OTTAWA BRANCH NEWSLETTER

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1 The Prayer Book Society of Canada OTTAWA BRANCH NEWSLETTER Lent 2006 The Prayer Book Society of Canada promotes e understanding and use of e Book of Common Prayer as a scriptural system of nurture for life in Christ. Society Mission Statement Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest noing at ou hast made, and dost forgive e sins of all em at are penitent : Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, at we worily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of ee, e God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; rough Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Collect for Ash Wednesday, BCP, page 138 FORTHCOMING EVENTS Sunday, March 19 7:00 p.m. Sunday, March 26 4:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 23 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 26 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 21 7:00 p.m. Sunday, May 28 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 29 7:30 p.m. Evensong and Benediction for e Third Sunday in Lent, followed by a reception at St Barnabas Church, Kent and James Streets Evensong sung jointly by Caedral Singers and St Luke s choir, St Luke s Church, 760 Somerset Street West followed by Our Annual Chinese Dinner in e St Luke s Parish Hall followed by Concert in St Luke s Church Evensong and Benediction for e Octave Day of Easter, followed by a reception at St Barnabas Church, Kent and James Streets Annual General Meeting will be conducted in e Fred Allen Memorial Hall, St Barnabas Church, Kent and James Streets Evensong and Benediction for Rogation Sunday, followed by a reception at St Barnabas Church, Kent and James Streets Sunday after Ascension Day, St Barnabas Church, guest preacher Fr David A. Harris, National Chairman, PBSC Fr David A. Harris will address parishioners and members of e Branch, St Barnabas Church, Kent and James Streets

2 Branch Officers Chairman Joan Wilson Bagate Drive, Ottawa, ON K1K 3Y3 (613) Vice-Chair Antony Simpson 6422 St-Louis Drive, Orleans, ON K1C 2Y2 (613) Treasurer Frances Macdonnell Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K2H 5A6 (613) Chairman s Remarks Is is your summer to attend e Stratford Festival for your family vacation? See e Family Experience note (*) below. Productions is year contain e usual variety to appeal to many tastes, but, if e teenagers are not yet into eatre, schedule your visit to include August 21-26, Drop e kids off at e St Michael s You Conference at Durham, Ontario on e Monday morning, enjoy e plays you want to see and return Saturday morning to pry e teens away for e trip home. For a sneak preview on life at St Michael s Camp, call to see e presentation book of pictures last year s campers have put togeer. For more information contact stmichaels@canada.com or see e website at Financial assistance is available from e Branch. (*) Wi each regularly priced adult ticket to any show, e Family Experience ticket discount entitles you to purchase up to four you tickets for as little as $34.00 each. On a sombre note we bade farewell last Fall to two stalwart members, bo Clergy wives, Elizabe (Betty) Bridges of St Barnabas, Ottawa, and Eleanor Cornish, St Alban s, Maberly. Their special talents in our midst will be very difficult to replace, but I know ey will be expecting us to try. The deas of oer members will be remembered at our Annual General Meeting to be held at St Barnabas on Wednesday, April 26. On a personal note, many anks to all who supported wi prayers Leslie and me rough our loss of Brian, my phantom husband. Particular anks to your Executive who carried a heavier load rough my enforced absence. Joan Wilson. The early retirement of The Rev d Canon Jim Beall from St Barolomew s has provided us wi an excellent series of four sermons for is and succeeding Newsletters. They represent e synesis of many years of ought on eir respective topics and we believe ey merit your attention. All e best to e Beall s and eir replacement, The Rev d Sharron Schollar at St Bart s. Annual Chinese Dinner at St Luke s Church Lent IV, Moering Sunday March 26 at 6:00 p.m. As ere is a minimum number of guests required by e members of St Peter s Chinese congregation, please plan to attend. Invite your friends or fellow parishioners. The cost is $35.00 per person wi a small portion of at amount being given to St Luke s for e evening s concert. For information or to obtain tickets, please contact Joan Wilson at

