Lord Jonathan Sumption (BBC)The Invention of Rights would be a tempting if extreme subtitle to add to the third of the recent Reith Lectures given by Lord Sumption. It is tempting because he makes clear that just such an activity has cone to define the work of one of the most influential courts in the field of human rights, namely that of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. This Court, established by international Treaty interprets the European Convention on Human Rights … [Read more...]
PBS News & Events
Our most recent major events have been our two Annual Conferences in February 2017 on
Anglicanism Catholic and Reformed 1517-2017, Revisiting the Reformation Legacy
and in January 2018 on
The Prayer Book, Doctrine Liturgy and Life
Both held at St. John's Episcopal Church Savannah,
In addition, we have continued our occasional series of one conferences and colloquia
With the most recent being on Apologetics, Science and Faith at the Church of St Francis Potomac near Washington DC. on 10th February, 2018
see also http://www.pbsusa.org/2017/05/22/science-and-faith-at-the-pbs-conference-and-two-panel-discussions/#read
Earlier colloquia included:
One in Dallas at the Church of the Incarnation, on the proposed "Comprehensive Revision" of the liturgy of the Episcopal Church of which there is an initial report in the current Advent 2017 Edition of the Anglican Way.
Board Members have also attended the Nashotah House Conference on the future of Anglicanism as well as the Theology Conference in November at the Church of the Advent, Boston.
Board members also been active overseas:
--as contributing participants in the recent Pusey House Conference in Oxford on Knowing and Loving the Triune God.
--Fr Edward Rix also visited Tanzania and spoke at the invitation of the Bishop of Western Tanganyika, to several thousand at a Youth Conference in Kasulu of which a full report is in the Advent 2017 edition of the Anglican Way
We have also launched further chapters of our volume for Catechesis by Society President Gavin Dunbar, I am His.
These chapters can be accessed via the links below
(and also our pbsusa.org website http://www.pbsusa.org/catechesis-project ) and we welcome feedback which can be taken into account in future editions of this work.
I am His Chapters now available :
I am His - Table of Contents & Introduction
I am His Part 1 - A Place To Belong
Grounding the normative in the State: Part 1: Law’s expanding empire and human rights – notes on the 2019 Reith Lectures
(Image above: The Bench by William Hogarth, Public Domain) The rise of what is often called "judicial activism" in the United States is part of a much wider phenomenon in which the roles of democratic legislatures and lawmakers have come, increasingly, to be circumscribed by the Courts, which often perform this role citing a seemingly ever expanding domain of human rights in justification. The recent series of lectures by a distinguished British Appellate Judge and Law Lord, Jonathan … [Read more...]
Two Interesting Resolutions from ACC ‘17 in Hong Kong
Two Interesting Resolutions from ACC ‘17 The Anglican Consultative Council Meeting in Hong Kong As yet the full list of resolutions in their final form as actually passed at the meeting of recent days in Hong Kong has yet to emerge. However, two of the resolutions passed at an earlier stage are in their final form and are set out below.In each case it is arguable that they could have wide ranging implications for the Communion and the place of the ACC within it and as … [Read more...]
Lent and Easter — Letter from the President
What does it mean to be Christian in the Anglican tradition? What does it mean for Anglican unity and mission? Amid confusion and discord about those questions today, the witness of classical Anglicanism, embodied in the Prayer Book, Articles of Religion, and classical divines like Richard Hooker, remains at the core of any answer. That’s why, as we draw near to Easter, and to the season of renewal and regeneration, we are pleased to announce the Prayer Book Society’s next theological … [Read more...]
The Way of the Cross & the Way of Salvation
Image above by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay Words from the Gospel of John 19: 16 – 17 So they took Jesus, and he went out,bearing his own cross, to the place called “The Place of a Skull”,which in Aramaic is called Golgotha A Sermon 19thApril 2019 AMR In the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost….. AMEN Having just heard in the uniquely striking way (that happens only on Good Friday) the Passion narrative of St John’s Gospel -- we should perhaps remind ourselves just how distinctive St … [Read more...]
The origins of Anglicanism – about so much more than a divorce…
A short reflection suggesting the need to widen and reframe the historical context and not reduce it merely to a desire for an annulment which Henry had every reason to suppose would in fact be granted The current Pope has stated that “most Catholic marriages are invalid”[1]an observation which, not unreasonably, has attracted a degree of attention. Whatever is to be made of the implications for the current state of the Roman Catholic church, his comment can help us … [Read more...]
