The Anglican Digest - Fall 2024

FALL A.D.
2024
VOL. 66 NO. 3
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church

Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin
FALL 2024
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fall 2024
FALL A.D. 2024
VOL. 66 NO. 3

The Society for Promoting and Encouraging the Arts and Knowledge
of the Church (SPEAK, Inc.).
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
CHAIRMAN
THE REV’D CHARLESTON D. WILSON
VICE CHAIRMAN
THE REV’D CHRISTOPHER COLBY
SECRETARY/TREASURER
THE REV’D DR. C. BRYAN OWEN
THE RT. REV’D JOHN C. BAUERSCHMIDT
THE RT. REV’D ANTHONY J. BURTON
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THE VERY REV’D DR. NEAL MICHELL
MR. PHILLIP PARKER
DR. E. MITCHELL SINGLETON, HONORARY
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
THE REV’D DR. FREDRICK A. ROBINSON, EDITOR
THE RT. REV’D ANTHONY F. M. CLAVIER, ASSISTANT EDITOR
MS. REBECCA K. ROBINSON, ASSISTANT EDITOR
PATRICIA SULLIVAN, ASSISTANT EDITOR FOR RECIPES
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2 anglicandigest.org
Reflecting the words and work of the
faithful throughout the Anglican
Communion for more than fifty years.
connecting gathering telling
For sixty-six years, The Anglican Digest (TAD) has been the
leading quarterly publication serving the Anglican Communion.
From its inception, TAD’s mission has been “to reflect the words
and work of the faithful throughout the Anglican Communion.”
At a time when print editions are becoming an endangered
species, TAD remains a familiar presence in the homes and
offices of many Episcopalians.
Founded in 1958 by the Rev’d Howard Lane Foland (1908-

1989), our heritage is “Prayer Book Catholic,” and is open to the
needs and accomplishments of all expressions of Anglicanism:
Anglo-Catholic, Broad, and Evangelical. Thus, TAD does not
cater to any one niche or segment of the Church, but finds its
enduring ethos in serving the Church, including her clergy and
lay leaders, those theologically educated and “babes in Christ.”
Each issue, therefore, is unique.
TAD is sent to anyone who desires to receive it, and is supported

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fall 2024 3
A Letter from the Chairman
of the Board of Trustees
Dear Digest Family,
The English priest and poet John Donne declared, “In heaven
it is always autumn.” As one who doesn’t much like hot weath-
er and suffers from springtime allergies, I sure hope Donne is
right. And even if he isn’t quite right, the peace and fulfillment
of a bright autumnal day is difficult to eclipse this side of heav-
en. Donne continues, “The leaves are always near to falling [in
heaven] but never fall, and pairs of souls out walking heav-
en’s paths no longer feel the weight of years upon them.” To
know that such a kindly place exists and is already prepared for
all who know, love, and trust our Blessed Savior brings great
peace and hope indeed.
The ministry of the Digest is to cheer us heavenward, bringing

souls into union with Jesus Christ. We do this by “reflecting
the words and work of the faithful throughout the Anglican
Communion.” This labor of love takes more than a village. Je-
sus told His disciples, “Pray earnestly, therefore, to the Lord of
the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (St. Matthew
9:38). You and I are those laborers! Let’s get to work!
For the glory of heaven, I remain:
Yours in the Lord’s service,

CW+
(The Rev’d) Charleston David Wilson
Church of the Redeemer
6 Letter from the Editor
7 Letters to the Editor
11 This Joyful Ordinary Time!
14 Praise the Lord
15 Our Lady of Walsingham
20 Truly You Are the Son of God
25 The Church Is A Symphony
28 Upon Attending An All Souls’ Service
30 Christian Community In A Pagan World
35 All Saints/All Souls
40 Butternut Squash Soup with Cheese Biscuits
41 Rubens’s Triumph of the Eucharist
47 The Origin of Clergy Attire
50 Helicopter Parents and Leveling Up
54 Call to Love Book Review
56 Original Sin
61 Allan Bevier Warren III Eulogy
fall 2024 5
connecting
A Letter from the Editor

Dear Readers of The Anglican Digest,
Do you find TAD to be a blessing to you in your walk with

our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you read all of it in one sitting or, more
likely, do you read it little by little? Perhaps some of it appeals to
you while other parts do not. Anglo-Catholics might find some of
the articles a little too evangelical, and evangelicals might find other
articles a little too Anglo-Catholic. Broad church persons might find
it a little uncomfortable around the edges while finding most of it to
their liking.
As I have said in previous issues, we try to have something for
everyone, at least everyone who has any interest at all in the mean-
ing of life, how we human beings relate to that meaning, and what
Christian theology and piety have to say about it all. All people are in
search of the living God, yet so many in our day are searching in all
the wrong places. God, the Creator of all things visible and invisible,
is to be found most fully revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, as he is
worshipped and proclaimed in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
Church.
That is the faith that is found in these pages, and it is our hope that
those who read them may be drawn closer to the Lord Jesus and his
Church.
May this Fall Issue of TAD be a blessing to all who

read it!
Faithfully yours,
gathering telling
Letters to the Editor
Dear Father Fred,
In reading The Bicentennial of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Av-

enue and the Story of Father John Andrew collapsing to his
knees at the magnificence of St. Thomas, I am reminded of a
similar experience in a church far from our shores.
I had the pleasure of visiting Salisbury Cathedral in the UK

during a choir practice and during that time, the mighty pipe
organ started to play Elgar’s The Land of Hope and Glory. It
was in that moment when I couldn’t move. The organ penetrat-
ed me to the bones, and I felt the Holy Spirit in that moment
more than any before or since. The tears were those of joy and
reverence to the gifts of God.
The Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion

An Anglo-Catholic religious order of Third Order brothers and
sisters striving to proclaim the Good News of Christ through
penance and prayer. Our brothers and sisters minister in the
communities in which they live. For further information please
contact:
Br. Peter Stephen, OSF,
4125 River Birch Rd., Fort Worth, TX 76137
e-mail vicar-general@fodc.net
or call 817-948-8826
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fall 2024 7
connecting
Thank you for bringing back that memory. I look forward to

visiting St. Thomas Church in the future.
Sincerely,
Trevor J. Hustus
Washington National Cathedral
vvv
A Response to the Letter by the Rev’d PW in the

Spring 2024 Issue of TAD
March 19, 2024

Saint Joseph
Dear Editor,
The Rev’d P W, signing off his or her Letter to the Editor with a
line of eleven emojis and a charge against TAD for irresponsi-
ble printing, censures articles by me and by the Rev’d M Rowe,
saying they are “confusing and inaccurate.” I have not seen Fa-
ther Rowe’s article. Neither can I answer Rev’d P W’s charge
that my articles – sermons, actually, for All Saints’ and All
Souls’ days – are confusing. However, I can reply that Rev’d P
W’s assertions about Requiem Masses and the BCP are simply
wrong.
The BCP has appointed Collects and Lessons for The Burial
of the Dead, and it marks All Souls’ Day in its calendar – for
which additional Collects and Lessons are, and have long been,
provided in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, up to the latest 2022 edi-
gathering telling
tion. These are, in fact, Requiem Masses or, if you prefer, Re-
quiem Eucharists. And there are many examples I could quote
from the BCP to answer Rev’d P W’s query about our souls
needing perfection and purgation before attaining heavenly
and the beatific vision of Christ in the Holy Trinity – but I con-
fine myself to two:
First, the Prayer for the Whole State of Christ’s Church, since
its 1928 version, pp. 74-75 in BCP 1979, p. 330, prays for the
departed, “…beseeching thee to grant them continual growth
in thy love and service…” Growth here means precisely what
Rev’d P W denies – movement by the departed soul towards
the final perfection of heavenly glory in Christ.
Second, in both BCP 1928, p. 327, and BCP 1979, p 488, there
is the well-known prayer for the soul of a departed person,
which asks our Creator and Savior: “Wash him, we pray thee,
in the blood of that immaculate Lamb, that was slain to take
away the sins of the world; that whatsoever defilements he may
have contracted in the midst of this earthly life being purged
and done away, he may be presented pure and without spot be-
fore thee; through the merits of Jesus Christ thine only Son our
Lord.” In 1928, the prayer is for the sick person “at the point of
departure.” In 1979, the prayer is to be used at the Burial Ser-
vice. The intent, and effect, is the same.
The compilers of the BCP were perfectly aware of our 39 Ar-

ticles of Religion when they included the several Propers for
the (Requiem) Eucharist and the many Prayers for the depart-
ed. These Propers and Prayers do not constitute the “Romish
Doctrine” denounced by Article XXII; on the contrary, they
fall 2024 9
are perfectly Anglican/Episcopal usage. I have happily had re-
course to these rich spiritual resources for over half a century
of ordained ministry.
To conclude with the BCP 1979 Catechism on p. 862: “Q. Why

do we pray for the dead? A. We pray for them, because we still
hold them in our love, and because we trust that in God’s pres-
ence those who have chosen to serve him will grow in his love,
until they see him as he is.
Faithfully yours,
(The Rev’d) Andrew C. Mead
vvv
The Spring 2024 issue was wonderful!! I enjoyed the article on

