Cool Furnishings at Holy Trinity Cambridge

Q: Why is this one of the most historically important cabinets for evangelical Anglicanism?

A: Because of this -

So, while I'll never be able to say that I've preached from Simeon's pulpit, I can at least say that I've left my wallet and keys on it while I was playing music with the Holy Trinity band.


Another cool, historical piece from HT is the communion cup.

Notice the date it was made? 1569!

I've just finished some work looking into what Anglicans believed about the Lord's Supper during the early Elizabethan years so it's pretty cool that my church has a chalice from those days.

Cambridge has been a great place to live, study and share fellowship for tons of reasons. These are just two of the minor notes that have added to it.

Geology and Church Visit - St Michael the Archangel, Lyme Regis

Apart from being a great little historic seaside town, one of the big attractions of Lyme Regis on Dorset's Jurassic Coast is its abundance of fossils. It seems that there are more ammonites than anything else, but there have been some other pretty exciting finds here too. (Being an ex-geologist, I maintain a bit of an interest in rocks, minerals, crystals, earth-history, etc. Bragging point: in my third or fourth year at uni I won the prize for best in mineralogy and crystallography! Anyhoo... )

Mary Anning is famous in Lyme Regis' history as one of its paleontological pioneers. And while the town now recognises her in lots of ways - eg. street name, museum in her house - in her day, she struggled to share her scientific work because women were not afforded the same recognition in the sciences as men. Sad as this is, I was encouraged by something else, which is the fact that she's buried along with her brother in the town's churchyard. I don't want to over-interpret this, but it seems to me that this is another good, historical example of a passionate scientist resting peacefully with the faith of the church. (Or maybe even a passionate believer resting peacefully with the scientific enterprise.)

It is so painfully tedious - eye-rollingly, yawn-inducingly boring really - when some people try to force a stark polarisation between those who 'believe science' and those who 'are religious'. Plenty has been written about this clumsy, false dichotomy and I can't be bothered getting into it here. Suffice to say that those who characterise different perspectives on the world that way can only be regarded as having a superficial understanding of both science and Christianity. But for me, seeing Mary Anning's grave, in such a picturesque setting as it is, just nicely illustrated again that there is no jarring contradiction within those who love Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and who also love exploring the natural world that he created.

From page 183 of Browne's commentary on the Anglican Articles of Religion:

"in asserting the sufficiency of Scripture, we assert it for the end to which it was designed. … we do not assert it as fit to teach us arts and sciences … where it does not profess to be a perfect guide, we derogate not from its authority in seeking other help."

Church Visit - St Edward King and Martyr

Last week a few of us visited the Cambridge church where Hugh Latimer held the pulpit - and sometimes shared it with Cranmer. The attendant there was even good enough to allow us to step up and get the feel of it for a moment.

One thing that was interesting was the attendant's strong Protestant beliefs. Despite the fact that I had heard that this church now sat some way away from the convictions of the Reformation, the attendant was actually grieving even the fact that the stained glass had been replaced in the 1800s as it shifted the focus from the preaching of the Bible and onto the ornamentation of the building. He wanted nothing but the unmodified gospel to be communicated in this building.

May Latimer's brave legacy long continue here.

Church Visit - Ely Cathedral

One of the things that the English reformers were famous for was iconoclasm - destroying the 'superstitious' symbols of ritualised worship as part of their efforts to refocus the church on the gospel as it's revealed in the written words of Scripture. One participant in this tear-it-down movement was Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely from 1534 and right through Edward VI's reign.

Goodrich was responsible for gutting the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary that sits to the north of the main structure of Ely Cathedral. This was a relatively unsurprising move, given that 'Mary worship' was part of the old Roman Catholic religion that the Reformation Protestants most definitely wanted to expunge. But today it makes for a stark contrast to enter the Chapel and find something reminiscent of a disused church hall with nothing but plain glass all the way around after having just stepped out of the unbelievably ornate Cathedral proper with its countless ornaments, carvings and intricate stained glass windows.