Thomas Cranmer, His Life and Martyrdom (21st March, 1556)
In the week when we recalled the anniversary of Cranmer's execution, it is fitting to cite a short biography (as set out in the celebrated 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1910-11) THOMAS CRANMER (1489-1556) Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, born at Aslacton or Aslockton in Nottinghamshire on the 2nd of July 1489, was the second son of Thomas Cranmer and of his wife Anne Hatfield. He received his early education, according to Morice his secretary, from “a … [Read more...]
An Address of 1845 to the Bishop White Prayer Book Society
An Address to the Bishop White Prayer Book Society (of 1845) by Joseph Reed IngersollIntroduced and transcribed by Richard J. Mammana The Bishop White Prayer Book Society (BWPBS) is one of the few survivors of the multitude of local American organizations formed in the nineteenth century to promote distribution of the Book of Common Prayer. Based in Philadelphia, and affiliated closely with the Diocese of Pennsylvania, the BWPBS was established in the year 1834 “with the view … [Read more...]
Jesus in the Synagogue at Nazareth – A Sermon in the Season of Epiphany
The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Sermon Notes: Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff For an audio version: https://www.theadventboston.org/sermon-by-fr-macdonald-radcliff-january-27-2019/ In the name of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost…. AMEN The joy of the Lord is your strength (from the Book of Nehemiah from the First Lesson The full texts are appended) I can but be mindful today that we are in this Mass, on the recovery side so to speak, of the Annual Parish meeting. I am … [Read more...]
The Centenary of the Armistice ending The First World War, A Sermon Preached upon Remembrance Sunday
The Grosvenor Chapel Mayfair REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY 11th November 2018 Commemoration of the Centenary of the Armistice ending the Great WarRequiem (Setting by Gabriel Fauré) With Choir and Orchestra Directed by Richard Hobson The Service opened with the gathering in silence of the Congregation and the entry in procession of the Sacred Ministers and the laying of a wreath of Flanders Poppies to the recitation of the traditional words of Lawrence Binyon taken from his poem For the Fallen. … [Read more...]
Papal toe kissing and the Chinese kowtow…
(European emissaries kowtow before the Chinese Emperor c. 1800) Has Pope Francis too rashly kissed the proffered toe of President Xi Jinping ? When it comes to extravagant postural gestures from those seeking to treat with them, the Papacy and the Imperial Chinese Court have long histories replete with a perhaps surprising degree of symmetry.Chinese Emperors were honoured with the kowtow (kau tauin Cantonese or koutouin Mandarin) which was a form of prostration in which … [Read more...]
On the Three Legged Stool of the Anglican Via Media
The Anglican Via Media upholding a real Anglican continuity from Richard Hooker to Charles Gore and beyond…. A.M-RIt is striking that Richard Hooker is so often spoken of by Anglicans even though there is often a want of attention to what exactly he actually said. The one thing almost always attributed to him illustrates this point: namely the image of Anglicanism’s “three legged stool” whereby Anglicanism is deemed to rest upon Scripture, Tradition and Reason. Charming as the image of … [Read more...]
The under reported story of militant Fulani attacks on Christians in Nigeria
Since 2001, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies has estimated that up to 60,000 Nigerian have been killed in violence between Fulani herdsmen and farmers.According to statistics provided by the Institute for Economics and Peace, 1,229 people were killed in 2014, up from 63 in 2013 and Benue State seems to be the hardest hit in recent times. Barely five days to the end of Governor Gabriel Suswam’s administration in May 2015, over 100 farmers and their family members were … [Read more...]
A Labor Day divertissement…. the ecclesial feline phenomenon
Felix in fide An ecclesial feline, review….. (Far from obscure Jude of St John's Savannah with Fr. Dunbar) The subject and domain of the cat is dangerous, even though it be a common one in the life of churches. In large part this is consequent upon the very strong but deeply divergent views that the cat can arouse. Moreover, as Lynne Truss once pointed out (the sometime literary Editor of the BBC’s now defunct journal The Listener), in an article in The Guardianof London (7thDecember, … [Read more...]
Three Key Resolutions of the 2018 General Convention in Austin
Among the plethora of resolutions passed at the Convention, the following three stand out as being of particular note:A068 Plan for the Revision of the Book of Common Prayer which, despite its title, actually does NOT initiate a comprehensive revision but instead provides for the development of more alternative and trial liturgies.B012 Marriage Rites for the Whole Church, which extends the authorization of "continued trial use" of the liturgies for same-sex unions and that they be … [Read more...]
