Anglican Rose

The other day I ran across the updated website of the ACC. I was very surprised, especially by FAQ links that staked out the ACC’s position on the English Reformation and therefore Anglican formularies. At first glance, it appeared to defend the Elizabethan Settlement, even calling the ACC a “reformed Catholic church”. Nonetheless, I kept myself fastened to the ground and asked if the new webpages represented a retraction of the ACC’s Athens Statement; in other words, was ACC finally approving the the basic theology of the Settlement period? What follows is a comparison of the content of the new website to the older Athens Statement, and maybe from there a sober evaluation can be had.  Readers will find the ACC’s identity hinges upon a theory of doctrinal development between the Settlement and Tractarianism, ultimately justifying the ACC’s current theological position (which we will call ‘Stahlism’).  Continue reading →

Alchemist’s Workshop

Easter Eve’s renewed popularity might be caused by a renewed interest in sacramentals for Anglican ritual– the paschal candle, holy fire, the blessing of the font, sacred salt, distribution of lesser candles, burning of palms, use of incense, etc.. The Easter Eve service I last attended was packed with sacramentals, and, as each sacramental was blessed, the priest waved a stylus and incanted prayers, making the ceremony resemble wizardry. “Superstition” is a term often used by English Reformers against the abuses of Papistry but also, occasionally, overly-scrupulous Puritanism. My interest is with the former, namely, how Roman sacramentology agrees with medieval alchemy when it believes an ordinary  substance (be it a palm leaf, candle, or charism oil) is magically transformed into divine essence through an infusion of invisible spirit. This post is a compendium to another, the St. Louis Affirmation, building upon a workable enumeration of Sacraments. Continue reading →

I am very proud to present several facsimiles by Mr. Stephen Cooper (below). These facsimiles are about pamphlet-size, yet offer a vital apologetic against the ecclesiastical isolationism of the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC), enshrined by their constitution and canons by men of dubious opinions like Andrew Stahl (1). Most of these writings date back to the 1990’s, providing an interpretation of the Affirmation of St. Louis common among a majority both before and after the 1977 Congress, namely, those “middle-of-the-road” Episcopalians who identified with a church simultaneously “protestant” and “catholic”.  Mr Cooper tells us something of the “old-ACA” as coming from earlier jurisdictions like AEC and AECNA.  Cooper also provides something of a gravity against the unstable vertigo of Clavier’s broad churchmanship. From Cooper we get a feel for what once counted as authentic ‘continuing epsicopalianism’.  Continue reading →