Christopher Wordsworth 1807-1885, Bishop of Lincoln



Christopher Wordsworth; (1807 to 1885) , a bishop of the Church of England, was born October 30, 1807, at Lambeth, England, his father, Christopher Wordsworth, being rector of the parish.

He distinguished himself in athletics as well as in scholarship at Winchester. Entering Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1826, he won numerous university honors, graduating in 1830, after which he served as fellow, lecturer, and public orator in the college. In 1836 he became Headmaster of Harrow School, working in the school during his incumbency a moral reform which filled many students in the school with enthusiastic admiration. He was appointed a canon of Westminster in 1844, which offee he continued to fill during the nineteen years of his residence in Berkshire as the rector of a quiet country parish, living four months of each year in London, as was made necessary by his canonry. He was appointed Bishop of Lincoln in 1869, which office he held for fifteen years, resigning only a few months before his death, March 20, 1885. He, was a nephew of the poet William Wordsworth, with whom his relations were most intimate. He was a voluminous author, among his works being a Commentary on the Whole Bible (1856-70), a Church History (1881-83), and a volume of hymns titled The Holy Year, 1862. "This last-named volume," says Prebendary Overton, in Julian's Dictionary, "contains hymns not only for every season of the Church's year, but for every phase of that season, as indicated in the Book of Common Prayer. Like the Wesleys, he looked upon hymns as a valuable means of stamping permanently upon the memory the great doctrines of the Christian Church. He held it to be the first duty of a hymn writer to teach sound doctrine, and thus to save souls." Of Bishop Wordsworth's one hundred and twenty-seven hymns, about fifty are in common use.



Brooke Foss Wescott 1825 - 1901

Bishop of Durham 1890-1901

Brooke Foss Westcott (12 January 1825 – 27 July 1901) was a British bishop, Biblical scholar and theologian, serving as Bishop of Durham from 1890 until his death.

The basis of Westcott's religious teaching was his belief in the Incarnation of the Son of God. For him the  Incarnation was the central fact of history, not caused by the fall of man but fore-ordained from the beginning . He held that in becoming man, in dying on the Cross, and rising from the dead, God had so revealed Himself to man that henceforth mankind had a religion which would be found sufficient for all human needs, for all holy and humble men of heart who were seeking after God, a religion which, as history told, would fulfil the spiritual desires of all men. 

Over and over again, Westcott, in his sermons and addresses, dwells on this belief in the Incarnation and presents it to his hearers, as the key and illumination of life. The experience of his own heart confirms this belief, and he can declare in old age:

"I say without reserve , that I have found my absolute trust in the Gospel of the Word Incarnate confirmed with living power, when I have seen with growing clearness that no phrases of the schools can adequately express its substance, or do more than help men provisionally  to realize some part of it's relation to thought and action; when I have learnt through the researches of students in other fields to extend the famous words of the Roman dramatist, and say, Christianus sum, nihil in rerum natura a me alienum puto- I am a Christian;  and therefore nothing in man and nothing in nature can fail to command  the devotion of my reverent study- that I have found, even in the slow and fitful progress of the Church, which still does not move forward, a spring of hope, when I turn, as I must from time to time, to take count of the unutterable evils of great cities, and great nations, and whole continents, which wait for atonement and redemption in the long suffering and wisdom of God" 

All Saints Church, Cambridge

Traditions and Decline.

Reading the Spring Edition of "Northern Lights" (News from the Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney) I saw an intriguing picture of the Bishop of the Diocese with a monk on the island of Orkney. It appears that there is a religious order on Orkney known as the Transalpine Redemptorists. In Northern Lights, they were described as adhering to "extreme theology", ha ha ha, indeed they do, because as I have discovered they are affiliated to the Society of St Pius X. 

Everyone knows that the SSPX are very lax when it comes to liturgy. 

Originally based at the Monastery of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, they moved to the Mother of Perpetual Succour Monastery in Joinville, France in 1994 until they bought the island of Papa Stronsay on 31 May 1999.[in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, they moved to the Mother of Perpetual Succour Monastery in Joinville, France in 1994 until they bought the island of Papa Stronsay on 31 May 1999.

Looking at their blog it does not look like a rather nice place for a retreat, I would not use the term "extreme" theology, I was use the term "harsh", the whole discipline is reminiscent of something from the middle ages, and one wonders how they maintain this way of life. I don't think that I shall criticise them, yet, I wonder, how is possible to maintain that way of life and yet still allow oneself access to the inter web, as they appear to have a blog and a dreaded Facebook account, this does not strike me as adhering to the strict rule of the order?