3 A REVIEW OF BRANCH EVENTS - AUTUMN 2005 Those of us who were able to attend e Branch s mini-series of lectures in e fall were treated to a number of exciting new ideas and presentation; please take advantage of future similar events! September 28: The Mystic Adventure: The Writings of Evelyn Underhill on Mysticism Speaker: Edward Penton Ted Penton gave us a wonderful overview of e history of Christian mysticism from its beginnings in e early church wi St. Paul, Plotinus, and St. Augustine, rough e mediaeval period of St. Francis of Assisi and Meister Eckhart, and on into e flowering of St. John of e Cross and St. Teresa of Avila during e Counter-Reformation. The writings of e Anglican eologian Evelyn Underhill, who was relatively self-taught but none e less highly regarded, create an understanding of e progression of mystic ought from The Awakening rough Purification, Illumination, The Dark Night of e Soul, to e Unitive Life. I personally found is a most illuminating lecture. October 26: The Continuing Appeal of C. S. Lewis s Narnia Stories Speaker: Peter Scotchmer Peter, who spoke to us last year on C. S. Lewis as a Christian Apologist, is year focussed his attention on e continuing success of e Narnia stories in reaching out to children, parents of children, and oer adults, wheer or not ey are consciously aware of e Christian content in e stories. Giving examples from each of e seven books, he demonstrated how successful Lewis was in creating anoer world in which Christian principles and teaching are brought to life rough animals and humans alike. (This lecture was given before e movie of The Lion, e Witch, and e Wardrobe appeared, and e movie, constrained ough it may have been by Disney s need to appeal to a mass not-always-christian market, proved to be remarkably faiful to Lewis s original story.) November 23 and 30 and December 7: Handel s Messiah Speaker: Wesley Warren Over ree evenings, Wesley gave us a magnificent overview of e musical, historical, and spiritual aspects of Handel s Messiah, covering an enormous amount of material in sufficient detail to whet e appetites of an enusiastic audience (who all immediately went out to hear live performances during e Advent season!) Using a number of different recordings from different periods, Wesley demonstrated how performing practice and style have changed as e years have passed, and showed how completely Handel draws pictures in e music of e meaning of e words. We are all grateful to Wesley for undertaking is mammo task at a time of great stress because of family illness. As well as all ese lectures, we also took part in a service of Choral Evensong in Holy Trinity, Merrickville, sung by e Caedral Singers of Ottawa, for Prayer Book Sunday; e guest preacher was Major The Rev d Todd Meaker. The Branch has had a very busy time in e last few mons, and we are now gearing up for a late winter and springtime of more events. See you at em! Frances Macdonnell

4 THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE [The text of a sermon preached by The Reverend Canon James Beall in e Church of St. Barolomew, Ottawa, on September 25, 2005] This morning we are going to consider e auority of e Bible: what it means to say, The Bible is e Word of God, or The Bible tells us, and we must act accordingly. This is a difficult subject. On e one hand, a basic principle of our Christian fai is at e Bible is e Word of e Lord, as we say following each Scripture reading on Sunday morning. On e oer hand, is belief, misun-derstood and misapplied, can be dangerous and destructive. The Bible says... has been a preface to some horrible acts. I'd like to begin by describing e origins of sacred books from two oer Fais: e Mormon Church (or e Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) whose sacred book is e Book of Mormon, and e Islamic or Muslim Fai whose sacred text is e Qu ran. (Bo ese Fais also recognize e Bible as a holy text.) In e year 1830 a young American, Joseph Smi, had a vision. He was told at if he went to a secret place in upstate New York he would discover a book written on gold sheets. This was e book of e prophet Mormon, who he was told lived in America around e turn of e fif century. Joseph Smi was guided by Mormon's son, Moroni, who appeared to him as an angel. Smi followed Moroni's angel and found e book, which was written in a hieroglyphic script which he called Reformed Egyptian. Smi did not understand is language but he was provided wi special lenses which enabled him to translate it into early-nineteen-century American English. When Smi had finished his translation, bo e book and e lenses were carried into heaven. The Book of Mormon, en, comes to us in one edition. If you believe at God spoke directly to Mormon, at Smi found e auentic gold book, and at God inspired Smi's translation -ese are big ifs, but if you believe em - en e book is infallible, wiout error; Joseph Smi is our sole source and his translation e sole original copy of e Book of Mormon. (A note on content: for your information, e Book provides an apparent history of e arrival of Christianity in America in e second century, some eical teaching, and a good deal of apocalyptic prophecy; Mormons believe at Jesus will return in e very near future and establish a new world order, building e New Jerusalem in e United States of America.) The Qu ran. The Prophet Muhammed, who lived from AD, was visited over a period of years by e Angel Gabriel, who dictated to him e Qu ran. Muhammed himself was illiterate but he memorized what Gabriel told him and dictated it to his followers, who wrote it down. If you believe at God spoke faifully to Gabriel, Gabriel to Muhammed, and Muhammed to e scribes, and at e scribes were faiful in eir writing, en e Qu ran has tremendous auority. As wi e Book of Mormon ere is a single text, wi a great deal of teaching on right living. The Qu ran can be interpreted - one of e roles of e Imam is to provide interpretation to e faiful - but e book itself is inalterable. For a long time, wiin e Muslim Fai any translation of e Qu ran from Arabic was illegal. Today it is possible to obtain paraphrases in oer languages but ey are intended for ose outside e Fai; faiful Muslims are expected to learn Arabic in order to read e original.

