History

There were certain rites of passage marked by colonial churches—birth, initiation, marriage, and death for the great majority of its white population and to lesser and varying extents for non-adherents and African Americans as well. We will look at the first one this week – baptism.

The current 1979 prayer defines baptism – “Holy Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body the Church.” That part has not changed over time.

Today baptism can run the gamut from children to adults,  but in the colonial period, infant baptism was the norm, generally 1-3 months after birth. The difference with today is that recorded baptisms were close to actual recorded births, and since there were no bishops the priest baptized. Those baptized were close to recorded births since all were considered to part of the Anglican Church

The fullest and most remarkable of baptismal registers is that of Albemarle Parish (Sussex) during the ministry of William Willie. Parson Willie baptized 4,958 persons between 1740 and 1775, 4,112 whites and 846 blacks, averaging 138 baptisms annually. In the 1760s the annual average reached 166 baptisms. These figures represent 99 percent of white and 48 percent of black births recorded in the period.

There were two baptism services in the 1662 prayer, one for public and private. A significant number in the upper classes were baptized in the home and there is evidence they made an occasion for it. In diaries and journals, the word “christened” is used in conjunction with baptism.

This was not the prevalent practice based on the number of baptisms recorded on Sundays, accounting for 80% or more. The 1662 prayer book also carried a warning concerning private baptismal services.

Virginians observed both in home and church settings the Prayer Book requirement for godparents—two godfathers and a godmother for a male infant and two godmothers and a godfather for a female — to serve as "sureties" by acknowledging on behalf of the infant the articles of faith and promising to lead a godly life. Today we only require “one or more baptized persons” to act in that capacity.

The emphaisis on the service then was on original sin—Adam’s fall— was removed and the baptized person was received as a member of Christ’s Church: "forasmuch as all men are conceived and born in sin, and that our Saviour Christ sayth, none can enter into the Kingdom, of God except he be regenerate, and born anew of water and of the holy Ghost.”

The scripture language provided more examples of the use of water than today as a powerful but ambiguous symbol. As ocean, river, flood, or waves it represented an environment hostile to human activity, an unstable, ever changing, ever threatening, and often life-destroying force. The 1662 prayer book mentioned the example of Noah’s Ark and the flood. But it was also the element essential to life and the agent of cleansing and purifying. The liturgy of the prayerbook at the time called in remembrance of Moses’ part¬ing of the Red Sea water in the exodus from Egypt, and the baptism of Jesus by John, all associating water with God’s providence.

While both services are about “incorporating the Child into the body of Christ or the reception into the Church community, there is less emphasis on the original sin aspect and more about the role of community today. In the service as a community we “do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ. Thus, the idea of private baptisms has fallen out of favor. The direction of the minister then was to exhort the godfathers and godmothers to keep the child in the right direction.

Some similar ideas still remain in both services. In today’s service the baptized renounces “Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God” which is similar to that of 1662. In the actual baptism there is the “forgiveness of sin” and raising “ them to the new life of grace."

There is a section in the colonial service then where the baptismal covenant (Apostle’s Creed) was renewed. However, only those who support the infant said the creed and not the congregation as with today’s service.

Today’s service is more on continuing requirements of parishioners– “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ”, seek and serve Christ in all persons” and “strive for justice and peace among all people."

The requirement for parents were more specific then – call upon the child to hear sermons and the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments. The last part of the service hinted that once these are known then the child is ready for initiation or what we call confirmation.

Today it is more general language – “Will you be responsible for seeing that the child you present is brought up in the Christian faith and life… Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ”

Thus while the intent of the service was the same – forgiveness of sin and incorporation into the church, the emphais in the colonial period was the former. As the service started “Dearly beloved, all men are conceived and born in sin."

The series will explore words used in the Episcopal Church  that are arcane, unusual or have changed over time. This week’s word-parishioner.

We know the parishioners of St. Peter’s today – those people who attend the church. Granted it’s a subset of all that choose to join a church, one of many. In the Colonial Church, all were required be a part of one church – Anglican. No formal establishment of Baptists, Presbyterias and they paid the same annual parish levies. (These dissenters had to rely on voluntary contributions to their own churches.) Thus everyone in your parish  was a member – men, women, indentured servants and yes, slaves.  

Earlier research emphasized how colonials were unchurched despite laws to the contrary. Although there are few surviving parish registers, recent research has shown that annual baptisms nearly approximated annual white births. Actual attendance, however is a problem since Va. parishes kept no membership roles. Attendance was mandantory and it differed over the 170 years of colonials from one or two times a month. If you violated the law you could be fined five shillings or 50 pounds of tobacco paid to the churchwardens. In 1750, that would amount to $31 (2006).