But then, similarly incongruous within this bare chapel, there is a lone statue of the BVM standing proud against the wall, looking down on the room with arms held up high - praising God? receiving praise? I didn't find out for sure, but it must be that this was returned to the Chapel during a period of restoration (one of which was as recent as the year 2000). Whenever it was put there, it's pretty certain that it wouldn't have sat well with the plans that Goodrich had for Christian worship during Edward's time. Leaving nothing but Mary to focus on would have cut strongly against the grain.

That said, however, Goodrich did manage to find a comfortable place under Mary Tudor, who returned the Church of England back to Rome. And he did leave the rest of the Cathedral intact. I don't really know all that much about him, but think it would be interesting to learn more of Goodrich's views on gathered worship and how they changed over time.

From a theological perspective, I can plainly see the point in getting rid of the images. But also, coming at the Cathedral culturally, artistically and architecturally, I have to say that I appreciate a lot of what was left. It captures a lot of history that the Chapel doesn't and, frankly, it's pretty stunning to look at. I guess the question is how to preserve the buildings and their heritage without risking any confusion about how God mediates his grace to us.

BCP Talk

This year marks the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. On Reformation day - 28th October - I gave a short, popular-level talk at St James' Old Cathedral on the enduring value of the BCP and some of the issues that Anglicans are facing as we continue to use it.

A full transcript of the talk is on line here.

Risen Anglicans

One of my interests is the degree to which the Anglican Church presents a biblical balance of the doctrines of atonement and eschatology, or, of Jesus' cross and his resurrection. Generally speaking, it seems that evangelical Anglican churches are far more focussed on atonement and consequently, it's not unusual for them to marginalise eschatology.

(The main exception to this is when they're offering an apologetic for the resurrection; most evangelical Anglicans are absolutely insistent about the fact that Jesus really rose from the dead. But this vigour in arguing for the fact of Jesus' resurrection is rarely matched by a depth of explanation about what Jesus' resurrection means. So, on Good Friday, you might well go into an evangelical Anglican church and hear all about how Jesus died on the cross for our sins - fantastic - but then when you go back on Easter Day, you might not hear so much about why he rose, apart from that being a necessary vindication of his cross.)

Anyhoo, on the weekend, I was at an evangelical Anglican church for a wedding (which was great!) and instead of having a cross in their chancel, they had this this.

I have no idea about who put those words there or when or what the flavour of the church was at the time, but this focus on Jesus' resurrection and ascension is great! Being evangelical, I presume the church gets a good dose of atonement theology in the preaching. I would love to know how much the words on the wall represent the members' self-understanding as the risen people of God. That is, after all, one of the most profound things that they are as Christian believers.

(Seasonally relevant liturgical note: Anglicans often use advent to focus on the parousia as well as the incarnation as the first coming points to the second.)

Church visits - St James x2

It was great to be part of the morning services at St James' Pakenham on the Sunday before last. (It would have been great to have been able to stick around for their evening service too as there were a number of people being confirmed and received - basically, standing up to say they want to follow Jesus and have chosen this church to do that.) I was really encouraged by the bravery and boldness of the congregations I visited. People there told me that some years ago, they had been meeting in a nice old stone church building, however, when they faced the (excellent) problem of being too full, they agreed to say goodbye to their spiritual home and move to a new, bigger facility. This sort of thing can be quite a big deal for lots of people. While the new building is really great, it no doubt has a strikingly different aesthetic to the last one.

To be honest, in my conversations it sounded like it had been a bit of a hard slog getting resettled. But still, the overall mood was positive and future facing. There was real enthusiasm around the new minister and his wife who are a great couple that I think could do a lot to positively shape the church. So again, good on this church for taking a step into something new and looking forward to what God might do next.

It turns out that there's actually a good number of well-led Anglican churches out in that part of Melbourne now - Berwick, Pearcedale-Langwarren, Officer, others... ? If the congregations in those have the same boldness as the Pakenham mob, this could be a really exciting part of the Diocese to watch in the years ahead.

