On the new web site I created for Resurrection Church I used, “An Unchanging Faith in an Ever-Changing World,” as the banner.” I have had several inquiries as to why. Well to be honest I was first introduced to it by Fr. Steven DelSignore, Rector of St. Andrews in Middlebourgh MA. I liked it so much I decided to use it for Resurrection Church. To answer the question, let’s have to first look at the reason behind the phrase.
Americans, especially in the 21st century, are not very good at embracing the past. We seem to be hardwired to embrace change without the lessons of the past as a guide for moving forward. Look around; old buildings are torn down to make space for new ones, upgrades abound in everything we see in ads and on TV. Churches are eliminating traditional worship for the more contemporary. Let’s face it, “out with the old in with the new,” has become the mantra for everything from politics to religion.
We are a society led to believe the future will be brighter and that the old thoughts and ideas of the past were not nearly as cool and sophisticated as the new ones. As if any connections to the past make us well… un-cool.
"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." Jude 1:3
Christians are commanded in Scripture to, “pass on the faith as once delivered to the saints.” This is what original Episcopalians believe and the reason for our unchanging faith. We are the heirs of a long tradition for which countless Christians have given their lives. The Faith is not for us to play with or to change to suit our own ideas, or the whims of a modern society.
Because we live in an ever-changing world, we frequently need to be reminded of this and to take a stand. As original Episcopalians, we believe that Christians who worship in a modern way in a modern-looking church may begin to lose sight of their past. They forget about the historic Church.
I get questions as well about the 1928 over the 1979 prayer book. Original Episcopalians believe that our 1928 Prayer Book to be slowly crafted over the centuries, with careful up dating of the original Book of Common Prayer of 1549. When you worship on Sunday, you say many of the same prayers used by Thomas Cranmer, Queen Elizabeth I, George Washington, and thousands of other Christians. The words themselves become a vocal connection to those Anglicans who have “fought the good fight” and handed on the Faith intact to us. I remember a time when an Anglican could go to any other Anglican parish in the world and feel right at home in worship. In fact, one of the fundamental ideas of Anglicans was that everyone would worship using the very same words. That is what is meant by common prayer. Today, our Prayer Book serves not only to identify us as Original Episcopalians, but also to keep us on the same page with history.
Another quality of 21st-century Americans is that they have a very high view of themselves. They don’t like to be under anybody else’s authority. Christian virtues such as obedience, humility, and submissiveness are considered today to be signs of weakness. We also demand to be entertained. Nowhere is all this more evident than in today’s worship. Reverence has given way to lively, emotionally “exciting” praise fellowship. There is a real sense of a loss of the sacred in what the modern church calls a “seeker friendly” worship environment.
In worship, we come together not so much to gain a blessing from God as to perform a service, to “offer ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto the Lord.” From the start of the Reformation, we have believed that worship ought to be liturgical in a language understood by the people, to profess the “reformed Catholic” faith, and it ought to be (as St. Paul stipulates) reverent and orderly.
Original Episcopalians believe that we need to be reminded that we are sinners, that we are all personally responsible for the Son of God having to suffer death upon the cross. We believe that our pride has to be torn down in order for us to properly worship and adore God. Our service is meant to convey that sense of humble reverence.
It is also meant to provide us with an escape from the boisterous, fast-paced world in which we live. Original Episcopalians come to appreciate how precious this time can be. We must remember that worship is an awesome work. In worship, the community comes before God not only with praise and thanksgiving, but also mindful of its own unworthiness and sinfulness.
Reverent and orderly worship also enables the community to step out of the “secular” and experience the “sacred.” In this way, both the individual and the community are constantly reminded of the spiritual, the corporate, the historical, and the mystical aspects of the Body of Christ.
Be Unchanging,
Bishop Ian
