Slum priests needed for a new Oxford Movement
November
29, 2016
Ed
Watson’s recent post here at Covenant
asked, What is preventing a new Oxford Movement in the Episcopal Church
today? Watson was responding to a 2012 post by Fr. Robert
Hendrickson. Zachary Guiliano then followed up, mentioning
a potential missing element: an emphasis on Scripture and personal
holiness. However, in the wake of the November election, it seems a question
worth revisiting for a fourth time. I am very conscious that I speak as a
committed layperson within the Episcopal Church, and therefore not in a
position to practice directly what I preach. I believe, however, that what I
discuss below should be a necessary part of the conversation.
As
a historian, reading both Watson’s and Hendrickson’s posts, I was struck by the
extent that their framing, and therefore their definition, of the Oxford
Movement was purely theological and liturgical. A revival of the Oxford
Movement, by this definition, would consist in asserting the claims of the
Church against individualistic trends within society and culture, a renewed
adoration of the Eucharist and devotion to the Virgin Mary, and a more
sacramental piety.
We
have attended to the externals, the “décor” of the Oxford Movement, argues Fr.
Hendrickson, without cultivating the inner life of a John Keble or an E.B.
Pusey. Watson argues that the High Church insularity, cultivated from within
and assumed from without, has further driven away potential support; focusing
on the “right” way to do worship has become a bar to evangelism and renewal.
http://livingchurch.org/covenant/2016/11/29/slum-priests-needed-for-a-new-oxford-movement/
Comments
Post a Comment