“Lent with the Beloved Disciple” and am eager to read/study
the entire book. The article “To Hell and Back” by Dr John
Switzer, was also very well written and informative. As an EFM
mentor, I am well aware that many people who call themselves
Christian, do not believe in the Resurrection--it is an old wives
tale! But the Resurrection is essential to Christianity as af-
firmed by the Rev’d Gavin Dunbar in his article, “Why Believe
in the Risen Lord.” He sets the record straight, forcefully and
succinctly! Thank you!
vvv
Are you moving?
Don’t miss a single issue!
Go to anglicandigest.org/
gathering telling
THIS JOYFUL Almighty and everlasting God,

ORDINARY TIME! whose will it is to restore all
things in your well-beloved
The Rev’d Dante Anglin Son, the King of kings and Lord
Priest-in-Charge of lords: Mercifully grant that
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
Havana, Illinois the peoples of the earth, divid-
ed and enslaved by sin, may be
freed and brought together un-
der his most gracious rule; who
lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.
The Ordinary Time of the

Church year can be a bit of
a spiritual marathon of sorts,
especially for priests, in that
it is a season that when com-
pared to the explosive as well
as hurried parts of the Church
calendar, seems very quiet. It
is a season where one really
Remember, O Lord, what you will get rather annoyed at the
have wrought in us and not color green, experience the
what we deserve; and, as you utter insanity of the seeming-
have called us to your service, ly endless slog of all 29 prop-
make us worthy of our calling; er collects, and overall test
through Jesus Christ our Lord, your “spiritual stamina” so to
who lives and reigns with you speak. All of these aforemen-
and the Holy Spirit, one God, tioned scenes I have depicted,
now and for ever. Amen. are why the season of Ordi-
fall 2024 11
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nary Time is a joyful one in

relation to the Church’s life.
For in this joyful season of
Ordinary Time, we find that
the three theological virtues
of Faith, Hope, and Love are
experienced in their fullness.
For the season after Pente-
cost is not 40 days like Lent,
12 Days like Christmastide,
or anything like that. It lasts
for over half the year which Theological Virtues Faith,
means a lot of green vest- Hope, and Love
ments, “normal” collects, and Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
“normal” hymnody if you 26 March 1794–24 May 1872
have any at all.
experience the virtues of
In the length of this season we Faith, Hope, and Love in these
find that the Faith, Hope, and other times of the Church’s li-
Love that we see as well as do turgical year, mainly because
experience in other parts of these other seasons of the
the Church’s liturgical life are Church year do not last very
stressed to their most extreme long! It is easy to go and help
limits. In Lent we wait 40 days out at a soup kitchen during
until the start of Holy Week. Christmas time or give up a
In Advent, we wait 24 or 25 bad habit during the season
days give or take until Christ- of Lent, but what about the
mas Eve/Day. Yet, in the sea- other six months of the year?
son of Ordinary Time, we
wait 6 months to get to Christ The season of ordinary time
the King Sunday. It is easy to does not give us liberty to
gathering telling
“take a walk” on the spiritual as well as actions into every

race that we are meant to run aspect of the Christian life
the rest of our lives. Rather itwhich is dominated by this
gives us the liberty to run the ordinary time. It challenges
race with built up endurance us to come to church and look
and strength. For in the oth- at the same green vestments,
er seasons of the Church year hear the “normal” collects,
like Advent, Lent, Eastertide, and sing the “normal” hymns.
and so on, we are meant to It challenges us in our “return
take what we have learned, to normalcy,” to treat the nor-
what we have built up and use mal as special. For every Sun-
that as a pushing off point to day in this time of year and
go into a season where Faith, proper collect that goes along
Hope, and Love is needed all with it, shows us that every
the more in ourselves, our Sunday for a Christian mat-
families, our churches, and ters, every day for a Christian
our community. matters, and that every season
of the Church year has some-
Ordinary Time challenges us thing for us to grow in Faith,
in the Christian life to push Hope, and Love.
harder and further than at
any other time in the Church’s This joyful Ordinary Time we
liturgical life as well as our are to say away with sin and
lives as individual Christians. sorrow; resting in the Faith,
It challenges us to take the Hope, and Love that our Lord
Faith, Hope, and Love that Jesus Christ who was Born in
led us to working at a soup a manger in the season Christ-
kitchen or giving up certain mastide, Died, Rose from the
bad habits in these grand sea- Tomb, as well as Ascended
sons of the Church’s life and into Heaven in the season of
expand those same virtues Eastertide, is very much with
fall 2024 13
connecting
us in this season of Ordinary PRAISE THE LORD

Time. By his mercy and grace
we are able to run this spiri- Sandy Davis
tual marathon of 6 months Praise the Lord. Praise the
crossing the finish line of an- Lord.
other year and start all over Let all nations rejoice
again. For the fight that we And all His creation
fight, the race that we run, the Resound with one voice.
life that we lead as Christians Let rocks, hills and valleys
against the temptations of the All sing in accord
world, the flesh, and the Devil And praise their Creator
is not over. Let’s keep running Our Savior and Lord.
this joyful ordinary time!
“I have fought the good fight, I

have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. From now on
there is reserved for me the
crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge,
will give to me on that day,
and not only to me but also to
all who have longed for his ap- Praise the Lord. Praise the
pearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8 Lord.
vvv Every flower and tree,
Every river and stream
Share joy all year long Sing their praises to thee.
with a gift subscription. Let the trumpets resound,
Contact lcrane@ And the cymbals loud ring.
To our Lord we give praise
anglicandigest.org To Him honor we bring.
gathering telling
Our Lady of Walsingham

The Rev’d Paul S. Coey
Rector of St. Peter’s Church
Praise the Lord. Praise the

Lord,
In our trials and strife,
In our weakness and pain,
In the joys of our life.
Every day that we live
We proclaim Him as King
And in grateful thanksgiving
To Him we shall sing.
Potentially missing the gaze

of our eyes among the busy-
ness of the Churchman Ordo,
two days of optional obser-
vance this Fall deserve our
special recognition. These are
Icon by Christine Hales
Sarasota, Florida the commemoration of Our
fall 2024 15
connecting
Lady of Walsingham on Sep- ingham. That Holy House

tember 24th and the Trans- was soon built and became a
lation of Our Lady of Wals- major pilgrimage destination
ingham on October 15th. The during the reign of King Ed-
former recalls to our minds ward the Confessor with pil-
the apparition of the Blessed grims persisting until the En-
Virgin to an Anglo-Saxon no- glish Reformation. The latter
blewoman of the 11th centu- commemoration celebrates a
ry. During this apparition our much more modern chapel
Lady spiritually presented the built during the last century
Holy Family’s house in Naz- as devotion was restored. A
areth and requested a replica statue of Our Lady was trans-
be built in the town of Wals- lated from the local parish
church to the new shrine in
1931.
May I attempt to avoid offer-

ing a theological treatise on
the Blessed Virgin within the
Anglican tradition? Much has
been said by the far better read
and further yet more holy.
Rather, I wish to call these
commemorations to your
mind as an encouragement
to our piety and ecumenism
as well as a slice of life in my
little corner of our commu-
Our Lady of Walsingham Statue nion. As a convert to the An-
Grace Church glican Church, my journey
Sheboygan, Wisconsin began, then unknown to me,
gathering telling
when my mentor, the late Fa- Lady Chapel by the Rt. Rev’d
ther Tony Jarvis of Dorches- Matthew Gunter.
ter, instructed me to attend
a service on the Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I
missed that Mass by about an
hour but my searching after
the first saint and my hope to
learn from her life and exam-
ple continues.
As is common in the Diocese

of Fond du Lac, St. Peter’s, the
parish I serve, has long had a
shrine dedicated to Our Lady.
On Palm Sunday 1998, our
church suffered a fire at this
shrine, nearly burning down
the building. In the aftermath
of the disaster the charred
statue that hung above the
shrine was found. The face
of the Blessed Virgin was to-
tally consumed by the flames
but up from the ashes she
held Our Lord mostly spared Our Marian piety not only
from destruction. In the in- survived these difficult years
tervening years a more mod- but now grows as this chapel
est shrine was installed until is used regularly for midweek
last year when the site of the healing Mass for those unable
fire was dedicated as our new to attend on Sunday because
fall 2024 17
connecting
of their illnesses. Hung above of Walsingham has been of

the altar is a portrait of Our particular focus within En-
Lady and Our Lord reminis- glish Marian devotion. This
cent of their likeness in the site, hallowed by her appari-
Walsingham image. Seeming- tion and further integrated
ly this background dedication into our living faith through
may be dismissed as a quirk countless generations of pil-
of the Biretta Belt. However grims, is not ‘Fatima on-loan’
Mary’s continued presence in with accompanying revela-
the rich tapestry of our faith tions. Rather, the devotion of
soaks into our bones as we Walsingham is an acknowl-
walk our earthly pilgrimage edgment of Mary’s continued
to her at St. Peter’s. Where we life in Christ that has guid-
go, the Blessed Virgin Mary ed us quietly since the first
accompanies us. Or to steal Christians recalled the Angel
from the sentiment from Gabriel’s annunciation to the
George Herbert far less elo- Virgin. Walsingham recalls to
quently than the poet: as we us the Holy House where she
seek God’s presence we find gave a hearty “yes” to God’s
him residing with Mary, the plan of salvation. The Wals-
Ark of the Covenant. ingham apparition does not
carry elaborate litanies, but
Over the last couple of cen- rather wordlessly conveys the
turies as expressions of our maternal love of the Mother of
broad patristic faith contin- God. As she raised Christ we
ue to find their rightful place may still find her in that Holy
among the Reformed English House as a spiritual mother.
character of Anglicanism, our
recognition of Mary increas- In 1931, Father Alfred Hope
es. From the early days of Ec- Patten, Vicar of Walsingham
clesia Anglicana, Our Lady Parish, created the contem-
gathering telling
porary Anglican Shrine in re- pilgrims to that original site

sponse to increasing devotion are joined with our Roman
and translated the statue of Catholic brethren, and those
Our Lady of Walsingham to of diverse Christian expres-
its new home. Now Anglican sion. The unity not enjoyed
in communion nor always
in doctrine fades into the
background as our common
mother is venerated. Sibling
rivalry pales in comparison to
a mother’s love.
Since the early 1950s, the