Virtually every county recorded non-attendees with most of the prosecutions in the older Tidewater area. Dissenters, however, were excluded from attendance requirements.

Twice yearly at May and November county court sessions, grand jurors, in response to information provided by the sheriff, churchwardens, vestrymen, justices, other officers of the court, or from their own personal knowledge, presented individuals suspected of violating the laws prescribing the conduct expected of Virginians

Parshioners entering colonial churches found them divided by class, sex. They had assigned areas  to sit with men and women divided.   Pews were just being introduced in England in the 18th paid for by the wealthy but in Virginia they were a standard furnishing erected at public expense. The wealthy were assigned the best pews toward the front.  Benches were usually reserved in the back for servants, slaves and other lower classes. Galleries originated by the wealthy parishinioners who were not satisfed even when they commanded the best pews.

Church buildings were simple in the colonial era – usually only one room in a rectangular design. They were wooden at first and then brick became more popular, particularly in the 18th century. They expanded as colonial planters donated land for the cause.  Some churches in the northern Virginia area late in the 18th century were two story.  

Essential to Anglican worship were the pulpit and communion table.  Pulpits stood two or three "decks" high located on the north or south walls. The communion table often made of black walnut or white oak and with a low wooden railing was situated along the interior east wall. (Churches were built in an east/west direction) . Unlike in today’s church, communion was only held three or four times a year as a reaction against the Catholic past. A part of the Church’s 1606 canon was a requirement for the 10 commandments to posted along the east end. In Virginia churchdes, wall tablets were situated there with the 10 commandments, Apostles’ Creed and the Lord Prayer.

One item that Colonial Churches did not have was an organ – only about 5 or 6 did.  So singing was generally done unaccompanied usually led or announced by the clerk. The latter was a lay official whom we call the officiant today. Congregations sang hymns but also the Psalms according to metrical settings. 

Lancelot Andrewes’ life (1555-1626) encompassed the reigns of Elizabeth (1558-1603) and James I (1603-1625). He was closely associated with both of them. We celebrate his day on his death Sept 26, 1626.

Andrewes was the foremost theologian of his day and one of the most pious. He will be forever linked to the creation of the King James Bible being on the committee that created the book. He served not only as the leader of the First Westminster Company of Translators, which translated Genesis – 2 Kings, but also as general editor of the whole project. His contemporaries include everyone from Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain John Smith who ventured to Virginia and scientist Galileo.

A concise description of him can be found in God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible, noting his intellectual abilities as well as a man close to the ordinary Englishman. “This was the man who was acknowledged as the greatest preacher of the age, who tended in great detail to the school-children in his care, who, endlessly busy as he was, would nevertheless wait in the transepts of Old St Paul’s for any Londoner in need of solace or advice, who was the most brilliant man in the English Church, destined for all but the highest office. There were few Englishmen more powerful. Everybody reported on his serenity, the sense of grace that hovered around him. But alone every day he acknowledged little but his wickedness and his weakness. The man was a library, the repository of sixteen centuries of Christian culture, he could speak fifteen modern languages and six ancient, but the heart and bulk of his existence was his sense of himself as a worm. Against an all-knowing, all-powerful and irresistible God, all he saw was an ignorant, weak and irresolute self”

A man of intense piety who spent five hours every morning in prayer, Andrewes kept in that chapel a book of private devotions which, when published after his death, became a classic Anglican guide to prayer.

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Sept. 21 is the day we celebrate the life of the author of the Gospel of Matthew, both Apostle and evangelist due to the Book he wrote.

The meeting between Jesus and Matthew is told in Matthew 9:9–13:
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew was one of the 12 apostles that were with Jesus Christ throughout His public ministry on earth. The consensus among  scholars is that this book in the Bible was written in the  mid-70’s, 40 years after the resurrection. It was the second Gospel written after Mark, 10 years earlier. 

Matthew was a Jewish tax collector who left his profession to follow Jesus. As an apostle of the Lord, he dedicated his life to spreading the Gospel and leading the early church. Matthew gives a personal witness account of many miracles that Jesus performed prior to being crucified on a Roman cross.

He wrote  after the destruction of the temple by the Romans and massacre of the Jewish priests. Many thought they were in the end days. He was a Greek speaker who also knew Aramaic and Hebrew. He drew on Mark and a collection of the sayings of the Lord (Q), as well as on other available traditions, oral and written. He was probably a Jewish Christian and we think the book was written in Antioch in Syria where a community had developed.