Two Statements Issued before and after the TEC General Convention: from Communion Partners and Province IX Bishops
The first of the two statements made in regard to provisions for same-sex partnerships and the relation of these to the Anglican Communion was issued by the Communion Partners of the Episcopal Church following the 79th General Convention, meeting in Austin, TX, The second Statement below was issued earlier by the Province IX Bishops and in it they draw attention to their resolve to walk apart if need be in order to uphold their fidelity Scripture. (At the very end below will also be found the … [Read more...]
Options for Prayer Book Revision put forward by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to the General Convention
In response to the mandate from the previous General Convention to prepare a plan for the “Comprehensive Revision of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer , the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (SCLM) first identified four options:(1) initiating the process of full Prayer Book revision at the 79th General Convention;(2) spending the upcoming triennium (2019-21) gathering and analyzing data so that the 80th General Convention could make an informed decision in 2021 regarding … [Read more...]
Dr Samuel Bray on one example of the perils of Liturgical Revision
The following is but a summary of a most commendable and thorough article exploring the dangers of revising a classic text (in this case the General Confession of the BCP dating back to 1552) by Professor Samuel L. Bray of UCLA and Notre Dame schools of Law.For the full text of the article go tohttp://northamanglican.com/and-apart-from-your-grace-there-is-no-health-in-us/ “AND (APART FROM YOUR GRACE) THERE IS NO HEALTH IN US” WEIGHING THE MERITS OF A LITURGICAL … [Read more...]
From Brexit to Nixit – and the deeper crisis beyond
A Letter from London..... (On a different note, it is hard to be in Europe at present and not see signs of a very wide crisis across issues that range from survival of the currency, to political legitimacy and on to immigration) Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff There was a curious period known as the “phoney war” of eight months after Britain declared hostilities on Germany in September 1939 when nothing much appeared to be happening. Something faintly similar, if happily less … [Read more...]
A Letter from Bishop Mark Lawrence after the Supreme Court Decision Re: South Carolina
Feast of St. Basil June 14, 2018 Dear People of God,“Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:7I leave tomorrow for the Global Anglicans Future Conference in Jerusalem. It is a gathering of global leaders—Primates, Bishops, Priests and lay leaders—from around the Anglican Communion. I will be attending not only as a bishop of the Anglican Church in North America, but, more importantly, … [Read more...]
Elephants and Anglicans to the Sound of Church Bells – The Toon Memorial Lecture 2018
So, oft in theologic wars The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an Elephant Not one of them has seen!.... So concluded this year's Toon Memorial Lecture in Pusey House Oxford given on the 17th of May 2018 under the title Elephants and Anglicans to the sound of Church Bells: Just how central is the place of the Prayer Book for Anglicans and the future of the Communion? By The Revd. Canon Alistair … [Read more...]
St George’s Chapel Windsor
There is no one place more deeply connected to the monarchy in Britain, aside from Westminster Abbey, than Windsor Castle and the Chapel of St. George.Just how much of that history weighed upon Meghan Markel as she then was during her recent wedding to HRH Prince Harry now Duke of Sussex is unclear, but it could hardly be more profound.Kings Henry VIII and Charles I are buried beneath the Quire and elsewhere lieEdwards IV (1483), VI (1484) and VII (1910);George III (1820), … [Read more...]
Elephants and Anglicans to the Sound of Church Bells, The Toon Memorial Lecture 2018
Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff will give the Peter Toon Memorial Lecture for 2018 under the title: Elephants and Anglicans to the Sound of Church Bells: Just how central is the place of the Prayer Book for Anglicans and the Future of the Communion? at Pusey House, Oxford, on Thursday 17th May at 5.30 pm. The lecture will be preceded by Evensong at 4 pm and Afternoon Tea. http://www.puseyhouse.org.uk … [Read more...]
Snarks, Boojums and the Quest for the Anglican Way
Canon Macdonald-Radcliff will be exploring the challenges and importance of identifying what Anglicanism comprises and the role of the Prayer Book within this, both as a matter of history and as a source of what defines the tradition.Sunday 22nd April 6.30 p.m - 8 p.m.The address will be at the Church of the Advent in Boston (30 Brimmer St, Boston, MA 02108) and will be followed by discussion.It will be preceded by a light supper after Choral Evensong,which takes place at 5 p.m. and … [Read more...]
After the God Science & Humanity Conference
(Above - left to right- Canon Alistair Macdonald-Radcliff, Dr. William Phillips, Fr. Mark Michaels, Dr. Paul Julienne, Mr. Daniel Dorman) This conference in Potomac was a great success and we wish to thank Fr Mark Michael, the Vestry and members of the Congregation of St Francis for so kindly hosting us, and even adding a full choral Evensong at the end of the Conference!Gratitude is also extended to the many who attended and to our speakers in particular, to Dr. William … [Read more...]