Yesterday I went to another St James' - Melbourne's old cathedral. This has a somewhat different story: their building was slated for demolition years and years ago (early 1900s??) but ended up being preserved and, after having been relocated to a new site brick-by-brick, these days has a newly growing congregation. Here, unlike Pakenham, the old aesthetic has been retained for a group of people who like a more traditional style of church. But like Pakenham, the recent growth has again been, under God's providence, largely due to the young minister who's been really well-matched to the congregation. I'm reminded again of the importance of putting square pegs in square holes.

Now, where's another St James' I can check out?

Coat of arms hung in the sanctuary at St James' Old Cathedral.

It's the diocesan arms impaled with arms that seem to have some

connection to the English monarchy. Anyone?

Church Visit - St Mary's South Camberwell

I'm pinch-hitting for a couple of weeks at St Mary's in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and have to say that I'm massively impressed with what's happening there. There's a level at which I think some people could find it underwhelming simply because the current congregation isn't all that big - it's not packed to the gills with twenty-somethings or young families or professionals. But to see no more than this would be to miss the church's quality and potential.

By 'quality' I don't just mean that the services are well-led, that the powerpoint slides are free from spelling errors and that the musos play tightly (although all those things are true and I actually think they do make a significant difference - they mean that the congregation isn't distracted at times when they're trying to focus on their prayers, singing, etc.) Even more important is the fact that the people of the church are really friendly and welcoming and that they're up-front about their faith without being confrontational. I reckon these are some of the important qualities of a local church that's looking to engage with the world around it. During morning tea last Sunday, it was great to not just have conversations about the footy or what people were doing with their weekends, but to also chat about the power of the Psalms, the hope of the resurrection, the work of the Spirit and the health of the church. Good stuff.

In addition to this, another reason that I feel this church has great potential is because it now has a new minister, Dave, who's young, clear-minded, very capable and wanting to invest in the church for the long-run. If what I've experienced so far is in some measure reflective of the work he's already put in, then I'm really excited about what he might do over the next ten or twenty years. This coming Sunday he's baptising someone into the faith - God-willing, a sign of greater things to come.

As mentioned in a previous post, I think that rebooting / revitalising local churches is a key way for the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne to see renewal over the next generation. Finding young leaders who are truly able, placing them in small parishes with some resources and then backing them through the struggles and challenges has got to be central to any macro-strategy. Dave has taken up the challenge and the diocese has been bold enough to give him a run. Plus, there are other examples around the place too. Early days, but I think this approach is paying off. Praise God.

Sad but Inevitable...

So it's now been confirmed that Christchurch Cathedral will be demolished. I know it's only a building and I know that nothing like this was built for eternity and I don't believe in 'sacred space' in a superstitious way - but it really was a great landmark for the city and it's sad that its time is up. I've also spent a lot of time in Christchurch so feel some personal nostalgia.

Here's a couple of pics from 2005 when the British Lions were touring in New Zealand.

This has also got to be disheartening for the people of the city. Someone told me that Christchurch has lost one third of its residents since the quake last year and that the CBD is still in lock down and under military guard. That's gotta hurt the community vibe.

For those who pray for cities, remember this one.

Weird Gift?

What's this in St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne?

Well, as the stonework says, it's a piece of the reredos of St Paul's Cathedral London (look it up!)

But my real question is, Why? I guess it's a nice gesture, but it seems to me a strange thing to give - unless there's some tradition behind gifting reredos parts. Anybody... ?

Anyhoo, next time I get to St Paul's in London, I'm going to look for the missing bit.

Private Confirmation

Well, not really private, just small.

My wife was confirmed as an Anglican today by our bishop in bit of an odd service at St Paul's Cathedral.

It was odd only in the sense that she was converted and baptised as an adult and so has already made an open and public declaration of faith - confirmation is meant to give people who were baptised as infants the chance to do that.

So why did she bother? It's a necessary prerequisite for her entering the 'Year of Discernment' which is the year-long program that the Melbourne Diocese runs for people who are considering becoming candidates for ordination. Dovetailing neatly with yesterday's post, my wife is exploring the possibility of becoming a distinctive deacon as part of our plan to continue working alongside each other in Anglican ministry.

