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Desperate times call for desperate measures. Inspired by MrCatolick’s parallel with Henry VIII (http://wp.me/p1CTyH-7H), I conclude that what the Anglican world needs now is intervention by his daughter, Elizabeth I. It did not take much to summon her ghost – she had been waiting impatiently for just such an invitation. All of what follows in quotation typeface is from the actual words of Good Queen Bess in her lifetime.
Preamble
Princes have big ears which hear far and near, and word has reached me that all is not well in my realm. As the first Defender of the Faith who was a sincere Protestant, with no considerations of personal advantage, I shall desire you all, my lords…to be assistant to me that I, with my ruling, and you with your service, may make a good account to Almighty God and leave some comfort to our posterity on earth...
There is one thing higher than Royalty: and that is religion, which causes us to leave the world, and seek God…There is nothing about which I am more anxious than my country, and the Anglican Communion, and for its sake I am willing to die ten deaths, if that be possible.
The Anglican Covenant
There is only one Christ, Jesus, one faith. All else is a dispute over trifles… Where minds differ and opinions swerve there is scant a friend in that company…My mind was never to invade my neighbours… I do consider a multitude doth make rather discord and confusion than good counsel…You lawyers are so nice and precise in shifting and scanning every word and letter that many times you stand more upon form than matter, upon syllables than the sense of the law…
Moving from an Exclusive Church to an Inclusive Church
Know that I wish you from henceforth to follow the example of your monarch, and many monarchs before her, in knowing that each court must have its queanes as well as its Queen for, as ye should surely know, all are equally loved by God…I have no desire to make windows into mens souls, still less their nether regions. I am greatly displeased at the sanctimonious hypocrisy that has recently arisen in my Church in this land of England… Those who appear the most sanctified are the worst… I would rather go to any extreme than suffer anything that is unworthy of my reputation, or of that of my crown..and I wish you to follow the example of the Americas, where… it is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes.. The past cannot be cured…God forgive you, but I never can.
Anglican Mission In England
The stone often recoils on the head of the thrower...You, who were fully strong enough to bear the suffering of our well-beloved American cousins, will shortly endure a similar stone-throwing yourself.
Do not tell secrets to those whose faith and silence you have not already tested…There is an Italian proverb which saith, From my enemy let me defend myself; but from a pretensed friend Lord deliver me.
We are of the nature of the lion, and cannot descend to the destruction of mice and such small beasts… ourselves; we trust you have a plan?
The Elevation of Women to the Episcopate
I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England too …
Is it that you fear to admit the distaff side to your ranks because you know many share my heart and stomach, as well as my learning and my devotion to God? It is a natural virtue incident to our sex to be pitiful of those that are afflicted,
and I am sure that my sisters in Christ will find it in their hearts to pity you for your pettiness, but mindful as I am of the need for gifted bishops, I cannot allow it to continue. Let this my discipline stand you in good stead of sorer strokes, never to tempt too far a Prince’s patience.
The Ministry of the Laity
I regret the unhappiness of princes who are slaves to forms and fettered by caution...
It is as clear as the day to even the meanest intelligence in the land that the hoi polloi are no longer of lesser education than the clerks in the pulpit. Knowing of the scant numbers of clerks, action is needed this day to allow the people to read Morning and Evening Prayer.
One man with a head on his shoulders is worth a dozen without… Verily, I do fear that without such action, the churches themselves are in real danger:… A fool too late bewares when all the peril is past.
Envoi
Though the sex to which I belong is considered weak you will nevertheless find me a rock that bends to no wind. ... It is true that the world was made in six days, but it was by God, to whose power the infirmity of men is not to be compared.
I will allow you fourteen days in which to accomplish all the tasks I have set you this day.
If thy heart fails thee, climb not at all….. Proud Prelate, you know what you were before I made you what you are. If you do not immediately comply with my request, I will unfrock you, by God!
Notes
The illustration is a portrait of Elizabeth I at the time of the Armada via wikimedia under CCL.
Laura,
A wonderful exposition of the situation today, as viewed from the 16th Century, by Good Queen Bess!
This needs to be forwarded to every member of the General Synod, but more particularly to every Bishop, Vicar, Rector, Chaplain and Curate in the land. Let them know the displeasure of the first Protector of the Faith.