The purpose of this book is to prove to readers that Jesus is the true Messiah that was prophesized in the Old Testament of the Bible. The Kingdom begins with us . The author of the Gospel of Matthew, more than the other synoptic writers, explicitly cites Old Testament messianic writings. With 28 chapters, it is the longest Gospel of the four.

It begins by accounting the genealogy of Jesus, showing him to be the true heir to David’s throne. The genealogy documents Christ’s credentials as Israel’s king. Then the narrative continues to revolve around this theme with his birth, baptism, and public ministry.

The Sermon on the Mount highlights Jesus’ moral teachings and the miracles reveal his authority and true identity. Matthew also emphasizes Christ’s abiding presence with humankind

The Gospel organizes the teachings of Jesus into five major discourses: the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5-7), the Commissioning of the 12 Apostles (chapter 10), the Parables of the Kingdom (chapter 13), the Discourse on the Church (chapter 18), and the Olivet Discourse (chapters 23-25). The emphasis corresponds to the 5 great books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch .

He preached the Gospel in Judea before embarking on missions to other lands, with Ethiopia often cited as one of his destinations. One notable tradition associated with Matthew involves his encounter with King Hirtacus in Ethiopia. Matthew’s steadfast devotion to his faith led him to confront the king for lusting after Ephigenia, a nun consecrated to God. Matthew’s rebuke, delivered at a Mass, ultimately led to his martyrdom, solidifying his commitment to his faith

The series will explore words used in the Episcopal Church  that are arcane, unusual or have changed over time. This week’s word is basic – the minister.

The Colonial Minister was a man in the middle. As a branch of Church of England, the Virginia church was governed from London. The church required that all priests be educated and ordained in England. However in practice they were hired by colonial vestries unlike their English counterpart. The parish vestries defied the governor in two primary ways — through control of the recruitment or selection of clergy and through refusal to present for induction

Even so clerical appointments were part of extensive clientage or patronage relationships. Local landowners and gentry by mid-century possessed over half of the “advowsons” (legal right to appoint) in the church since in many cases they owned the land where the church was built. Ministers were also challenged by the increasing of dissenters and those caught up in the Great Awakening by 1740.

Colonial ministers are easily distinguished from their current counterparts. They were all male. There was no Diocese or support from an church agency. There was no staff aside from the churchwarden. The minister was also automatically a farmer. He was assigned the income from a "glebe," or parcel of land that they could farm. In counties with good soil for growing tobacco, the income from the glebe was relatively high – and those parishes were able to attract the best-quality ministers. 

Early on, there was a severe shortage of priests in Virginia early on—only 28 priests served a population of 140,000 in 1724. Virginia parishes almost doubled in number between 1725 and 1775 (from fifty-one to ninety-five). Even so, in no single year during the period were fewer that 76 percent of the parishes supplied with a minister. However by the Revolution that percentage had improved to 100% Diversity in ethnic origins and birthplace characterizes Virginia’s eighteenth-century parsons

What accounts for the change ? As time went on more priests came not from England but were home grown in the colonies. In Virginia as in the British Isles, the ministry functioned also as a path of upward mobility for young men from society’s middling. Another path was coming from abroad before deciding to go in the ministry They made decisions for ordination in the context of their Virginia experiences. Others came from other counties such as Scotland

Mastery of classical languages was at the heart of education for priests. Indeed the reason for setting up a college in Virginia "want of able & faithfull ministers" While the majority of Virginia’s parsons attended college, some did not. Presumably they satisfied the loophole in the requirements for ordination ("he is able to yield an account of his faith in Latin, according to the Articles of Religion"). There were no seminaries as we have now . The minimum age to be a priest was 24.

Once they achieved position it was not bad job. Vestries did not subject their ministers to annual reviews. They did not renegotiate contracts with parsons. Apart from stipulating in some cases an initial probationary term for clergy not known to them previously, vestries behaved as if the parson they hired was theirs for life This tenure record is all the more noteworthy when considered in the light of clergy mortality. The mean age at death for parsons was fifty-seven years. Over a third were dead before they reached age fifty.

Socially it was a was of moving up in life. All Anglican parsons were gentlemen by profession. Some were gentlemen by birth. Many augmented their gentle status through marriage. Many were of modest background so it was a way of climbing the social ladder.