It was actually a pretty good little service. Like lots of the liturgy, the words are really great and the bits the candidate has to say are things that any follower of Jesus would want to say. We also read through Mark 1:40-45 and talked about it together. And it was really great to share the service with the guy in the picture who was being officially 'received' into the Anglican Communion so that he can take up a formal leadership post at his church and with our minister who made the trek into the Cathedral to be there with us.

Now my daughter - who was baptised as an infant - is asking about when she can get confirmed too!

Church Visit - St Mary's Cathedral KL

We celebrated Christmas Day in another Anglican church building that, again, could have been almost anywhere in the world. There wasn't much that made this church stand out as being particularly Malaysian Anglican - and when we met the minister who had done his theological training in Australia and the preacher who was visiting from Australia we really felt like we were part of a pretty close-knit Anglican world.

While this raised some important questions of inculturation for me, they were made far less pressing by the fact that the church was completely full. Not only were all the pews in this building filled at back-to-back morning services but we were part of a more contemporary service in the church hall that was completely packed too - and there was also a Bahasa Malaysia service running somewhere else in the building at the same time. Moreover, it seems this wasn't just because of Christmas or Cathedral tourism but was in large part regular membership - check out all the services they regularly run on their website.

And we all heard the great message of Jesus' birth. It's still pulling crowds around the world! And the Anglican format clearly has traction in some significantly different settings.

Theological College Visit - STM

It was great to be able to drop in at the Malaysia Theological Seminary in Seremban and to be shown around by my friend, former teacher and past supervisor Paul Barker who now serves on the faculty. STM trains leaders for several denominations - including the Anglicans - in Malaysia and other parts of Asia too.

I really enjoyed seeing the grounds and facilities (and was pleased to see that MacCulloch's landmark biography of Cranmer was in a prominent place in library). It was also great to chat about culture and ministry in South-East Asia over lunch with Paul and Tan Jin Huat, the Academic Dean.

I was greatly encouraged through this visit. A large student body and a gifted, committed faculty are both good reasons to give thanks and to be optimistic about ongoing, faithful gospel ministry in the region.

Church Visit - St George's Penang

Although there is massive variability in the Anglican Church around the world, it's great that you can still turn up at an Anglican service in another country and feel quite at home. Interestingly, we visited the 'contemporary' (read 'non-Prayer Book') service so it wasn't the liturgy that gave us the familiar feel. It was more the distinctive tone, or mood, of evangelical Anglicanism that was apparent: the way people led, spoke and prayed, the close attention to the Bible (including lots of note-taking by some congregants), the relaxed-though-dignified vibe and so on. Not so great for church-tourists who are keen on collecting broad and different experiences, but great for travellers who just want to join with others for corporate worship that makes sense to them.

(The very Roman architecture is strange for an Anglican church building and the spire is a bit jarring for my eye. The whitewash was stark too - fortunately, it wasn't a tomb!)

Church Visit - St John's Toorak - Oops!

What's wrong with this picture?

You need a close up to tell.

The Bible references for the two middle panels are the wrong way around. John 19:16 for Jesus' baptism and Mark 1:10 for his crucifixion.

It would probably be quite a bit of work to cut and paste them now...

Baptismal Home

Clearly, the best thing about this picture is that it provides a great opportunity to make fun of my late 90s stylin'. However, once we're over that...

This is me and my grandmother revisiting the church where I was baptised, St Andrew's Sonning in the Diocese of Oxford. It's a flint church that was rebuilt in the mid nineteenth century after having probably been first established in - wait for it - the early 7th Century!

I don't know anything much about the church today, although judging by the statue above the archway, it probably held onto much of its Roman Catholic heritage during the Reformation and judging by its website, it looks like its still a way further up the candlestick than I'm used to. But there it is.

The church building is also directly opposite an original Tudor inn, The Bull. This place has a good reputation for food and I remember a great meal there with my grandmother that day.

Turns out that the pub is actually owned by the church. I presume it's leased out but if the church ran it themselves it could be a truly fantastic place for ministry. Perhaps if I go back again one day and become vicar...

This is all something a bit light. Next week, I want to think some more about Anglican integrity...