American Proto-Shrine of
Our Lady of Walsingham
at Grace Church, Sheboy-
gan, has been a pilgrimage
destination for the Feast of
the Translation. Each year
we gather from across the
country to seek after Christ
in seeking the Mother of the
Church. This pilgrimage and
observance of the optional
memorials elsewhere lives
comfortably within the dis-
tinctly Anglican expression of
faith. Our devotion to the first
Shrine of Our Lady of saint neither lives alone in the
Walsingham, St. Peter’s Church, words of Sacred Scripture nor
Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin confuses Mary’s great worship
fall 2024 19
connecting
of God with a veneration in- TRULY YOU ARE THE

ordinately focused on her. We SON OF GOD
echo her radical acceptance
and self-subordination to The Rev’d Russell Jay
Levenson, Jr.
God’s work. Assembling at the DMin, DD, ret.
Holy House shrine, we sing
our song to her in thanksgiv-
ing for her earthly life, her ap-
pearance in England so many
centuries ago, and her endur-
ing life in Christ. I commend
these celebrations to you,
readers. They’re as Anglican
as the Magnificat at Evening
Prayer.
Stick with me for a moment.
So we sing that lovely pil-
Have you ever thought of “de-
grimage hymn: “Again in
spair” as a sin? And if not a
her House her due honor is
sin, perhaps a temptation? I
taught: Her name is invoked,
confess, that I have not… un-
her fair graces besought: Ave,
til recently. I thought of de-
Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave,
spair as hopelessness in the
Ave, Maria!”
face of circumstances that are
The Rev’d Paul S. Coey is a defeating, difficult, destruc-
priest of the Diocese of Fond tive. Despair as a response to
du Lac serving as Rector of St. things like this has been, for
Peter’s, Sheboygan Falls. He is a long time, understandable
a priest companion of the Ora- to me. In part, because there
tory of the Good Shepherd and have been times in my life
a guardian of the Proto-Shrine when I caved to despair, but
of Our Lady of Walsingham I had never really pondered it
gathering telling
as an agent of the evil one, so complete despair of my future

to speak. before God overwhelms my
heart. God was never with
But over the summer, I read me, God is not with me, God
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s little will never forgive me; for my
book, Temptation, (London, sin is so great that it cannot be
SCM Publishers, 1953). I forgiven ... [Satan] becomes
thought it was going to be the accuser who allows man
about those things we typical- to find no comfort ..” (p.42-
ly associate with temptation — 43).
the deadly sins, we sometimes
call them — greed, gluttony, So, I admit, I had to be con-
lust and so on. Those were in- vinced of Bonhoeffer’s asser-
cluded, but so was what Bon- tion, but the more I thought
hoeffer calls “The temptation about it (and prayed about
to desperation, to despair.” it) I realized that what he
wrote was true. To collapse
Here is what he writes: “In into despair pushes away the
this way Satan robs the be- possibilities that our faith can
liever of all joy in the Word bring to the table in the care,
of God, all experience of the love, and providence of God.
good God; in place of which And such despair also closes
he fills the heart with the ter- the door on the blessings that
rors of the past, of the pres- gratitude can offer the child of
ent, and of the future. Old God.
long-forgotten guilt suddenly
rears up its head before me, as (November) is the “Thanks-
if it had happened today: Op- giving” month, when we
position to the Word of God spend some time pondering
and unwillingness to obey as- all the blessings we have as a
sume huge proportions, and nation, and despite the cul-
fall 2024 21
connecting
ture wars — we have bless- what happens to us in terms

ings aplenty. But of course, it of objective events. Many
would be easy to generate a forces over which we have no
grateful heart if all we do is control converge on our lives.
consider the desperate — and What we are free to do is de-
often uncontrollable — events termine how we will respond
of the world around us. to those events.”
We all remember the story of
Jesus walking on the water.
(Take a minute if you will and
read it — Matthew 14:22-36).
You will also recall that Pe-
ter got so excited about it all,
that he decided to give wa-
ter-walking a try. Jesus said,
Diettrich Bonhoeffer —
Lutheran pastor and theologian
pictured in the mid 1930s. He
was an outspoken critic of the
Nazi regime and died at Flossen-
burg Concentration Camp.
Jesus and the sinking Peter –
I learned so much about this Wood engraving by Julius
from my mentor, the late Schnorr von Carolsfeld
John Claypool. He writes, “ ... (German painter, 1794 - 1872),
we are not free to determine published in 1860.
gathering telling
“Bring it on!” Peter got out of ment question — ‘Why did

the boat, was walking toward this have to happen to me?’ -
Jesus…everything was fine ... and concentrate on the nega-
until! Until he saw the wind tive, on what is going against
around him, and he began to us. Or we can ask the gratitude
sink! question - ‘What is there here
to be thankful for that can be
What had Peter done? He used in constructing a posi-
took His eyes off Jesus! He
tive future?’ and then focus in
was looking at the circum-
on that which is going for us.
stances, and not looking to
Obviously, these are two very
the One Who could pull Him
different ways of approaching
through! He was not grateful
a single event, and I would
for the miracle; he was full
like to suggest that one leads
of despair at the surround-
to victorious and courageous
ings! What was the solution?
living while the other leads to
Jesus held out his hand, and
immobilization and despair.”1
together, our Lord and Peter
got back in the boat. At this
You might be tempted to
moment the Apostles, hav-
think Dr. Claypool was just
ing witnessed the miracle
theorizing, but I saw this play
defeat the despair, began to
out in his own life. It was
say, “Truly you are the Son of
how he finally, courageously,
God.” (Matthew 14:33)
came to terms with the death
Back to John Claypool for a of his young daughter after
moment. He unpacks how we her battle with leukemia. It
respond to desperate circum- took many years, but he said
stances in this way, “You see, what brought him out of the
in every given situation, the depths was finally deciding
choice that is always ours is that he could spend the rest
this: We can ask the resent- of his life mad at God for al-
fall 2024 23
connecting
lowing his daughter to die, or enced in life. Not long after on

he could spend the rest of his April 9, 1945, at the young age
life thanking God for the 10 of 39, he was taken from his
years they had together. And cell to be hanged by his cap-
he chose gratitude. tors. His last words? “This is
the end — for me the begin-
It was a choice he had to ning of life....” And may I say
make at the end of his life as again, “Wow ... Lord give me
well. After a long and fruit- that kind of faith!”
ful vocation in ministry, John
retired, only to be diagnosed I do not know what circum-
shortly thereafter with multi- stances you face today. They
ple myeloma. John and I had may seem at first glance, quite
become good friends by then, desperate. But you know,
and I will never forget that I child of God, where to take
never once heard him utter a that desperation. Whenever
word of despair. In fact, one anxiety, worry, despair rear
day he startlingly asked, “I an ugly head, do as Peter did.
wonder what God is going to Turn your eyes to Jesus, put
teach me through this experi- your hand in His hand and
ence?” All I can say to that is let Him turn your grievanc-
“Wow.” Although, I might add es into gratitude. Allow Him
to that, “Lord, give me that to transform your woes into
kind of faith!” worship so that your response
Bonhoeffer made the same will be that of the Apostles,
choice in the face of desperate “Surely this man is the Son of
circumstances. His last letter God!”
to a friend, written from the 1
John Claypool, The Light Within
Flossenbürg Concentration You (Waco: Word Book, 1983), p.
Camp, spoke of his gratitude 142.
to God for all he had experi- From The Star, November 2023
gathering telling
THE CHURCH IS A with something, that some-

