Occasionally someone will ask me, via email, if I’m clergy. It gives me a grin, until I recollect some of the clergy blogging out there. I suspect this is the Holy Spirit, whispering, “Down, peacock” in my ear.
Anyway, I used to respond with some form of “just laity”. I’ve occasionally seen people jokingly refer to themselves as “scum laity”, which I take to be good-natured modesty.
Of late, I’ve come to think that we might have it backwards. We laity are the flock, and when Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep, he was talking about us. When you come right down to it, the church is about helping the laity become right with God, to His Glory. To paraphrase Calvin, the Church IS the people.
Presbyters and Bishops? They’re a means to the end. A crucial means, of course. To draw on the Church Militant parallel; deacons, presbyters and bishops are our lieutenants, captains and colonels. Vestry might be ascribed to be our sergeants, which brings us to the rest of us laity.
We’re the infantry.
We put the “soldier” into “Onward, Christian Soldiers”. We are Gideon’s host before the Midianites, who drank but did not kneel. (Judges 7:1-18)
Lately, the term I’ve been using more often is “Yeoman Laity”. In Britain, the yeomanry were the freemen – the base of the middle class. They held small farms and were the keystone to the defense of the country. They were the archers at Agincourt; they were soldiers at The Somme. When rebellion broke out in Ireland in 1798, it was the mounted yeomanry who rode in small bodies, ridiculously outnumbered by hordes of rebels, and supporting the loyal (and Catholic) Irish militias, preserved the Protestant Faith on that island.
When we look at portraits of Henry VIII, he is often surrounded by what we call “beefeaters” – actually, they were (and remain) the Yeoman Guardsmen. Say what you like about King Henry’s dealings with women, he usually gave the common man a leg up. In a time of uncertainty, Henry could rely upon his lowborn, common yeoman to defend him.
The United States was founded on the strength of the yeomanry. Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson – they were gentry, but their soldiers were mainly yeoman class (with some tradesmen thrown in for good measure).
When it comes to the Church, and especially our wee denomination of Reformed Episcopalians, we laity must take up the office of loyal yeomanry. At least some of us (though the more, the better) must be the watchmen during these unsettled days. One of the reasons for the ECUSA train-wreck is the laity fell asleep while the Enemy, like a thief, crept into the vestries and committees and houses of bishops and deputies until one dark night, ECUSA wasn’t part of Christ’s church any longer.
If you know the history of the REC, you know that the current ECUSA disaster is a bigger replay of what happened 135 years ago; from the theological liberals and company men combining against the evangelicals, right down to the non-canonical hurling about of illicit inhibitions by the New York bishops.
Did the rot of ECUSA start with Gene Robinson? No.
Did it start with the 1928 Lambeth Resolution on Contraception? No.
The rot started with the Anglican departure from the Reformed faith, embodied by the Oxford Movement. From this flowed the compounded errors that followed. This resulted in the evangelicals departing ECUSA and founding the Reformed Episcopal Church. So one could suggest that the year 1874 AD, when the REC was founded, marks the diverting of the train - down the track to oblivion.
Now, some people are fleeing the Episcopal Church for the REC. Many of them, I believe, are good, honest Christians who just want to worship the Lord in peace, and we should welcome them gladly. We should also bear in mind that these folk are also the product of 135 years of fuzzy theology, lax biblical study, and plain bad practise, and they bring that baggage with them (I’ll raise my hand, hereabouts, as guilty of mine own accusation).
If we don’t wish to see the REC repeat the errors of ECUSA (and undergo a similar withdrawal of God’s Hand and subsequent harrowing of us) we need vigilant Yeoman Laity, this becomes more pressing as the Anglican Church of North America constitution approaches completion. There are some issues, antithetical to Reformed Christians that need resolving: one is the issue of ACNA ordaining women, another is the possibility that reformed (REC) parishes will be made subordinate to heretical Ex-ECUSA bishops. There are doubtless more...
There’s a song out of Ulster (that’s Northern Ireland, a place I hold dear in my heart) that in part goes:
"Be ever watchful then, my boys, our cause is good and true.
"The loyal Star of Ulster shines, ‘midst Red and White and Blue.
"With rifle at the ready, be on your guard tonight;
"For Ulstermen will fight, and Ulster’s cause is right. "
Thankfully, in that wee country, the rifle has been set aside, for now - but the vigilance remains. The Ulster yeomanry guards their country and the Protestant Faith, against a relentless foe who have sworn their destruction. Who do we have, to safeguard the Reformed Faith in an increasingly hostile American culture?
We need more Yeoman Laity.
Ye up to it?
Anyway, I used to respond with some form of “just laity”. I’ve occasionally seen people jokingly refer to themselves as “scum laity”, which I take to be good-natured modesty.
