IHS.

Rev'd Dr. Leander Harding ^ | 11/02/2005 | The Rev. Dr. Leander Harding

[sionnsar]

I just got back from a preaching mission at All Souls’ Parish in Oklahoma City. It is a quite wonderful, dynamic and growing Anglo-Catholic parish. They have a Saturday Mass and three Masses on Sunday with a total attendance of around 500. At the family service there were over a hundred children in the Sunday School. The Rector, Fr. Patrick Bright is completely dedicated to what he calls “the Prayer Book system.” Everything is old fashioned, straight forward, consistent, persistent parish ministry by a team of really consecrated clergy, excellent liturgy, lucid teaching in the pulpit, visiting the sick and in homes, real opportunities to get involved with both local and international outreach and a collection of the guilds and smaller groups that make a parish go. A tip of our Canterbury cap to the clergy and people of this very fine and faithful parish church.

While I was preparing to preach I noticed the altar guild laying out the vestments for the celebrant. The chasuble was laid down first and then the stole, maniple and cinture were laid out in such a way as to make the monogram for the name of Jesus, IHS. I was used to this in the Anglo-Catholic mission church were I was ordained. You see it seldom now even in churches that are Eucharist centered churches. I was struck by the powerful formative power of these simple customs. It caused me to think of the poem by George Herbert.

George Herbert (1593-1633)
Aaron

1 Holiness on the head,

2Light and perfections on the breast,
3 Harmonious bells below, raising the dead
4To lead them unto life and rest:
5 Thus are true Aarons drest.

6 Profaneness in my head,
7Defects and darkness in my breast,

8 A noise of passions ringing me for dead
9Unto a place where is no rest:
10 Poor priest, thus am I drest.

11 Only another head
12I have, another heart and breast,
13 Another music, making live, not dead,

14Without whom I could have no rest:
15 In him I am well drest.

16 Christ is my only head,
17My alone-only heart and breast,
18 My only music, striking me ev’n dead,
19That to the old man I may rest,

20 And be in him new-drest.

21 So, holy in my head,
22Perfect and light in my dear breast,
23 My doctrine tun’d by Christ (who is not dead,
24But lives in me while I do rest),
25 Come people; Aaron’s drest.

What a very salutory thing for the priest to see as he prepares to don the eucharistic vestments and what a very salutory thing for the altar guild person who sets out the vestments. There is a kind of contemplation that comes from the handling of holy things. It takes time to make this monogram of the vestments and to get it right so that it can be read easily. Spending the time to do this work is an act of contemplation and devotion and the devotion and contemplation are contagious to anyone who gazes upon this carefull and reverent arrangement. Makes you stop and think. Makes you remember. Makes you do something concrete to honor the name. What a great shame when we downplay or grow neglectful of these folkways of devotion that our forebears have left us. Thanks be to God that this Altar Guild is still careful to make the sign of that name which is above all names.

[caryatid]

Everything is old fashioned, straight forward, consistent, persistent parish ministry by a team of really consecrated clergy, excellent liturgy, lucid teaching in the pulpit, visiting the sick and in homes, real opportunities to get involved with both local and international outreach and a collection of the guilds and smaller groups that make a parish go.

The mainline denominations continue to lose members ... could it be that, by abandoning everything traditional and turning to secular humanism [at best], they have lost what church is supposed to mean?

[sionnsar]

Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this moderately high-volume ping list (typically 3-9 pings/day).
This list is pinged by sionnsar, Huber and newheart.

Resource for Traditional Anglicans: http://trad-anglican.faithweb.com

Humor: The Anglican Blue (by Huber)

Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15

[LibreOuMort]

Here is a link to a site that tells how to lay out vestments in various ways.

http://www.gssonline.org.uk/forum_vestment_layout.htm

[Agrarian]

I believe that I visited this parish in OKC many years ago during my travels during my Anglican days. It seemed like a pretty healthy place.

In general, traditional parishes are not bursting at the seams, whether in the Anglican or Catholic world. Within Orthodoxy also, those "traditionalist" parishes don't usually grow very well either. The idea that if one is modernist that the church will shrink and that if it is traditionalist it will grow has not really proven to be true "on the ground." Continuing Anglicans were beginning to realize this by the mid 80s.

I think the key is whether a parish is concentrating on being "traditional" or whether they are concentrating on being Christian. Many "traditional" parishes are more concerned about what they are not than about what they are.

The parish discussed in this article seems to be successful because they are concentrating on being Christian (which should include being faithful to all aspects of one's tradition, including liturgics, dogma, and morals.)

Parishes with the vibrant combination of tradition and true Christian love nearly always grow, both in numbers and in spiritual maturity.