What was their call ? In their ordination vows, Anglican clergy pledged to teach nothing but what is proven by scripture; to preach and administer the sacraments faithfully; to combat error and heresy; to be diligent in study and prayer; to foster quietness, peace, and love among the people in their charge; "to frame and fashion your own selves, and your families, according to the doctrine of Christ; and to make both your selves and them, as much as in you lieth, wholesom examples and Patterns to the flock of Christ."

The clergy dressed the part with more rigid dress codes than today. The priest had to dress the role as the "model" or "pattern" of the Christian life. For clergy holding academic degrees, the usual "decent and comely Ap¬parel" were "Gowns with standing Collars and Sleeves strait at the Hands, or wide sleeves, as is used m the Universities, with Hoods or Tippets [scarves] of Silk or Sarcenet [a fine soft silk or cotton fabric], and square Caps.

See Our Collection of Crosses

“O BLESSED Saviour, who by thy cross and passion hast given life unto the world: Grant that we thy servants may be given grace to take up the cross and follow thee through life and death; whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit we worship and glorify, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Holy Cross Day is Sept. 14 in honor of Christ’s self-offering on the cross for our salvation. The collect for Holy Cross Day recalls that Christ “was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world unto himself,” and prays that “we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him” (BCP, p. 192). The themes of Holy Cross Day are powerfully expressed by the hymn “Lift high the cross” (Hymn 473).

The Basis of the Cross (From this guide:)

1 (Romans 5:12). “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned”

2. “You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world,[a] following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else,” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

3. (Colossians 2:13-14). “And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God[a] made you[b] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.”

From the Book of Common Prayer catechism – “The Messiah is one sent by God to free us from the power of sin, so that with the help of God we may live in harmony with God, within ourselves, with our neighbors, and with all creation.

Though the cross was an instrument of torture and death, stained with the blood of Christ, it has become for us a great treasure as the instrument of our salvation. Because it brings us into “the kingdom of heaven,” the cross is like the “pearl of great value,” for which the merchant “sold all that he had” (Matthew 13:45-46).

The cross also serves as a reminder of the kind of lives we are to live as Christians. Christ commands each of his disciples to “take up his cross and follow [him]” (Matthew 16:24), putting our sin to death “in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin” (Romans 6:6), freeing us to participate in God’s mission in the world, doing the good works he has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).

This day has been a part of the Eastern Church. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.  It only has been celebrated in the Episcopal Church with the 1982 prayer book

Origin of Sept 14 -During the reign of Constantine, first Roman Emperor to profess the Christian faith, his mother Helena went to Israel and there undertook to find the places especially significant to Christians. (She was helped in this by the fact that in their destructions around 135, the Romans had built pagan shrines over many of these sites.)

Having located, close together, what she believed to be the sites of the Crucifixion and of the Burial (at locations that modern archaeologists think may be correct), she then had built over them the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was dedicated on 14 September 335.

Forward Movement reported this:”During the construction, tradition says that fragments from the True Cross, that is, the cross on which Jesus had been crucified, were found. It sounds fanciful, and perhaps it is. What is not fanciful are the fervent prayers of pilgrims from around the world in that site every day.”

Update for 2017 from Forward Movement: “Recently, the traditional site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection was renovated. During the construction, another miracle of sorts happened. It turns out that under more modern layers of marble, ancient, first-century stone was discovered. This is the latest in a series of archeological finds which support the idea that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the actual sites where the actual events of Good Friday and Easter Day took place. It is almost overwhelming.” 

It has become a day for recognizing the Cross (in a festal atmosphere that would be inappropriate on Good Friday) as a symbol of triumph, as a sign of Christ’s victory over death, and a reminder of His promise, “And when I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” (John 12:32)

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The series will explore words used in the Episcopal Church that may seem arcane to visitors and confusing to old timers. This week’s word is basic – the churchwardens.

The wardens of today’s church is a shortened title from churchwardens. In 1643, the Virginia General Assembly decreed there would be two churchwardens in each parish In many respects the basic functionality is the same – to act in the name of the Vestry in administering the parish’s affairs on a day to day basis. The colonial churchwarden would feel right at home with the present wardens keeping the church in decent repair for small projects or acting for the vestry in large.

Once you get into the specifics one realizes that had many more real functions then. The concept of commission didn’t exist. For instance they directed what staff they had, for instance to make sure salaries were paid and reimbursements made and that other officians such as sextons did their job. They made sure there was sufficient bread and wine for services since there was no altar guild.

In three respects the churchwarden was in another league with a number of civil functions.

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