5 I have described e origins of ese two Books to provide a contrast wi e Bible - to illustrate how different e creation of our Bible has been. The Bible was written by many people over many centuries: for e Old Testament, at least irty individuals, probably more, over a period of a ousand years; for e New Testament, at least ten people, probably more, over a hundred years. There is no original edition of e Bible. This is especially true for e New Testament; our earliest surviving texts come from several centuries after Jesus day. Everyone who produces a Bible has to make choices as to which ancient manuscripts should be followed. If you look at a study Bible, you will discover, as footnotes on practically every page, alternative readings prefaced by phrases like, Oer ancient auorities say..., Oer sources..., Hebrew obscure, could be translated.... Furermore, people translating e Bible into English from e original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek have to make decisions about e most effective and accurate translations. So you can see ere is no such ing as The Bible! The Bible is e story of God: who God is; how God relates to e world and to us; how we should relate to God and to each oer; how we do, in fact, relate; what happens if we're faiful; what happens if we screw up. The New Testament is e revelation of God in e person of Jesus Christ. Everying we understand about God in e Bible comes to us from e perspective of different people. God is presented in e Book of Genesis from one perspective, and in e Book of Deuteronomy from quite a different perspective. The relationship which Jeremiah had wi God is very different from at of Isaiah or Job. The Psalms present a huge variety of responses to God: God is a friend, comforter, saviour, creator; he is also an opponent, destroyer, instrument of revenge. We believe in one God, but God has chosen to reveal himself from many different points of view. Each point of view is valid, but none is complete or infallible. If you want to know a person, you will ask at person s spouse, family, friends, colleagues; everyone who cares about at person speaks tru, but no one has e only or total tru. Thus, when in e New Testament we seek to know Jesus, we are not given one Gospel but four - four different points of view. Jesus is not identical in e four Gospels. We cannot say at one Gospel is right and e oers wrong, for in at case we would have only e one Gospel. We need four perspectives to give us sufficient understanding of Jesus. For me, is is wonderful. We can read e Bible as history, prophecy, poetry, prediction, instruction, narrative. God permits us to discover him in is way. We can read e Bible wi wonder and delight to discern who God is for us and for e world. This journey of discovery lasts a lifetime. The conductor Herbert von Karajan, one of e great interpreters of Beeoven, once remarked at each time he conducted a symphony he discovered in it someing new - is from a man who had memorized every note of at symphony and who had conducted it on hundreds, if not ousands, of occasions! What we must not do is to isolate one verse or passage from e Bible and declare, That s what e Bible says, or, God tells us.... This would be a dangerous and destructive misuse of Scripture. The Bible is so rich and varied at one can find a single verse to justify just about anying; e Devil can, indeed, cite Scripture for his purposes. People will often make up eir minds on a subject and en search for a verse or verses from e Bible to support at position. Here is an analogy from anoer source. Let us say at a chauvinistic male has a very low view of women and wishes to gain support for is position from someone famous - like Shakespeare. In Hamlet, I, ii, 145, Hamlet says, Frailty, y name is woman! There! Shakespeare inks women are weak! Or, he could choose one character - Lady Macbe - and claim at Shakespeare inks