SYMPHONY! thing “pleases” me. It gives me
pleasure. That chocolate cake
The Very Rev’d Sam Candler “agrees” with me; it gives me
Dean of the Cathedral pleasure. And if I “agree” with
of St. Philip
Atlanta, Georgia a person, this agreement gives
me pleasure. That old mean-
ing, however, has developed
further when applied to our
opinions and doctrines. Now,
we say that, if our opinion or
belief statement is only exact-
ly the same as that of anoth-
er person, do we “agree” with
that person.
Okay. But it is not the way

this gospel passage, from
Matthew, speaks of “agree.” In
Matthew 18:19, Jesus uses a
special word when he says, “if
two of you agree on earth...,
“If two of you agree on earth it will be done for you …..in
about anything you ask, it will heaven.”
be done for you by my Father
in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19) The word that we translate
as “agree” is really the Greek
What, then, does it mean to word, “symphoneo.” Now,
“agree”? that word sounds a lot like
another word we use in En-
One sense is that if I agree glish, doesn’t it? Yes! It is the
fall 2024 25
connecting
same word as “symphony!” come together in his name,

“Sum” means “together,” and as a symphony! If a church is
“phonos” means “sound.” A to be in “agreement,” in the
symphony, then, is sounds way that this passage speaks
coming together. of “agreement,” the church
will be like a symphony. Not
everyone plays, or sings, the
same note! And even if two
instrumentalists do play the
same note, they are played in
different rhythms!
And, yet, the piece holds to-

gether. It is in agreement. It
gives the world the agreeable
pleasure of harmony and di-
When Jesus says that “if two rection. That is a model for
of you ‘agree’ on earth, it will the Church, too! ....Jesus calls
be done for you in heaven,” us to a Church where two or
he is using the word “sym- three are in agreement to-
phoneo.” …Symphony! Wow. gether. But the word is “sym-
And what is a symphony? It is phony.” The healthy and effec-
an elaborate musical piece of tive churches, the beautiful
many, different notes! Many churches, are not those where
different rhythms and mea- everyone is playing the same
sures and themes and melo- note!
dies. And not everyone plays,
or sings, the same note! Another way to say this is that
the Church is not supposed to
Jesus is describing the effec- be “Johnny One-Note.” The
tive church, where people Church is not supposed to be
gathering telling
monotone. It is not supposed be in lockstep with every one

be everyone playing the same of them.
thing. Instead, we are playing
different notes. We are singing ...We can present Jesus, the
different lines. We are moving Christ, in all manner of di-
in different rhythms! Church- versity and variety. We can
es are different notes, different present Jesus, the Christ,
lines, different rhythms, and as a symphony, a sympho-
all in harmony. Not everyone ny of beautiful and different
is going to sing the same line sounds, all sounding together,
you are singing. for the salvation of the world,
From The Cathedral Times,

the weekly newsletter of the
Cathedral of Saint Philip, Sep-
tember 10, 2023
vvv
Applauding music that is a

formal part of religious ser-
vices suggests that it is done
...And that diversity, that to please an audience, not to
broad arrangement of gifts glorify God.
and treasures, is how the
Church changes the world. Miss Manners, WP April 9/24
In the name of Jesus, a loving
and caring and generous Je- Submitted by the
sus, we agree with a tremen- Rev’d Michael Rowe
dous variety of ministries; and St. Raphael’s Church,
we do not, personally, have to Fort Myers Beach
fall 2024 27
connecting
UPON ATTENDING AN paper, which was covering

ALL SOULS’ SERVICE his opening of an Episcopal
Robert S. Boggs chapel, St. Mary’s, in quaint-
Greenville, South Carolina ly named Travelers Rest,
South Carolina. Mr. Phillips,
I went to hear a former stu- I came to know, was all about
dent give a homily for an All Christian formation through
Souls’ service during his cura- Episcopal worship in artful
cy. Our poet curate did well. settings. So, he had bought
an abandoned house, had it
moved to a spot in his wife’s
garden behind their house,
and had converted it into St.
Mary’s chapel — outfitted
with an organ, hand made
pews, and stained glass win-
dows.
The Rev’d , now Fr., Tyler I came to learn that his em-
Proctor (center) brace of a life of worship had
Picture of the “poet curate,” resulted from a long illness,
whose ordination occasioned including infrequent seizures,
the memory. which had led him to a local
church during Lent. After
I was reminded of a Soul of hearing the homilist expound
great importance to me. His upon the call of Brother Law-
name was Raymond Phillips. rence, he petitioned his lo-
He had been ordained late in cal bishop to be considered
life after working for many for ordination. To do all that
years in psychiatry. I read he could, in the time he had
about him in a local news- remaining, “to the glory of
gathering telling
God,” and in an atmosphere Fr. Phillips was a relic of an-

of holiness. That small relo- other era of church person-
cated structure in Travelers ship. He believed fervently
Rest, SC., became a place he in the sanctity of material
thought others could be led to objects. He was not a biblical
God, because it was as close scholar. He rejected all “hap-
to sacred space as he could py-slappy religion” and those
approximate. he saw as its exponents, call-
ing them disparagingly “go go
boys.” Recently I was witness
to a disagreement between
two friends on theological ed-
ucation. One argued for the
highest academic standards
— this friend was known to
bring a Greek New Testament
to worship, so that he could
be assured of the authentic-
ity of the homilist’s exegesis
Robert Boggs 40 years ago and hermeneutics. The other
friend argued that, for her, the
I was one of those led to the most important part of her
life of faith at St. Mary’s Chap-theological education was the
el. I was given books to read, Christian formation which
and instruction as an acolyte came from daily worship in
— even pump organ lessons. the beautiful Gothic chapel of
For me that salvific-enabling the seminary.
Soul who was Raymond Phil-
lips established a liminal, but In agreement with the latter
transformative space, which argument was Fr. Phillips’s
nourishes me still. unapologetic life’s work. St.
fall 2024 29
connecting
Mary’s Chapel was offered CHRISTIAN

to my little world as a place COMMUNITY IN A
of transformation and for PAGAN WORLD
numinous encounters with
the Lord God Jehovah, as Fr. Mother Miriam
Phillips described God, and I
think I was... In 1939 just before the Brit-
ish declared war against Nazi
Germany, T.S. Eliot gave a se-
ries of lectures at Cambridge
University entitled The Idea of
a Christian Society.1 It was a
tense time, in much the same
way as the world is on edge to-
day. He described his world as
“living at present in a kind of
The only known picture of St. doldrums between opposing
Mary’s Chapel. Shown are the winds of doctrine, in a period
pecan trees that Fr. Phillips in which one political philos-
thought would be a lucrative ophy [Nazism] has lost its co-
source of future revenue. Not gency for behavior.” Scholars
visible are the Jerusalem ar- have argued since Marx and
tichokes which Mrs. Phillips Nietzsche about the similar-
intended to use for piccalilli. ities and differences between
States Boggs, “I tell you this totalitarian and democratic
because of its disarming naive- societies. Those of us most
te, that at the time seemed so committed to our Christian
possible... It was that kind of faith need to reflect how our
liminal space. The chapel and convictions in following Jesus
house were razed while I was are understood (or not) by
in graduate school.” our next door neighbors.
gathering telling
Eliot introduced the striking

idea that the fascist doctrine
of his day was fundamentally
pagan. He then leaves it to the
philosophers to define what
makes fascism “pagan” be-
cause we might see the same
qualities in our own “Chris-
tian society.”2 Rather than be
stuck in the endless argument
about whether Western so-
ciety is Christian or pagan,
Louise Perry in First Things
cited Steven Smith’s observa-
tion of the difference between
4th century Romans and
Christians. Perry summed it
all up in one sentence. “The
pagan gods, in all their beau-
ty and terror, are elements
If time orientation is so clearly of this world, in contrast to
the difference between Christians the transcendent God of the
and pagans, where pagans con- Abrahamic faiths (emphasis
centrate on the creations of today
mine).3
while Christians labor in hope for
the final Kingdom of God - then
what is the difference between a In other words, the under-
Christian society and a humanist lying difference between pa-
society which tolerates all beliefs gans and Christians is their
as long as those beliefs are private orientation to time. Perhaps it
matters which have no impact is an over simplification, but
upon one’s neighbor? the pattern seems to be that
fall 2024 31
connecting
pagans are more concerned a substantial part of his essay.