I note that within the whole of the SSPX there appears to be a conflict regarding the internet and it's usage. I recall a sermon in which Bishop Richard Williamson expounds the dangers and great evils of the internet and how it is part of the modern corruption of our times. Within ten mins the Lord Bishop changed his mind and said that the internet was good in bringing like minded people together. It must be rather difficult to stand one way or the other on this issue. However, you would think that being an anti-modernist  the internet would not even get a look in. Well you would be wrong.

Bishop Richard Williamson, positively medieval except when it comes to the internet.

I must admit that I do have a soft spot for the SSPX, their Bishops, Priests, and Religious. When one want's to examine what the pre Reformation, Pre Vatican II Church, one simply looks to them and I must confess that they do a very good Mass, albeit in a dead language that no one understands, not even that but the Latin itself is of very poor quality. Now the Pope has brought them back to the fold, well very good. I say "the" Pope, because he is not my Pope, thankfully I am an Anglican, mind you in saying that we have some odd balls in our Church, and in fact if I were a Roman Catholic I would be inclined towards the SSPX, at least they preserve the traditional liturgy. In that Provence of the Anglican Communion that holds my heart, Ireland, I am concerned at the lack of respect for the liturgy.

There are clergy who do not wear proper attire, do not use the prayer book, do not even bow at the name of Christ, and woe betides the day when they should administer the body of our Lord as a wafer. Such people have no respect for tradition, or indeed heritage. They think that church is a gimmick factory for their mad cap ideas. There is at least one Temple of the Lord in East Belfast that I am familiar with. It calls itself "Anglican", yet what I saw there was very far from Anglican, it was positively Presbyterian/Baptist/Pentecostal, with a complete lack of Catholicity, reason, and tradition. No Prayer Book. 

St Brendan's Church, Sydenham, East Belfast, Diocese of Down and Dromore. What's wrong with this picture?  The answer is that this is an Anglican building, although you may be forgiven for thinking that it was a "Gospel Hall", with the graffiti on the front. This is part of the problem for the Church in Northern Ireland, it is loosing it's identity and succumbing to trends rather than adhering to tradition. Tradition which has been handed down to us from the Apostles, and from the Celtic Church. That was ever so slightly tainted in the middle ages but was recovered in the Reformation and was thus preserved throughout the centuries. Some clergy would do well to remember that the reason why tradition is important is because it is a Spirit that has been tested, and has not been found wanting. I am dubious of gimmicks that have not been tested.

On the other side of the river Lagan is a church that claims or rather declares itself "Anglo-Catholic", this is rather funny because it is not Anglo-Catholic, it is let's pretend to be Anglo-Catholic in our liturgy. Yes of course the clergy dress up, but the celebration of the Eucharist is not presented in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and of course they use the Book of Common Prayer, not the English Missal. How funny, look's Catholic, doesn't smell Catholic (no incense, forbidden by Canon Law), sounds Anglican. That is what we in liturgical circles call "A joke". The one thing they have mastered in that particular church is the snobbishness, arrogance, and inflated ego of say Westminster Abbey or St George's Chapel Windsor. A window cleaner would not be welcome, which is rather amusing given that in the good old days Anglo-Catholics were the slum missionaries.... how times have changed.

So you see we Anglicans could do with a Bishop Richard Williamson and an organisation in the style of SSPX, an organisation to meet the trendy "Vicars", with good old fashioned Catholic tradition.

The outrage of Numenorian Exile #1 "The Chaplain to the Titanic Quarter"



An aggrieved Numenorian Exile attacks a metaphorical representation of the ludicrous idea "Chaplain to the Titanic Quarter"



The description of Numenorian Exile's blog reads, Liturgy, Reflection, and Muse, however there are occasions when Noble Knight needs to speak out against ludicrous, absurd, ridiculous, and downright farcical ideas. Particularly ideas from the Church. (When Nmenorian Exile refers to the Church, he means that part of the Anglican Communion in Ireland).

Noble Knight wants to make clear from the very start that he is not attacking the person, character, or nature of the Rev Chris Bennett, that is not what Numenorian Exile does. Numenorian Exile is attacking the nonsensical idea that he is part of and what indeed the Lord Bishop of Down and Dromore, (Rt Rev Harold Millar), is also a party to.