6 women are ambitious, heartless and cruel. But is would be a total misreading of Shakespeare, ignoring as it does Portia, Desdemona, and Miranda, for example. A couple of footnotes. - As Christians, we believe at God speaks to us rough Scripture. The person who reveals God most fully to us is Jesus. The Gospels, erefore, carry e most auority, and e words of Jesus are e most auoritative words in e Gospel. That is why some Bibles print e words of Jesus in red. - Reading e Bible is like listening to a symphony or looking at a landscape. While it is true at God is present in each note or in each blade of grass, to appreciate God fully we have to stand back and experience e big picture. Special Notices Members of e Society are invited to join wi parishioners of St Barnabas each Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. during Lent (except Holy Week) for a Lenten Study / Discussion Series on e St Michael s Report. Fr David A. Harris, e National Chairman of e Prayer Book Society of Canada, will be visiting Ottawa in late May. He will preach at St Barnabas on Sunday, May 28 (Sunday after Ascension Day) at e 10:30 a.m. Solemn High Mass, and will address parishioners and members of e Society in e Church on Monday evening, May 29. More information will be provided in e next Newsletter. Dear Joan, News from England and e Prayer Book Society... St. Botolph s Rd Woring, West Sussex BN11 4HY The medieval parish church of Blackburn only became a caedral in 1926, for e new diocese carved out of Manchester diocese. It is small as English caedrals go, but it is most beautifully decorated; clear glass windows to let in light, white statues, shields, bosses, and on e ceilings. It is kept warm and dry. The music at e PBS service was excellent. You would have approved e preacher, a retired Melanesian bishop who is now a parish priest in e diocese of Chester. A short rotund man wi

7 a booming voice, he needed no mike. He wore a magnificent mitre. He said, When e missionaries came to our heaen islands in e Pacific Ocean, ey came wi e BCP. I was baptized, confirmed, ordained, consecrated wi e Prayer Book. If we uneducated heaen can understand your PB, why can t you English understand it yourselves? In my present parish we use no oer book. Over lunch he told us about recent martyrdoms (Anglican) in e Solomon Islands. After an excellent sit-down lunch in e crypt, I had to leave before Evensong to catch my train. I regret at e congregation was mostly elderly. About 150 at e Communion, but such a number looks lost even in a smallish caedral. I was in Lancashire to talk in Accrington to a chapter of priests belonging to e Society of e Sacred Cross. My host said, Stay on to attend e PBS service, which of course I was glad to do. The Bishop of Blackburn and his Suffragan of Burnley are bo orodox believers. The diocese of Blackburn owns a lovely retreat house at Whalley (pronounced Worlly), one of e former monasteries wrecked by Henry VIII. I was taken to see at too, set in a lovely valley, beautiful gardens. Unusual in at county which has been grievously spoiled by e Industrial Revolution. Manchester, Blackburn, Preston, Accrington, Burnley, Colne, Nelson, Haydock, et al, are still bleak and grimy. Wi all good wishes to e Ottawa branch of e PBS, Yours sincerely, + Bishop Robert Mercer, C.R. A Few Thoughts on e History of Crown and Church The following is a reprint of a letter published in e November 2005 issue of Royalty Magazine, in which David A. Blackman provides a fascinating and in-dep account of e relation between crown and church, ranging from e early church to e position of today s royal family. Contrary to a common misconception, reflected in a letter your magazine published from Rina van Coller (Vol. 19 #11) in which she referred to Prince William of Wales as future Head of e Church of England, e only anointed Head of e Church of England is e Archbishop of Canterbury. Throughout e history of England no British monarch has ever been crowned Head of e Church, nor is ere any reference to is title in e coronation rite. Alough British monarchs are styled Defender of e Fai and Supreme Governor of e Church of England, eir relationship wi e church is as a Chief Layperson in e church; it does not make em Head of e Church of England. Anoer common misconception is at Henry VIII founded e Church of England; is is not correct. There is ample historical, ecclesiastical and architectural evidence which refutes ese assumptions, and if his late Majesty was able to come back from e grave, he would clearly convey e same message. Historical evidence abounds in e records of e Council of Nicaea (325 AD), and in e Chronicles of e Venerable Bede ( AD) whose Ecclesiastical History of e English People provides a very graphic account of e lives of e early saints, Saxon bishops, and e people who