about the present in their He conceived of “Christian
lives; and Christians, the fu- Society” as a working col-
ture. laboration of the “Christian
State,” the “Christian Com-
Eighty years after Eliot’s lec- munity,” the “Community of
tures, in a world of econom- Christians.” These are similar
ic globalization and Internet words with vastly different in-
connectivity where I am priv- ferences. I found them help-
ileged to communicate regu- ful in seeing how a monastic
larly with my Sisters in Malawi, community such as ours fits
the question of what differen- into American society today.
tiates faithful Christians and
faithful other believers still is Eliot saw the evolution of
of interest. If time orientation a modern “Christian State”
is so clearly the difference be- such as Britain prior to World
tween Christians and pagans, War II as basically and his-
where pagans concentrate on torically Christian, but with
the creations of today while the tolerance of Anglicans for
Christians labor in hope for Catholics, Reformed Chris-
the final Kingdom of God, tians, and other faith-based
then what is the difference groups with their various
between a Christian society leaders who arbitrate ethical
and a humanist society which affairs in similar fashion. “It
in essence tolerates all beliefs is only from the much small-
as long as those beliefs are er number of conscious hu-
private matters which have man beings, the Community
no impact upon one’s neigh- of Christians, that one would
bor? Eliot defined that kind expect a conscious Christian
of tolerance as Liberalism and life on its highest social level.”
wrestled with that thought for This is where I would expect
gathering telling
to find Christian monastic that ... seem to be instinctive

communities, even as the in human beings, particularly
Eastern Orthodox form many the veneration of nature and
village parishes around their ancestors. We should under-
monastic communities. stand Christianity’s impact
on morality in much the same
way — not as a process of
replacement, but rather as a
process of blending. Most cul-
tures look at the powerful and
the wealthy and assume that
they must be doing some-
thing right to have attained
such might. ...The poor are
poor because of some failing
of their own, whether in this
life or the last. The smallness
and feebleness of women and
children is a sign that they
must be commanded by men.
The suffering of slaves is not
Perry went further in her ex- an argument against slavery,
ploration of how such an evo- but an argument against al-
lution of a Christian State in lowing oneself to be enslaved.”
America could be described.
Citing Steven Smith’s book, Not so with Christianity! By
Pagans and Christians, she the fourth and fifth centuries
observed the following: of the Christian Era, Chris-
“Christianity flourished when tians were willing to be ex-
it permitted followers to in- iled and martyred for their
corporate religious “practices loyalty to our God because of
fall 2024 33
connecting
their mysterious understand- first shall be last and the last

ing of the Trinity of Persons shall be first in the Kingdom
who allowed himself to be of God. Christians are con-
crucified, even as St. Paul the vinced of this truth, not by
Apostle taught the Gentiles, logic, but through love and
(non-Abrahamic) believers, hope in the knowledge of the
that “God chose the weak historicity and reality of Je-
things of the world to shame sus Christ, being perfect man
the strong” (I Cor 1:27-29). and perfect God. When these
things are held together in
Here is where I part compa- paradox, yet are believed as
ny with Ms. Perry. Her logic truth, the world of the Chris-
is impeccable, but her knowl- tian explodes time from the
edge of Christianity can be perpetual Now of scientific
characterized in T. S. Eliot’s discovery into ever-increas-
description of the members ing, eternal beatific vision, the
of a Christian Community, telos, the true end in union
“a largely unconscious be- with God, the perpetual glo-
havior.” I am assuming that ry and worship of God alone.
the reader is interested in en- Hans Boersma said it well re-
tering ever more deeply into cently. “The virtual loss of the
Christian life and fellowship, beatific vision as a topos in
what T. S. Eliot called “the theology seems unavoidable
Community of Christians.” I once human desire takes the
pray that we individually as driver’s seat and is allowed to
well as communally explore determine the telos of human
where Christianity’s hidden existence. ... [A] culture that
strength and guidance lays. takes the dictates of desire as
Perry is quite right in ob- the starting point and guide
serving the unique quality for what constitutes the good
of Christianity is where the life cannot but end in a vio-
gathering telling
lent clash of diverging wills.”4 ALL SAINTS/

If, on the other hand, one be- ALL SOULS
lieves that God is the ultimate
and loving authority over our The Rt Rev’d Daniel Martins, DD
XI Bishop of Springfield, ret.
life, then whatever happens Chicago, IL
on present-day Earth, be it
painful suffering or ecstat-
ic joy, is always secondary to
our love of God. Therein is
the difference between Eliot’s
“Christian community” and
a Community of Christians,”
the Church with a capital “C.”
__________
1
I am indebted to Louise Perry’s ar- In the annual cycle of the
ticle in the October 2023 issue of Church’s liturgical obser-
First Things for citing T. S. Eliot’s
seminal work wrestling with the
vances, the beginning of No-
definition of a Christian society. vember invites us regularly to
2
T. S. Eliot, The Idea of a Christian confront the reality that we
Society, (London: Faber and Faber are mortal—we will all die.
Ltd., 1939), 19.
3
Ibid. 20 On November 1, All Saints’
4
Hans Boersma, Seeing God: The Be-
atific Vision in Christian Tradition, Day, a “Principal Feast” (one
(Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerd- of only seven) in the Prayer
mans, 2018), 196. Book calendar, we remem-
ber and honor those among
From St. Mary’s Messenger, the baptized over the last
published at St. Mary’s Con- two millennia who have dis-
vent, Greenwich, New York, tinguished themselves not
Advent 2023. by what they accomplished,
fall 2024 35
connecting
though many accomplished But what of the rest? What

much of greatness, but who of those, in whose number
allowed themselves to be so we will presumably one day
penetrated by God’s indwell- be enrolled, who have passed
ing grace that their witness to from this life very much as
the Gospel was exceptionally “works in progress?” What
heroic, and their holiness ex- of our departed loved ones—
emplary and inspiring. spouses, parents, siblings,
children, friends? For this
The Saints have all died; they rather larger company, we
have passed from this world. have November 2, the “lesser
In the Church’s collective feast” of the Commemora-
spiritual discernment (for tion of All Faithful Departed,
which Anglicans have no for- known traditionally as All
mal process, though other Souls. While we invoke the
parts of the Church do), we prayers of the Saints on our
know them to have experi- behalf, our instinct with re-
enced the completion of their gard to “all souls” is to pray
sanctification. The distortion for them, on their behalf, that
of Sin has been removed from they will cooperate with God’s
them. They have been made love and grace in the healing
holy, and they are able to look of the damage done in them
God in the eye without being by Sin, that their holiness will
turned to dust. As such, and be perfected and they join
because we know ourselves to the Saints in God’s unfiltered
be one with them through the presence.
waters of baptism, we right-
ly ask them to pray for us, to In our still recently post-
remember us to the One in Christian North American
whose nearer presence they culture, there seems to be a
abide. great deal of confusion be-
gathering telling
This reigning paradigm is

clearly tied loosely in some
ways to Christianity, but is
also overlaid and intermin-
gled with an array of other
notions. Some of these are just
sentimental images of “heav-
en” that our imaginations have
developed, a picture of “after-
life” that we wish were true,
The Virgin Mary with the because it’s so comforting.
Apostles and other Saints Others are syncretistic—that
(1423 -24) Fra Angelico is, they admit elements from
other religions (reincarnation
tween authentic—scriptural and karma would be a couple
and traditional—Christian of examples). The problem is
teaching around death, and that both the benign vision of
a sort of “cultural theology” “heaven” and the syncretistic
that figures prominently in fragments of other religions
the popular imagination. A yield a “secular theology” that
“good person” (by whatever is, in effect, a competitor to
standard one measures such a historic Christian teaching.
thing) goes to a “happy place
when he or she dies (which a The fundamental data point of
TV show or movie or novel the Christian creeds is not the
occasionally attempts to de- amorphous “immortality of
pict). And for a “bad person?” the soul,” but something quite
Our culture seems reluctant concrete: the resurrection of
to speculate, perhaps wishing the body. In Job, we find the
them simply to vanish into lines that were so compel-
non-existence. lingly set to music by Han-
fall 2024 37
connecting
del in Messiah: “And though theological directions? The

worms destroy this body, yet hymn text speaks of a person’s
in my flesh shall I see God.” “flesh”—i.e. one’s body—rest-
And now, while we have our ing/slumbering “for a season,”
bibles open, let us interrogate implying a real but non-cor-
both Isaiah and Revelation, poreal, and temporary, inter-
where we will encounter the im existence.
notion of a “new heaven and
new earth” in which God’s One category that explains
holy ones, in their resurrect- such a thing is the notion of
ed bodies, live and move and Purgatory. If your impulse is
have their being, and the im- to argue that Roman Catholic
age most often associated speculative theology on the
with this existence is that of a punitive aspects of Purgatory
feast, a banquet.
Yet, the path to the Celestial
Banquet may be more inter-
esting—and, in the end, more
satisfying—than a direct
route. What might we make
of this final verse from Hymn
192? (Hymnal 1982):
My flesh in hope shall rest, and
for a season slumber,
Till trump from east to west
shall wake the dead in num-
ber.
To be sure, this is poetry, not
doctrine. Yet, might it point
us, at least, in some helpful
gathering telling
has run completely amok at is the Kingdom of God come

times, you will get no argu- in its fullness, not “going to
ment from me. But the great- heaven when I die,” but being
est of these speculative theo- resurrected with Christ, shar-
logians is arguably Dante, and ing a life like his, with all the
he is never anything but crys- saints (including the “souls”
tal clear that the purpose of who have become “Saints”)
Purgatorio is to prepare souls welcoming the reign of God
for their true end, Paradiso. in his recreated heaven and
C. S. Lewis also treads this earth.
territory in his whimsical but
penetrating short novel, The
Great Divorce. vvv
The eminent contemporary

Anglican biblical scholar and
author, N.T. Wright, in Sur-
prised by Hope, is not enam-
ored of Purgatory. Still, he
posits an intermediate state
between the death of the body
in this present world and the
resurrection of the body at the
advent of the world to come,
likening it to a sort of garden
paradise—a place of rest, re-
freshment, and peace.
Whichever way we look at it,

however, the prize on which
we are invited to fix our eyes
fall 2024 39
connecting
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