But as a refutation of the proposed Covenant and the Churches recalcitrance in even considering interference in the affairs of other churches it serves very well.
AMiE and the Ordinariate are symbols of our time, minorities feeling pushed aside, but not being prepared to stay, listen and engage. But this engagement in good faith is missing on the churches side as well, because those who could and should be negotiating the accommodating all brands of Anglicanism within the broad tent of the Church of God seem unwilling to stand up and be counted. 'There are none blinder than those who refuse to see'.
Thank-you, UKViewer. I couldn't have put it better myself – and nor could the first Elizabeth R!
Laura, This is brilliant! So many quotes from Elizabeth 1 that are pertinent to the disputes within the C of E at the moment. I agree with UK viewer – it should be widely read, especially by those in General Synod & the Primates Meetings etc.
Wonferful, Laura. Perfectly to the point in today's controversies. I do hope it gets widely read.
You really do miss the point about lay involvement.
Lay leadership of services is common in most dioceses. The laity are already permitted to read Morning and Evening Prayer (and lead a whole range of other services, most of them rather more exciting and relevant than Matins/Evensong). Sundays aren't the problem. The rest of the week is – along with an unhealthy obsession with maintaining way too many buildings that are simply not fit for purpose.
What's needed is a recognition that clergy are not now, nor have ever been, chief executives. They are worship specialists, spiritual directors and community interfaces. Running parishes is the laity's job. Getting them to step up and do it is quite another matter. Digging up clergy is always possible. Digging up wardens, treasurers etc is often ten times as hard. Forget this obsession with leading worship, which as I say is already perfectly permissible and start campaigning for the laity to take proper responsibility for the church.
Thank-you, preacherwoman and Perpetua. I am conscious that the piece creaks a bit at the joints, but I do think it's an interesting idea to seek a bit of distance and perspective on our current problems. I wonder what Queen Victoria would say – much the same, I expect!
Laura
Good morning 'ohwhatcanitmean'. I don't think we have met before? Seeking enlightenment from your linked blog I learned only that you are a football expert, but you speak like a clergyman so I shall assume that this hunch is correct.
If I may say so, I do not think I am missing *the* point about lay involvement, though I may be missing the point you wish to make. I think it is perhaps like the elephant: as I have hold of the tusk and you have hold of the tail, our perceptions of the whole are naturally different.
The laity, usually church wardens, have been permitted to read services of the word since at least 1662. However, in practice, this means Licensed Lay Readers, of which there are simply not enough to go around. Churchwardens are not briefed to take services as part of their role and, in my experience, are unwilling to do so.
What I would like to be more widespread is the use of a less-trained tier of laity to take services. By my reckoning (see http://www.layanglicana.org/content.php?104-Diocese-by-Diocese) half the English dioceses currently do have such a tier, and half do not.
Your complaint sounds awfully like Lady Muck sighing at the difficulty of finding servants these days. Perhaps if you were to treat 'wardens, treasurers, etc' less like mere hewers of wood and drawers of water and more like partners in worship, you might have less difficulty in recruitment?
No, it really isn't like that. I'm talking about laity *running churches*. Being responsible. Taking *all the major decisions*. Not being servants of the clergy at all – but senior partners in the mission and ministry of the church.
You don't need a "less-trained tier" in the formal sense your statistics suggest. Another layer of labelled ministry is precisely what the church doesn't need – all it ends up as is another source of discontentment and confusion. You make the classic Anglican error of confusing structure with content. The church needs to stop worrying about who is licensed to do what and get on with the business of mission and ministry. And you talk about partners in worship – but actually, as I have said, worship isn't the problem. Everything else is. Whinging about "why can't I take services" is complaining that the deckchairs on the Titanic are the wrong colour.
I did take services for 5 years, so it is not personal whinging about participating in worship – I was perfectly content with my role and had no further personal ambition.
We disagree what a church is all about. For me that is worship, mission, pastoral work and worship. All else – for me – is subsidiary. I have never known any difficulty in finding churchwardens, treasurers or PCC members in churches where the senior clergy regarded themselves as part of a team. If, however, they regarded themselves as directors – with or without willing directees, practical assistance was much harder to come by.
This is my opinion. Yours differs, as you have made clear. I think we will have to agree to disagree.