8 built and prayed in England's early churches. And e most famous record of all, England's Magna Carta of 1215, clearly indicates at e Church of England was in existence long before Henry VIII ascended e rone of England. Late four-century archaeological concentrations of Christian remains found in Carlisle, Cornwall, Dorset, Kent, and Sou Wales confirm at a British Church existed in England by e four century. One of e remaining Saxon timber churches, reputed to be e only wooden church in e world today - St. Andrew s Church in Gleensted-Justa-Ongan, Essex - dates back to AD 845. The oldest extant church plate in e world, known as e Walter Newton Treasure, which was found in 1975 in Huntingdonshire, England, and is now housed in e British Museum, is furer evidence of e existence of e English Church at e beginning of e four century. The Church of England's name is an old and historic one stemming to e time when it was known as e Church of Angles in e Anglo-Saxon world, and recognised as e Anglo-Saxon branch of e One, Holy, Caolic and Apostolic Church. Alough e Anglo-Saxon Church had always held e Church of Rome in e greatest respect, it wasn't until e Norman conquest at Rome was finally able to exert any indirect or direct auority onto e English church and e people of England. It is a matter of historical record at alough William e Conqueror received considerable support from e Pope when he conquered England in 1066, when e Pope demanded at William should submit and render homage to him as a vassal, William refused, saying, "Homage to ee I have not chosen, nor do I choose to do. I never made a promise to at effect, neier do I find at it was performed by my predecessors [e Saxon kings] to ee." His refusal to pay homage to e Pope did not stop William from being crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. The identity of e Church of England was never broken or disturbed by shedding papal auority. Whenever different political parties are elected to power, e existing civil service remains e same; e only difference is at it supports and advises a new government and its ministers. This is exactly what occurred in e Church of England. The Pope was replaced as Temporal Head of e Church of England, and e Archbishopric of Canterbury was restored back to its original position as being e true Head of e Church of England. It should be noted at e first Primate of e Church of England was Theodore of Tarsus (699AD) and subsequent Archbishops of Canterbury have held e position of spiritual head of e Church of England until 1213, when King John Plantagenet yielded England to e Papal See. During e reign of Elizabe I, e true spiritual headship of e Church of England was restored back to e Archbishops of Canterbury. People are misinformed when ey state at e British Monarchs are Head of e Church of England. Our present Queen is not Head of e Church, nor will e Prince of Wales, or Prince William of Wales, ever be future Heads of e Church of England. Thank you for allowing me to express my concerns and views in is matter. David A. Blackman Ottawa, Ontario

9 St Michael s You Conference For information, see e Ontario Conference website at or contact stmichaels@canada.com. If you, your Rector, or fellow parishioners know of any teenagers who would be interested in attending is year s Conference and would appreciate financial assistance, please contact Joan Wilson at Remember is year s Conference st will be held from August 21 to 26, near e town of Durham (norwest of Toronto). The National Cranmer Conference This is a new initiative being planned by e Grand Valley Branch and e Greater Niagara Branch of e PBSC. It will run from Friday June 9 rough to a Choral Eucharist on Sunday June 11 (Trinity Sunday) at St Paul s, Dunnville, and end wi a luncheon. Speakers include Fr Gary Thorne, former Rector of St George s (Round Church), Halifax and now Chaplain at King s College, Halifax, Fr David A. Harris, National Chairman, PBSC, and Asst Priest at St Peter s Caedral, Charlottetown, and Fr Haynes Hubbard, Rector of St Paul s, Dunnville. For information, please call Walter Raybould at (905) Some information is available on e web at While is Conference has been planned as a follow-up for ose who may have attended earlier St Michael s Conferences and is aimed at ose aged 19 to 29, all in is age bracket are welcome to attend. Cost is $50.00 per person. The 26 Atlantic Theological Conference This year s conference will be held in Charlottetown beginning in e evening of Tuesday June 27 and ending at noon on Friday June 30. Mark your calendars and plan to attend. We will provide more information in e next Newsletter. Advance Notices The Caedral Singers, under e direction of Frances Macdonnell, will sing Choral Evensong in Holy Trinity Church, Pembroke, on Sunday, April 30 at 4.30 p.m. A special Choral Evensong will be held at Christ Church Caedral, Ottawa on Sunday, June 11 at 4.30 p.m. in honour of e Queen s 80 birday. We hope to have our Annual Evensong and dinner in e Parish of Carp in late June. Detailed information will follow in e next Newsletter.

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