WITH CHEESE BISCUITS
Butternut Squash Soup
1 large sweet onion 1 large butternut squash,
1 chopped leek peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, peeled 1 quart chicken broth
and chopped 1 cup heavy cream
3 strips smoked bacon 2 tablespoons honey
(optional) Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté onion, leek, celery, and bacon in a saucepan. Add
squash and broth and simmer until squash is softened. Stir in
cream, honey, salt, and pepper. Process soup in batches in a
blender. Serve hot or cold.
Garnish with chives, pancetta,

or smoked duck.
4 to 6 servings
Cheese Biscuits
1 cup self-rising flour
½ cup butter
1 softened cup grated New York
sharp Cheddar cheese
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons milk (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Shape dough into
small biscuits or roll out dough and cut with a small biscuit
cutter. Place on a baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes.
gathering telling
RUBENS’S “TRIUMPH OF THE EUCHARIST”

James B. Tollerton
Sarasota, Florida
Visitors to the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida,

are usually surprised when they enter the art museum. Since
John Ringling, owner of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum &
Bailey Circus, donated his Sarasota mansion, his art collection
and the art museum itself, many expect it to be a “circus” art
museum. It actually is a world class art museum. The marquee
paintings are by Peter Paul Rubens. He was commissioned, in
1625, by Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566-1633), daughter of King
Phillip II of Spain and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands,
to create a series of paintings and tapestries depicting the “Tri-
umph of the Eucharist.” The Protest Reformation had caused
the Roman Catholic Church to respond with a “Counter Ref-
ormation” reasserting the primacy of the Church and the Eu-
charist as central to worship.
Her intent was to leave the tapestries to the Convent of the

Poor Clares in Madrid, where she had lived periodically grow-
ing up. Eugenia was born on St. Clare’s Feast Day (August 11).
Many of the tapestries are still on display today, but sadly faded
after 400 years of exposure.
Rubens and his studio produced 20 large (some 16’ high and
14’ wide) paintings as models for the tapestries. Most of the
paintings were lost in a fire long ago, but 7 have survived. The
Ringling Museum has five of the paintings and two are at the
Louvre in Paris.
fall 2024 41
connecting
Of the surviving paintings at the Ringling, the earliest chronologi-

cally is “The meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek” as described
in Genesis 14:18-20 and again in the Epistle to the Hebrews 7:1-9 in
the New Testament. Abraham and his army had been exhausted de-
feating invading enemies. Abraham received bread and wine as sus-
tenance for his army and shared 10% of the spoils with Melchizedek
who was the Priest/King of Salem (later Jerusalem).
Peter Paul Rubens
The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, c. 1625
Oil on canvas, 175 1/4 x 224 3/4 in. (445.1 x 570.9 cm), SN212
Bequest of John Ringling, 1936
Collection of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art the State Art
Museum of Florida
gathering telling
“Manna from Heaven” reflects God showering the Exodus Hebrews

with manna to sustain them during their 40 year wandering in the
desert. See Exodus 16:1-36.
Peter Paul Rubens
The Gathering of the Manna, c. 1625
Oil on canvas, 192 x 162 in. (487.7 x 411.5 cm), SN211|
Museum of Florida
fall 2024 43
connecting
“The Four Evangelists” featured with their traditional symbols (l-

r) Sts. Luke (Ox), Mark (Lion), Matthew (open Gospel), and John
(holding chalice gazing up at his eagle). Since most people at the
time did not read, the symbols in the paintings would have been
recognized. Even today such art is a great “teaching tool” of the faith.
Peter Paul Rubens
The Four Evangelists, c. 1625
Oil on canvas, 173 x 176 in. (439.4 x 447 cm), SN213
Museum of Florida
gathering telling
“Defenders of the Eucharist” with seven pivotal saints, (l-r) Sts. Au-
gustine, Ambrose, Gregory, Isabella Clara Eugenia depicted as St.
Clare, Thomas Aquinas, Norbert, and Jerome. All with a connection
to the primacy of the Church and Eucharist.
Peter Paul Rubens
The Defenders of the Eucharist, c. 1625
Oil on canvas, 171 x 175 in. (434.3 x 444.5 cm), SN214
Museum of Florida
fall 2024 45
connecting
“The Triumph of Divine Love” depicts Caritas or Charity as the

greatest of three theological virtues (with Faith & Hope).
The Ringling and our Sarasota community are blessed to have such
spectacular art.
Images used with permission from the Ringling Museum.
Peter Paul Rubens
The Triumph of Divine Love, c. 1625
Oil on canvas, 152 x 204 in. (386.1 x 518.2 cm), SN977
Museum purchase, 1980
Museum of Florida
Jim Tollerton is a Communicant at Church of the Redeemer,

Sarasota, Fl and former Trustee of the Ringling Museum. Ac-
gathering telling
knowledgements: Thanks to the staff of the Ringling Museum

and Redeemer docents, Sheri Philpot and Elise Fortin. Also
Virginia Brilliant for her TRIUMPH AND TASTE book on the
Rubenses at the Ringling.
vvvvvvvvvvv
THE ORIGIN OF
CLERGY ATTIRE
The Rev’d Dr. John Switzer
Professor Emeritus of
Theology at Spring Hill
College and Editor of
The Mississippi Episcopalian
history of distinctive clerical

clothing, saving the topic of
vestments (ceremonial garb
worn during liturgy) for an-
other time.
All levels of Episcopalian cler-
We Episcopalians recognize gy are usually noted for their
our clergy by a distinctive use of the clerical collar (with
manner of dress, as do oth- bishops wearing a magenta or
er churches (Orthodox, Ro- purplish-red shirt, large cross
man Catholic, and Lutheran on a chain, and a ring bearing
among others). This article the seal of the diocese). The
will explore the origin and collar comes in multiple
fall 2024 47
connecting
Saint Patrick sent to Ireland

by Pope Celestine I;
wall mosaic in St. Mary’s
Cathedral, Kilkenny.
forms, almost always includ-
ing a stiff band of plastic en- French clergy of his time and
circling the neck or a simple their tendency to distinguish
plastic tab inserted in the themselves in their attire. He
front opening of the collar. believed that learning, puri-
One can occasionally still find ty, and good conduct should
clergy who employ a linen mark clergy rather than their
collar, a wise choice that har- manner of dress. That’s cer-
kens back to the original use tainly not a bad lesson to re-
of such collars. More on that member!
later in this article.
Despite the warning of Celes-
At times there has been con- tine, the habit of clerical dress
troversy regarding distinctive caught on as times changed.
dress for clergy. Such contro- We humans have a natural
versy has been with us for a bent for systems of classifi-
while now, going all the way cation. Throughout history
back to 428 when Pope Ce- many types of offices and pro-
lestine I took issue with the fessions have been marked
gathering telling
by the distinguishing attire

of their members. Traditions
like these take time to develop
because distinguishing sym-
bols and attire—religious and
cultural—tend to grow from
ordinary items that began as
merely useful and mundane.
In Christian tradition this can
also be seen in the develop-
mental pattern of the sacra-
ments: holy oils are derived
from the Mediterranean de-
pendence upon olive oil for
both sustenance and health,
and the eucharistic banquet is
celebrated around the ancient
staples of bread and wine.
Today’s clergy collar proba-

bly received its start as a shirt it can be found as a simple
worn under a high-collared plastic insert or as a full-neck
tunic or perhaps even as a attachment on a shirt or rabi
scarf intended to prevent the (a backless garment that cov-
tunic’s stiff collar from aggra- ers the chest and stomach
vating the neck. It’s an odd and attaches behind the neck
turn of events that something and lower abdomen, a sort
so usefully soft has become of backless vest). It is also a
a rigid and sometimes irri- prominent part of the cassock
tating symbol adorning its (the traditional black robe of
wearer! As mentioned before, clergy and licensed lay lead-
fall 2024 49
connecting
ers), which originally began HELICOPTER

as an academic robe. PARENTS AND
Whether or not one is a fan LEVELING UP
of distinctive clerical garb, it The Rev’d Christian M. Wood
can be very helpful when cler- Rector, Saint John’s Church
gy are poking around a hos- Tampa, Florida
pital or dealing with a major
emergency. It automatically
explains to others who are
present just why that person
is in an area where many are
denied entry. On the other
hand, Celestine had a valid
point: clergy should best be
known by how faithfully they
live and preach the gospel.
From The Mississippi Episco-
palian, October 2023
This weekend, as I was enjoy-
vvv ing a hot day here in Tampa,
floating in my pool and listen-
THE ORDER OF ST. ANDREW
ing to some music, I had a sud-
Men and Women, married or single, den realization. My daughter
not living in community. Being in
the world, but not of it. Entrusting
Maggie wanted to play on her
ourselves to the hands of the middle school softball team,
eternal potter, and being molded so we purchased a large net to
daily through religious life.
Are You Called? practice pitching. I set the net
osabishop@aol.com up for her before the season;
1-(914)-923-2005
osaanglican.org she used it almost daily. How-
Advertisement
ever, she has stopped using
gathering telling
the net since the season began I decided that it had to be her
because she has been playing responsibility to put it away.
actual games. As I was float- So I said to Maggie, “I know
ing in the pool with a beer, you don’t know how, but once
I asked her to please break you figure it out, you will
down the net and put it away. know how; it’s kind of like lev-
She declared to me: “But Dad, eling up a character in a video
I don’t know how to put it game.” She looked at me like
away.” only an 8th-grade girl could
look at her father and got to
work on the pitching net. She
was unhappy and complained
a little, but soon enough, she
had the net figured out, and
she broke it down and put it
away faster than I could have
done it!
This got me thinking about

