several other weddings the same day, so that might be why...
Oh, and we still have fun trying to identify the guy in Bermuda shorts who got caught up in ours. We have photos of him circulating, and nobody knows...
My wedding was pretty small, and there's still some random guy in a suit in the photos. At one point, Mrs C and I looked at each other and said "I thought he was one of your uncles. Still no idea who he was, or whether he was just passing...
Reminds me of the curious tale of Victoria Coren and Alan Coren's and Sir William Ormerod's memorial services.
Back in New York, I had a certain acquaintance who made a hobby of crashing weddings, parties, black tie events, etc.
At one such party he crashed, there was in attendance Arthur Bell, who was at that time the film critic for the Village Voice newspaper. Arthur Bell was a bit, erm, flamboyant ("obvious," my mother would have said).
Anyway, Bell spotted my acquaintance and walked up to him saying, "Are you SOMEBODY?"
My acquaintance, of course, quoted Emily Dickinson in reply:
He saw a funeral going into church. So he followed it in and attended the service. Unsurprisingly, nobody recognised him but they all assumed he was a relative from the other side of the family, somebody the deceased had known from a different part of his or her life or whatever.
At the end of the service he was invited back to the tea. He was hungry and it was fairly near and convenient for the station. He accepted. From a position of total ignorance he made polite conversation of the 'he will be sorely missed' variety. He got away with it, and in due course took his leave, went back to the station and caught his train.
After the ordination there was a general invitation to the friends of the new priests to come to a reception in the courtyard at the side of the church. There was an absolutely wonderful Italian buffet with splendid drinks and I enjoyed an hour or so of pleasant chat and didn't have to buy a meal in the evening. There must have been about 200 people present.
There's the old urban legend, possibly apocryphal, of an elderly lady in New York, wheelchair bound, whose caregiver took her out for her daily constitutional. They passed a funeral home, and the elderly lady, out of respect, asked to be taken in. No other mourners were there. So the elderly lady signed the guest book and, after a respectable interview, was taken out again and back home.
A week or two passed, and the elderly lady received a letter from a law firm advising her that [name], who was apparently not much loved, had willed that whoever attended his funeral would inherit his entire estate. Since the elderly lady had been the only attendee, and had signed the guest book, guess what?