In the two thousandth and eleventh year of Lord, the Rt Rev Harold Millar, The Lord Bishop of Down and Dromore, introduced the Rev Chris Bennett as "Chaplain to the Titanic Quarter". The Titanic Quarter Parish was created at the request of M'Lord  Bishop Millar. The parish stretches from       the Odyssey Complex to the far end of Queen's Island with the Lagan as a boundary on the one side and the Sydenham Bypass on the other. In short this new parish is in effect the old Harland and Wolff Shipyard.

The Bishop proclaimed at the time, "We have no idea what the church is going to look like in the Titanic Quarter", although recently it has come to the ears of Numenorian Exile that the Church is to be a boat anchored in the River Lagan. This raises three fundamental questions, firstly. who is financing this floating Temple of the LORD? Secondly Numenorian Exile thought that the River Lagan was the boundary? Would it not be better that the church was actually in the Parish? Well that is a silly question, surly it's far more advantageous for the Diocese of Down and Dromore to have, in modern parlance, "a happy clapper boat", on the Lagan, with a "chill out zone", (whatever that is ?), and a nice little bourgeois middle class talking shop. Thirdly who is the mission directed to? Nobody actually lives in the quarter or rather there is not actually a community based there, among the waste ground and dry docks of Belfast's industrial heritage. This leads Numenorian Exile to ask a fourth question, "How can the Bishop justify having a full time stipendiary Priest overseeing a mission in an area that is effectively waste ground, business accommodation, leisure complexes and car parks?"

Now, Numenorian Exile has investigated the website, "The Dock Church", in order to ascertain the mission statement of the Church. I mean you would think that being a "Church" it would have a mission statement, well it has one of sorts. It has a "Vision Statement",Numenorian Exile assumes this is a trendy way of saying this is our confession of faith, purpose, and mission. Looking through the vision statement Noble Knight's eye caught a glance at the estimated size of the new community, "twenty thousand in  modern apartments". These "Yuppie" apartments are not built as yet, indeed the last time Numenorian Exile visited his Castle he did not observe the building of apartment blocks, therefore Numenorian Exile's question still stands, "How can the Bishop justify this".

Numenorian Exile examines the Vision Statement.

The Dock Church.

A very bold statement indeed, and one that no reasonable Knight could take issue with ? Not so!Numenorian Exile views this as the typical trendy church talk that is very, very popular in this day and age, yet Noble knight knows how to decode this puke. It should read as follows, "We are all very nice people, and we have very nice ideas, indeed we are well meaning, but actually we are just a talking shop that detracts from the real issues and the real need for mission." (Numenorian Exile will tackle "mission" later as it is the key to Numenorian Exile's outrage)

 Vision of the Dock Church
This is a very popular post modern view of what the Church should be and what the Church should do. In this paragraph Numenorian Exile discerns two things, firstly that this "new Church", will be a sort of community centre/ social workers base. There is nothing wrong with pastoral care, indeed it is a bulwark of the Christian Faith, but what is being proposed here is far from it. What is being proposed is a gossip factory, much like a cafe. Secondly Numenorian Exile sees who the target of this "Mission" actually are. (More on that later)

    More on the Dock Church Vision
Is this a Parish Church or not? What exactly is this supposed to be? What is the point of having yet another meeting place with coffee and newspapers and that sort of tripe? Is that what the Bishop thinks is going to bring people to Christ ? Can you image it? A typical Belfast working class male, "Alright mate, I will have a copy of the Newslatter and a cup of Caffee", Titanic Chaplain, "Certainly, would you like decaf or non decaf Gospel with that?" Perhaps Numenorian Exile is going over the top in his example, this boat will not cater for the working class, this boat will cater for the new Urban Man in his lush apartment and do you think he will want to stop and chat?

THE ACTUAL OUTRAGE OF NUMENORIAN EXILE !
Now, Numenorian Exile has explained what this new Parish is, what it will look like and what the vision statement is all about. Why is Numenorian Exile so annoyed? Well it is quite simple it's the mission aspect of the whole thing. Numenorian Exile does not care for bunkum and there is an awful lot of bunkum associated with the so called mission! Numenorian Exile is angry because in the last three years two churches on the Newtownards Road, (an arterial road that runs through the heart of East Belfast to the City Centre, that fed the Ship Yard with workers over the decades), have been deconsecrated, the two churches belonged to Down and Dromore and were Anglican, and both are just a stones throw from the Ship yard. Of course there is also Ballymarcarrett Parish Church, (formally St Patrick's Church of Ireland), a church built with the proportions of a Cathedral, that has a congregation that is on the decline, and is supposedly the base of outreach and mission in that area. (Which it has failed to do)!