our young people in the
church and how we all too
often act like helicopter par-
ents regarding their faith.
The brokenness that we call
If I told you that I received human nature (by the way,
some incredible inspiration that isn’t human nature at all;
from on high to say what I check out what the catechism
said next, I would be lying to in the BCP says) often caus-
you. The fact is, I did not want es us to look for the easy way
to get out of the pool and help, out of many circumstances.
and since this net was for her, Pay someone to do it for you,
fall 2024 51
connecting
sleep in instead of exercising, knowledge, and abilities that

or ask chat GPT to write your eventually lead us into our ca-
latest newsletter (God forbid). reer and family paths.
That same brokenness often
causes us to take the easy way When a parent becomes a he-
out when forming young peo- licopter parent, that natural
ple in the Christian faith. system of leveling up becomes
disrupted, and the child bears
Forming children and youth the consequence of being
into caring and faithful Chris- pushed forward without ever
tian adults is very hard work. having the experience of de-
It requires a plan, time, and a veloping the needed skills for
lot of teamwork. What if we the next level. That will even-
began rethinking this for- tually catch up with the child,
mation and modeled it after and that child will inevitably
something most young peo- fail. When parents, priests,
ple love: video games? When youth ministers, etc., don’t
you play a video game, often challenge and assist young
the character that you create people in developing the nec-
or choose to play starts at one essary skills to represent their
skill level, but throughout the faith adequately, inevitably,
game, it acquires new skills they will fall away from that
or becomes more powerful faith.
in some way, thus “leveling
up.” Of course, video games Major religious events in our
are not the only place we see children’s lives include bap-
this; many sports have similar tism, first communion, con-
accomplishment-based re- firmation, and, eventually,
wards. In fact, throughout our God-willing, marriage. If we
lives, healthy people expe- do not fill in the gaps between
rience a leveling up of skills, those events, we allow our
gathering telling
echism from the 1928 Prayer

Book. But even with a robust
Confirmation like that, what I
noticed is that the young peo-
ple who showed up for that
confirmation year but were,
at best, intermittingly present
between first communion and
confirmation often fell away
after confirmation.
The real hard work of forma-

tion occurs between the gaps,
which are often when the par-
children to “level up” without ish fails to engage families and
doing the necessary things to parents allow their children to
enable them to be success- disengage from the parish. If
ful at the next level. Before I we do not engage in the gaps
was the Rector of Saint John’s when it comes time for those
Episcopal Church in Tam- young people to live into their
pa, I was the priest in charge baptismal covenant, which is
of formation at the Church to do God’s will by reflecting
of the Redeemer in Sarasota. God’s love to the world, they
There, I inherited a robust won’t have the skills to do
confirmation program that so. When we helicopter our
I adapted to my skill set and young people in for those im-
taught each year for the en- portant religious events that
tire academic year! I loved often involve a party or a fan-
teaching those young people cy brunch after church but
and even tricked them into fail to enable them to create
memorizing most of the cat- strong bonds in places like
fall 2024 53
connecting
CALL TO LOVE
By David Beresford
Review by Lisa Kocheril
Anyone who strives to live

a life centered in Christ will
have faced the question of
how we are called to live and
Sunday School each week, what God is calling us to do.
youth group, or summertime David Beresford’s book, Call
activities like diocesan camps to Love, offers help to those
or Christian conferences built seeking to answer these ques-
for young people, we fail our tions, specifically, how do we
children. We can always find discern God’s call and, once
God on the mountaintop, but
if we don’t do the work in the
valleys, we might not think it
important to get to the next
mountaintop. Put the work
in, and assist the young peo-
ple you care for or who are in
your parish to level up so they
can live more fully in their re-
lationship with God and His
Church.
vvv
Check us out online at
anglicandigest.org
gathering telling
that call has been acknowl- In the second part, The An-
edged, how do we respond? cient Call, he uses examples
Most of us have not had a from the Bible and one from
burning bush encounter or a The Apocrypha, to examine
visit from an angel to guide God’s call to six individuals
our thinking and transform and their responses to this
our lives. Yet, this is a ques- call. These are familiar char-
tion all of us, who are called acters and familiar stories.
to follow Jesus’ example, will But Beresford does not sim-
need to answer at some point. ply recount their stories, he
interprets them through the
In Call To Love, Beresford focus of their specific call-
provides Biblical and modern ings, their response and how
day examples of individuals their lives proceed as a result
who hear God’s call. of answering this call. For ex-
ample, Moses is called to lead
The book is divided into his people out of Egypt and
3 parts. The first, entitled, Samson, to lead Israel in bat-
Hearing God’s Call, reviews tle. In their varied responses
the fundamental framework to God’s call, readers may find
which the author suggests parallels to their own lives.
needs to be present in order Each story concludes with a
to be open to God’s call. This few questions for reflection,
part reads like a long intro- which help the reader think
duction. These are not new more deeply about each story
ideas. Seeking to deepen one’s and possibly to find applica-
faith or asking for clarity in tion in our daily lives.
prayer to understand God’s
will should already be a com- In the third part, The Con-
fortable practice, yet his ap- temporary Call, Beresford re-
proach may be helpful. counts the stories of four peo-
fall 2024 55
connecting
ple he has encountered in his who are attempting to discern

life and how they discovered God’s call in their lives, but
God’s will for their own lives. also to those seeking a deeper
Their stories provide espe- understanding of God’s work
cially interesting examples of in the world.
modern people struggling to vvv
identify their callings. Most
do not have an easy or straight ORIGINAL SIN:
path. Readers will find this WHAT THE WEST
section to be informative and CAN LEARN FROM
helpful and are likely to find THE EAST
shared experiences. These The Rev’d Bollin M. Millner, Jr.
four modern stories reflect Richmond, Virginia
the struggle many face to dis-
cover God’s will in their lives
and also remind us of the re-
silience we will need to over-
come hurdles that may be put
in our paths. It is also import-
ant to note that, while many
interpret God’s call to reflect a
call to holy orders, Beresford
chooses to highlight the calls
that laity may receive as well.
Call To Love is easy to read

and accessible to all, regard-
less of one’s knowledge of or
experience in Christian life. Augustine of Hippo (354-430
This book will be of particu- C.E.) played a central role in
lar interest not only to those the Western Church with the
gathering telling
development of the doctrine For instance, Augustine’s

of Original Sin. According linkage of sin and procreation
to Augustine, humanity “…is led to what is widely consid-
born into a world where mor- ered to be a deeply flawed and
tality and sin reign. Adam,
to be sure, before his fateful
decision, was free to obey or
disobey the divine command-
ment… Subsequent genera-
tions of human beings do not
enjoy this freedom. They are
‘not able not to sin.’” (Princi-
ples of Christian Faith by the
Rev. Dr. Charles P. Price, pub-
lished in 1977 by the Islam
and Modern Age Society.)
Augustine’s thoughts took an

ominous turn when he at-
tempted to answer the ques-
tion of how sin could be damaging legacy. In the June
transmitted from generation 19, 2017 online edition of The
to generation. Augustine “as- New Yorker, Stephen Green-
serted that sin was transmit- blatt writes: “What a married
ted, as the human soul was man and woman who intend
transmitted, from parents to to beget a child do together is
children in the act of procre- not evil, Augustine insisted;
ation.” As Price notes, the it is good. ‘But the action is
Augustinian understanding not performed without evil.’
of Original Sin has had a trou- True, sexual intercourse…is
bled history. the greatest bodily pleasure.
fall 2024 57
connecting
But the surpassing intensi- mitzvah is for the husband

ty of pleasure is precisely its to ensure he sexually satisfies
dangerous allure, its sweet his wife (Exodus 21:10). This
poison: ‘Surely any friend second mitzvah is totally in-
of wisdom and holy joys . . . dependent from the first and
would prefer, if possible, to so the obligation to make love
beget children without lust.’” to one’s wife applies to couples
If only Augustine had parsed regardless as to whether they
the difference between legiti- wish to, or are capable of, con-
mate passion and misguided ceiving. The very notion that
lust! sexual pleasure can itself…
be a mitzvah, underscores the
Regardless, gone is the ro- unique Jewish attitude to life.
bust and positive apprecia- Judaism, on the whole, frowns
tion of human sexuality that upon asceticism. It sees the
is seen in many biblical texts. material world not in conflict
Price notes: “What strikes the with sanctity but rather as
reader of the Biblical story of capable of being sanctified.”
creation in Genesis is the ex- (The Jewish Chronicle, online
traordinary value placed on edition, June 8, 2012, “Why
human sexuality.” This value is Sex allowed on Shabbat,” by
is reflected in Judaism which Rabbi Naftali Brawer.)
counsels that “intimacy is en-
couraged on Shabbat not so So, how can we talk about
much as a means to procre- Original Sin but at the same
ate as it is to create a bond... time embrace the positive
There are two separate mitz- value put on human sexuality
vot in the Torah that involve in many biblical texts? More
sexual relations. One is to be broadly, how can we look at
fruitful and multiply (Gen- the fallen world with more
esis1:28.) The lesser-known compassion and nuance. The
gathering telling
Eastern Church offers a way but from a state of underpriv-