Beautiful Cathedral Prayers

One more from Christchurch Anglican Cathedral that was officially deconsecrated earlier this month. (I have a personal affection for Christchurch having stayed there for a while durning my honours year).

This parallel version of the Lord's Prayer in Maori and English was carved into the wall with what I think is a traditional 'mangotipi' pattern along the side (though won't be surprised if I'm wrong on that one).

I don't know if this survived the quake or if it will be salvaged during the demolition so I'm glad to at least have a photo.

I love that the Lord's Prayer can be translated and prayed in native languages. I love that the Maori takes precedence over the English here. This is a small but important sign that the Anglican Church is not just the global Church of England, but part of Christ's church that - for all its failures - has been giving the good news to different peoples from around the world so they can own it as their own.

Sinister Symbols in Cathedrals?

All church buildings are all symbolic - even those that people have tried to make as bare as possible still make a statement. I imagine that there are whole sub-disciplines of architecture that look into this stuff and there's no way I'm going to put myself forward as any sort of expert. But I have found a couple of very stark and unexpected symbols in cathedrals that would get an immediate reaction from many people.

Although it's now scheduled for 'deconsecration' and at least partial-demolition, in the days when you could go into Christchurch Cathedral in New Zealand, it was a bit shocking to find dozens of swastikas set into the tile-work lining the walls. But realising the impact that this symbol has on people post-WWII, there was also a very prominent and helpful sign explaining the pre-Nazi Christian history of the swastika, which was, of course, a variant of the cross.

In St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne, there's a similarly confronting display. The chancel is lined with a number of large, inverted pentagrams. Although now very commonly associated with the occult, this symbol also has a history of Christian usage (eg. commemorating the five wounds of Christ). However, in St Paul's there is no prominent sign explaining this.

I recently asked a friend of mine who works at the Cathedral about the pentagrams and he told me there was a flyer explaining them somewhere but he wasn't able to find one for me at the time. Years ago, I asked another member of the Cathedral staff and they only told me that the pentagrams were quite an attraction for gothic youth...

While I understand that these kinds of symbols have taken on new meanings since they were put in place, I do wonder if they really are too confusing for today's casual visitor. I wonder if there should be a conversation about removing them. Something of the building's originality would be lost, but it's always changing anyway and it would seem worth it in order to avoid any misunderstandings.


Symbols are meant to point us back to something we understand (as opposed to 'signs' which tell us something new). They're meant to be memory-joggers. But when the intended meaning of the symbol isn't known and newer, very different, meanings are overlaid onto the symbol, their presence can be confusing at best and disturbing or even damaging at worst.

Maybe we should replace the St Paul's pentagrams with Latin crosses? While many people still need to learn exactly what the cross represents, it's at least universally recognised as the symbol of the Christian faith - something that the pentagram certainly isn't. Just a thought.


PS. Although it's not a cathedral, St Peter's Eastern Hill, a liberal church in Melbourne's inner city, also has a very confronting symbol. Its logo is an inverted cross! For those who know, this is meant to commemorate St Peter who was supposed to have been crucified upside down. But again, for those who don't know... !

A Sad Wedding Story...

A few years ago I took a wedding service for a couple that all went without major issue and seemed to be pretty much the sort of thing that the bride and groom were wanting. However, behind the scenes, a very sad thing happened and the reason for it was Anglicanism gone wrong.

The wedding wasn't in the church where I worked, but at a chapel. The chapel had supplied a 'verger' (helper) for me who was someone going through their training for ordination in the Anglican Church.

As we were setting up the chapel, the verger noticed that the linen on the communion table was the wrong colour. That is, the chapel had different sets of linen to use during the different seasons of the church year and at the time, the linen on the table was not the right colour for the season. This really troubled the verger because they knew it was wrong (I have to admit that I didn't realise!) but they also didn't know where the correct linen was stored and so couldn't set it right. After hearing about all this, I assured them that it would be ok to have the wedding with the wrong coloured linen this time and that the wedding party certainly wouldn't be concerned about it. And so the wedding went ahead and there really weren't any obvious adverse affects of having the wrong tablecloth on the table.