So you can see why Numenorian Exile is so annoyed with those that are part of this scheme and who brand it with missionary zeal, the fact of the matter is simple, the road on which live the descendents of those that built the Titanic is in need of outreach from the Church, yet, that community has been ignored by the Bishop, in favour of a Parish made up of no one but seagulls and stray dogs. Speaking of dogs, the dogs in the street know that this is a farcical idea and that the actual priority of the Church should be the revitalisation of the Parish of Ballymacarrett and not some trendy scheme to get people into a church that does not exists and even when it does will not serve the people of Ballymacarett Parish.

I shall continue to pray for the Parish of Ballymacarett and I shall continue to vent my outrage about this at every possible opportunity, put simply, would it not be better to have a missionary Priest on the Newtownards Road, rather than on waste ground ?



Reflection on the Transfiguration Sunday Service

The Right Rev Dr Robert (Bob) Gillies 

Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney

My last two blog entries include the service sheet for this mornings worship, I thought that it would be interesting to share it, as I am always very impressed with the liturgical strength of each service that I attend in St Andrew's Cathedral Aberdeen. 

This morning had the pleasure to have company both on the way to the Cathedral and also during the service. My friend is a member of the Greek Orthodox tradition, and I had invited her to attend St Andrews with me this morning. I was delighted to see her waiting for me on King Street, and we braved the ice and the remnants of the previous evenings snow fall to attend worship in the Cathedral.

On arrival to the Cathedral I was dismayed to see that yet again the door was closed, indeed my friend remarked, "Is it open", I instantly though back to the post I published on this blog last Sunday, it seems that I was quite correct in my assumption, that members if the public, (who did not know the Cathedral), would have thought that the Cathedral was closed, regardless of the very small notice board at the front.

On entrance we were greeted by a gentleman greeter, who smiled and handed us the liturgy and the hymn book. We advanced down the isle, my friend did not like the fact that I sit somewhat in the middle of the body of the Church, as she would prefer to sit near the front. Anyway, I offered to sit at the front but she said it was not an issue.

As we sat in the pew, (naturally after we had both prayed), we conversed about the surroundings that we found ourselves in, we both agreed that the main problem with the Cathedral is that in appears, (to the untrained eye), to be in a state of decline, which is rather sad considering the great liturgical worship that goes on there. This was something that the bishop alluded to in his sermon when he said, "As you try to raise funds to refurbish the building", I must confess that this is the first time I had head of such a fund.

The procession was stately and it was a shock that the bishop was taking the service, but a good shock because I have heard the bishop preach before on no less than two occasions in very different settings, Armistice Day Service held in Kings College Chapel, 2007 and on the Feast of St Margaret Queen of Scotland, St Margaret's Church, Gallowgate, Aberdeen. Each time he amazes me with his evangelical zeal and his message is often very powerful and profound.

I was not disappointed, the bishop has this wonderful way of bringing everyone together, indeed his innovations are welcomed and in my view only a good thing. During the "Peace" he made a point of going round everyone in the congregation, even when the Offertory hymn was being sung. That's the type of bishop I like, one that gets down with the laity. His sermon was excellent, he preached on the Transfiguration of our own lives as Christians, when we become Christians, he drew from the story of Jacob sleeping on the stone and meeting the LORD in a vision, afterwords Jacob anointed the stone with oil and blessed it. The bishop said that when we become Christians it is as if we like Jacob meet the LORD, and then we anointed ourselves with the Holy Oil. The bishop then allowed us to meditate on what it must have been like for Jacob, to feel the power of the LORD beside us. I must say, it was indeed a very powerful experience. 

I was impressed that the children were not brought in during the Sanctus this time, unlike last week. They came in during the Offertory Hymn, although this nearly caused a traffic jam in the aisle, with the elements being delivered, the collection plate going round, and the bishop making sure that he shared the peace with everyone. I took to heart what the bishop said at the start, we must make sure we talk to the strangers in the pew, which caused a rather funny incident to occur at the end of the service, a lady walked up to me and said, "Oh sorry, I thought you were a stranger, I came to speak to you, just taking the words of the bishop on board", I laughed and said, "It must be my new glasses", she also laughed.

Yes today was a great service, the bishop is wonderful to listen to, one slight criticism, he tends to be ever so over dramatic during the Eucharistic Prayer, but still, he has power, and that is what is important at the end of the day.

For Robert our Bishop, and for all who bear Christ's name;

that their lives may proclaim your glory,

we pray to you, Oh Lord.