William White 1748-1836
The Rt Rev William White c. 1830 Although Episcopalians tend to attribute a great deal to Samuel Seabury, his only real significance is that he was the first man whose election and consecration as a bishop for the Church in North America can be verified. There are strong rumours of a couple of Non-Juror bishops in the American colonies in the mid-1700s, but it must be stressed that they are rumours. However, Seabury was not the organizational genius behind the Protestant Ep
47 minutes ago5 min read
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The American Prayer Book
The title page of the 1785/6 Revision of the BCP The main reason that there is an American edition of the Book of Common Prayer is the revolution of 250 years ago. The 1662 BCP contained prayers for the King at each of the regular services - Morning Prayer, Litany, Holy Communion, and Evening Prayer - and these prayers were commonly amended on the fly between 1776 and 1783 in Patriot leaning congregations. Some parishes have preserved 1662 BCPs with these ad hoc changes wri
Jun 154 min read
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"Rogation" Sunday
Beating the Bounds - 1950s The Fifth Sunday after Easter is referred to by the subtitle 'Rogation Sunday' in the American 1928 Prayer Book as it is the Sunday before the three lesser Rogation days which are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. The fact that they were once called the 'lesser' Rogation Days implies that there were major Rogation Days, and these were associate with St Mark's Day in April. This year, the two are closer together than normal t
May 82 min read
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Risen with Christ...
Unlike so many clergy, I did not grow up in the Church as such. Christianity was kindly regarded by my family, but church-going was not on the regular schedule. My early perceptions of Christian worship were school assemblies (I grew up in the UK) and what was seen and heard via the TV or the radio. As a child I found the religious side of Christmas nice, but a bit irrelevant. It was only when the full impact of St John's words, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
Apr 303 min read
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