During the service, I preached a sermon from Genesis chapter 2 on the problem of loneliness and God's solution of marriage. It was a brief, simple exposition of a few verses of the chapter with, frankly, nothing particularly novel in it. However, after the service, the verger approached me somewhat choked up and asked if they could have a copy of my sermon text. I was surprised as I didn't really think it was anything special and happily handed over my notes. But as I did so, I asked why they wanted them. The response was simply that they had never heard a sermon like that before.

Hence my sadness.

Here was a person who was being trained to serve in the Anglican Church and who had so far learned that they should get stressed about the colour of the fabric decorating the church building, but hadn't ever heard a straightforward Bible talk. I felt sorry for them and very disappointed that the type of training they were receiving could pass as any sort of proper formation for ordained Anglican ministry. Like all churches, the Anglican Church does have some ceremonial trappings and that's ok. But when they become more important in the minds of its pastors than the plain teaching of the Scriptures, we have a problem.

Church Visit - Christ Church St Ives

Over the past couple of years I've been thinking lots more about the physical spaces that we use for our church gatherings. Of course, I know that the building is just that - a building - and that the local church is the group of people who gather in Jesus' name. Nonetheless, the reality is that something of our experience of church gatherings is affected by the buildings that we meet in. While none of these are in and of themselves more or less legitimate spaces for God's people to meet, a converted warehouse feels different to a movie theatre feels different to a school hall feels different to a cathedral. So now, whenever I visit churches, I tend to spend a couple of moments considering the facilities.

Yesterday I visited Christ Church Anglican in St Ives (one of Sydney's northern suburbs) for the wedding of a good friend of mine. Up front, I have to say that it was a fantastic service - I just loved being there witnessing the vows, singing praises (with Garage Hymnal as the house band no less!), being encouraged from God's word and generally celebrating! But what of the church building?

It was a modern, not a traditional, church space. Basically a round, central auditorium that I guess would seat around 300+ people with the hall and other rooms coming off from it. I really like this layout as it allows for a lot of people to sit in the services without anyone feeling a thousand miles away from the stage and it also means that nowhere else in the building is too far away - toilets, kids' spaces, hall, etc. And because it's new, things like the AV system are relatively up to date and well integrated which means that communication can be contemporary and clear. Basically, I think it's a highly functional design for a modern church building and that really works for me. (The fact that the place was also pretty neat and well-kept was also something I appreciated; sometimes churches have all kinds of junk unnecessarily piled up around where the services are held.)

However, I am conscious that for some, it could feel a bit too functional. I didn't really see much that was just there for its aesthetic value. Again - please don't get me wrong - I'm not at all into uninterpreted symbolism or the idea that a place becomes more 'holy' if we deck it out with religious artwork or anything like that. And I'm particularly nervous about putting 'beautiful' things at the front of a church - like fancy communion table linen or gilt lecterns or heavy leather Bibles - as this can quickly create the impression that they are revered as sacred objects, especially for visitors. To their credit, St Ives had none of this.

But, we all do have an appreciation of and a response to aesthetics at some level, even if it's subconscious. That's why we hang pictures on the walls of our houses and even why choose to wear certain clothes and not others. And I wonder what this means for our church buildings. Is it right to be as plain as possible so as not to create confusion over meaning and risk distracting from the true focus and purpose of our church gatherings. Or, could carefully chosen aesthetic elements actually add helpful things to the corporate worship of a biblically-anchored community? And how would you work this stuff out for any given community of believers anyway?

In the Old Testament, both the tabernacle and the Temple were extremely ornate. In fact, it's interesting to note that in Exodus 31:3, the great abilities of Bezalel - who oversaw the building of the Tabernacle - are attributed to his infilling with the Spirit. Moreover, this is actually the first record of the Holy Spirit infilling anyone in the Scriptures - clearly God cared about and invests in the aesthetics of worship! However, we must balance this with the fact that we're not Old Testament people and that when Jesus died, the curtain was torn from top to bottom - I know the point primary of that isn't that God is an iconoclast, but it does say something about the ongoing need for various furnishings in a corporate worship space.

Anyways, no final conclusions here for now. Just some ongoing thoughts...