forward. ileged simplicity… Certainly,
as a result of the fall the hu-
Timothy Ware, in his book man mind became darkened,
The Orthodox Church, (1997 and human will power was so
Penguin Books edition) notes impaired, that humans could
that “Orthodoxy, holding as no longer hope to attain to the
likeness of God. Orthodox,
however, do not hold that the
fall deprived humanity entire-
ly of God’s grace…Orthodox
do not say, as Calvin said, that
humans after the fall were ut-
terly depraved…They cannot
agree with Augustine, when
he writes that humans are un-
der ‘a harsh necessity’ of com-
mitting sin and that ‘human
nature was overcome by the
fault into which it fell, and so
came to lack freedom.’” (italics
in the original)
Ware continues, “…because

it does a less exalted idea of we still retain the image of
the human state before the God, we still retain free will,
fall, is also less severe than the although sin restricts its
west in its view of the con- scope…Orthodoxy repudi-
sequences of the fall. Adam ates any interpretation of the
fell, not from a great height fall which allows no room for
of knowledge and perfection, human freedom…The Or-
fall 2024 59
connecting
thodox picture of fallen hu- cornerstone of the library at

manity is far less sombre than the Virginia Theological Sem-
the Augustinian or Calvinistic inary reads: “Seek the truth,
view.” come whence it may, cost
what it will.” Where the world
Orthodoxy’s view is less som- is concerned, we might para-
bre and there is no connec- phrase, “Seek the good, come
tion made between the act of whence it may...”
procreation and sin. Rather, it
is because of the mysterious Instead of pessimism and see-
unity of the human race (we ing the world as totally de-
are “members of one anoth- praved, we can look for the
er” as Paul puts it) that “Each light. After all, God’s Son died
new human being is born into for the whole world, not just
a world where sin prevails ev- some part of it. And in fact,
erywhere, a world in which it we can embrace this more
is easy to do evil and hard to positive view of the world
do good.” But not impossible! while still upholding the doc-
trine of Original Sin, just not
This perspective encourag- the full-blown Augustinian
es us to embrace the good in version of it.
creation, even fallen creation.
Sexual intimacy can be re- vvv
leased from its Augustinian
shackles and suspicions and Are you moving?
emerge as a positive good, in Don’t miss a single issue!
line with the Jewish tradition.
This approach would support
Go to
healthy and joyful marriag- anglicandigest.org/
es. But beyond this, we can
celebrate all that is good. The vvv
gathering telling
ALLAN BEVIER
WARREN III,
1947-2024, RIP
This is an unpreached eu-
logy for my dearly beloved
friend, my almost exact Baby
Boomer contemporary and
colleague, Fr Allan Bevier
Warren III, Rector Emeritus
of The Church of The Advent,
Boston. Allan underwent
treatments for what he called
“incurable cancer” for four
years. When the treatments
ceased working, he went into roof off with Allan’s favor-
hospice – on Good Friday, ite hymns, remembering his
March 29. He died on Easter big unforgettable baritone
Day night, March 31, which and the spirit it conveyed.
was also the 51st anniversary Actually it was a celebration
of his ordination to the priest- of a spiritual triumph. Allan
hood. His funeral-requiem was ready to die, and who
at The Advent was Easter could have handled it all with
Saturday, April 6. Although such style and panache as he
there were tears at his death did? His managing of his ill-
by many and relief that “the ness and approaching death
strife is o’er” in his struggle to was a wonderful Catechism,
live with cancer and the treat- teaching us how to face these
ments, his beautiful requiem matters as Christians. The re-
was clearly a gathering of joy ception afterward in Mose-
and gratitude. We sang the ley Hall, beautifully restored
fall 2024 61
connecting
under Fr Warren’s rectorship, who controlled The Advent’s

was happy and noisy as Allan money. Truth to tell, I, young
would have wanted it, with and feeling righteous, started
lots of reunions among peo- it. It involved changing from
ple, like yours truly, who are a self-electing, self-perpetu-
grateful to have known and ating Corporation of 21 per-
loved him. Allan didn’t want, sons who were the only legal
or get, a sermon or eulogy at members of The Advent, to
his requiem – he was won- having the active and contrib-
derfully old school. I hope uting communicants become
he doesn’t mind these words a body of the whole, the cur-
here. rent and canonical Corpora-
tion which elects the Vestry.
Allan, who had already been There’s a book of documents
a rector in Boston’s suburban and commentary by former
Waban (Newton), joined me warden Peter Madsen enti-
in 1991 as my associate at tled The Church of the Advent:
The Advent (we eschewed the Governance Struggles in the
venerable title of curate for 1990s. Fr Warren caused this
him for reasons that should to be written before his retire-
be obvious) for three amaz- ment in 2019.
ing years. Allan later became
my Rector-successor at that Allan had left The Advent in
wondrous Anglo-Catholic the midst of our long gov-
flagship. ernance contention, to be
Rector of the Anglo-Catho-
Allan was a hero of the Great lic Church of the Resurrec-
Governance Battle of The Ad- tion on the Upper East Side
vent that went from 1991 to of Manhattan in 1993. So he
1997. To make a very long sto- and I were neighbors for a few
ry short, the battle was over years when I went to be Rec-
gathering telling
tor of Saint Thomas Church ga! One of my favorites was

Fifth Avenue in 1996. Allan his first staff meeting when
was called back to Boston to he joined me at The Advent.
be Rector of The Advent in Edith Ho, then The Advent’s
1999. Retiring in 2019, he Director of Music, was sur-
was, at 20-years’ tenure, one prised at Allan’s expressed
of The Advent’s longest-serv- love for The Big Bad City aka
ing Rectors. Allan’s beloved New York. “You like New
York?” she said looking at
wife Polly died, also of cancer,
in 2007. After struggling with him quizzically. “Oh Edith,”
his loss and some hard lone- he replied, “You know me:
liness, Allan, who truly was Broken glass, diesel fumes,
a mensch of faith in Christ, approaching gunfire, and I’m
came back from his grief to a new man!” Vintage Fr War-
begin an inspiring new lease ren that is. Wherever Allan
Bevier Warren III is now on
on life through his ministry. It
is no exaggeration to say that The Seven Storey Mountain,
for the next decade Fr Warren on his way upward to the pure
made The Church of the Ad- and breath-taking Beatific Vi-
vent his spouse. sion of our dear Lord Jesus in
the heart of the Holy Trinity, I
There are so many Quotables am sure that Allan’s cornice is
of Allan’s. When we couldn’t a joyous place.
use the Alleluias in Lent (he
had the Sunday School chil- The Rev’d Andrew C. Mead,
OBE, DD, Rector Emeritus,
dren bury the Alleluias in the Saint Thomas Church Fifth
Columbarium Crypt with a Avenue
funeral procession including
drums), he would substitute
exclamations like Ka-Boom,
or best of all, Kowa-Bon-
fall 2024 63
connecting

64
gathering telling
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FALL A.D.

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connecting gathering telling

Founded in 1958 by the Rev’d Howard Lane Foland (1908-

TAD is sent to anyone who desires to receive it, and is supported

Dear Digest Family,

The ministry of the Digest is to cheer us heavenward, bringing

For the glory of heaven, I remain:

Yours in the Lord’s service,

A Letter from the Editor

Do you find TAD to be a blessing to you in your walk with

May this Fall Issue of TAD be a blessing to all who

Letters to the Editor

Dear Father Fred,

In reading The Bicentennial of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Av-

I had the pleasure of visiting Salisbury Cathedral in the UK

The Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion

Thank you for bringing back that memory. I look forward to

A Response to the Letter by the Rev’d PW in the

March 19, 2024

The compilers of the BCP were perfectly aware of our 39 Ar-

To conclude with the BCP 1979 Catechism on p. 862: “Q. Why

The Spring 2024 issue was wonderful!! I enjoyed the article on

THIS JOYFUL Almighty and everlasting God,

The Ordinary Time of the

nary Time is a joyful one in

“take a walk” on the spiritual as well as actions into every

us in this season of Ordinary PRAISE THE LORD

“I have fought the good fight, I

Our Lady of Walsingham

Praise the Lord. Praise the

Potentially missing the gaze

Lady of Walsingham on Sep- ingham. That Holy House

May I attempt to avoid offer-

As is common in the Diocese

of their illnesses. Hung above of Walsingham has been of

porary Anglican Shrine in re- pilgrims to that original site

Since the early 1950s, the

of God with a veneration in- TRULY YOU ARE THE

as an agent of the evil one, so complete despair of my future

ture wars — we have bless- what happens to us in terms

“Bring it on!” Peter got out of ment question — ‘Why did

lowing his daughter to die, or enced in life. Not long after on

THE CHURCH IS A with something, that some-

Okay. But it is not the way

same word as “symphony!” come together in his name,

And, yet, the piece holds to-

monotone. It is not supposed be in lockstep with every one

From The Cathedral Times,

Applauding music that is a

UPON ATTENDING AN paper, which was covering

God,” and in an atmosphere Fr. Phillips was a relic of an-