Of late, I’ve come to think that we might have it backwards. We laity are the flock, and when Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep, he was talking about us. When you come right down to it, the church is about helping the laity become right with God, to His Glory. To paraphrase Calvin, the Church IS the people.
Presbyters and Bishops? They’re a means to the end. A crucial means, of course. To draw on the Church Militant parallel; deacons, presbyters and bishops are our lieutenants, captains and colonels. Vestry might be ascribed to be our sergeants, which brings us to the rest of us laity.
We’re the infantry.
We put the “soldier” into “Onward, Christian Soldiers”. We are Gideon’s host before the Midianites, who drank but did not kneel. (Judges 7:1-18)
Lately, the term I’ve been using more often is “Yeoman Laity”. In Britain, the yeomanry were the freemen – the base of the middle class. They held small farms and were the keystone to the defense of the country. They were the archers at Agincourt; they were soldiers at The Somme. When rebellion broke out in Ireland in 1798, it was the mounted yeomanry who rode in small bodies, ridiculously outnumbered by hordes of rebels, and supporting the loyal (and Catholic) Irish militias, preserved the Protestant Faith on that island.
When we look at portraits of Henry VIII, he is often surrounded by what we call “beefeaters” – actually, they were (and remain) the Yeoman Guardsmen. Say what you like about King Henry’s dealings with women, he usually gave the common man a leg up. In a time of uncertainty, Henry could rely upon his lowborn, common yeoman to defend him.
The United States was founded on the strength of the yeomanry. Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson – they were gentry, but their soldiers were mainly yeoman class (with some tradesmen thrown in for good measure).
When it comes to the Church, and especially our wee denomination of Reformed Episcopalians, we laity must take up the office of loyal yeomanry. At least some of us (though the more, the better) must be the watchmen during these unsettled days. One of the reasons for the ECUSA train-wreck is the laity fell asleep while the Enemy, like a thief, crept into the vestries and committees and houses of bishops and deputies until one dark night, ECUSA wasn’t part of Christ’s church any longer.
If you know the history of the REC, you know that the current ECUSA disaster is a bigger replay of what happened 135 years ago; from the theological liberals and company men combining against the evangelicals, right down to the non-canonical hurling about of illicit inhibitions by the New York bishops.
Did the rot of ECUSA start with Gene Robinson? No.
Did it start with the 1928 Lambeth Resolution on Contraception? No.
The rot started with the Anglican departure from the Reformed faith, embodied by the Oxford Movement. From this flowed the compounded errors that followed. This resulted in the evangelicals departing ECUSA and founding the Reformed Episcopal Church. So one could suggest that the year 1874 AD, when the REC was founded, marks the diverting of the train - down the track to oblivion.
Now, some people are fleeing the Episcopal Church for the REC. Many of them, I believe, are good, honest Christians who just want to worship the Lord in peace, and we should welcome them gladly. We should also bear in mind that these folk are also the product of 135 years of fuzzy theology, lax biblical study, and plain bad practise, and they bring that baggage with them (I’ll raise my hand, hereabouts, as guilty of mine own accusation).
If we don’t wish to see the REC repeat the errors of ECUSA (and undergo a similar withdrawal of God’s Hand and subsequent harrowing of us) we need vigilant Yeoman Laity, this becomes more pressing as the Anglican Church of North America constitution approaches completion. There are some issues, antithetical to Reformed Christians that need resolving: one is the issue of ACNA ordaining women, another is the possibility that reformed (REC) parishes will be made subordinate to heretical Ex-ECUSA bishops. There are doubtless more...
There’s a song out of Ulster (that’s Northern Ireland, a place I hold dear in my heart) that in part goes:
"Be ever watchful then, my boys, our cause is good and true.
"The loyal Star of Ulster shines, ‘midst Red and White and Blue.
"With rifle at the ready, be on your guard tonight;
"For Ulstermen will fight, and Ulster’s cause is right. "
Thankfully, in that wee country, the rifle has been set aside, for now - but the vigilance remains. The Ulster yeomanry guards their country and the Protestant Faith, against a relentless foe who have sworn their destruction. Who do we have, to safeguard the Reformed Faith in an increasingly hostile American culture?
We need more Yeoman Laity.
Ye up to it?
Hi, Keith....
ReplyDeleteNever be afraid of being laity. I'm laity now. I'm not ordained. But I think lay people should read theology and educate themselves about the issues. This way the ordained ministers can't say, "Follow me blindly." Any decision to follow should be a biblically and theologically informed one.
Charlie
Charlie,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree. Part of being a Protestant is having personal responsibility and understanding WHY we believe what we believe.
Current Lenten reading is R.C. Sproul and starting some J.C. Ryle next week.
Viva la Reformacion!
Keith
Amen. I've read Knots Untied, by J. C. Ryle. Very good stuff.
ReplyDelete