Reading the Church of England’s Response to the Covid-19 Crisis: The Diverging Views of Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical Clergy

Within the one Church, the Church of England holds together in tension two distinctive streams, one rooted in the Catholic tradition (shaping Anglo-Catholic clergy) and one rooted in the Reformed tradition (shaping Evangelical clergy). Comparing the responses of 263 Anglo-Catholic clergy with the responses of 140 Evangelical clergy (all engaged in full-time stipendiary parish ministry) to the Coronavirus, Church & You Survey, the present analyses tested the thesis that these two groups would read the Church of England’s response to the Covid-19 crisis differently. The data demonstrated that, although Anglo-Catholic clergy were as willing as Evangelical clergy to embrace the digital age to assist with pastoral care, they were significantly less enthusiastic about the provision of online worship, about the closure of churches, and about the notion of virtual rather than geographical communities. The centrality of sacred space (parish church) and local place (parish system) remain more important in the Catholic tradition than in the Reformed tradition. As a consequence, Anglo-Catholic clergy have felt more disadvantaged and marginalized by the Church of England’s response to the Covid-19 crisis.

The People of God, Discipleship and Ministry in the Anglican Church Today and Tomorrow

People of God is a well-known biblical term used to describe and understand the inclusive, holistic and serving nature of the Christian Church. Currently, members of the worldwide Anglican Communion are discussing discipleship and ministry. This paper explores the deep connection between describing the church as the People of God and the practice of discipleship and ministry. That exploration occurs through an examination of the considerable literature on the topic, and by discussing discipleship and ministry in light of understanding the church as the People of God. Discoveries made from the journey may surprise. Suggestions for church practice emerged with implications for: ecclesial language; parish ministry and mission; the processes of Anglican Diocesan Synods; and potential outcomes for the 2022 Lambeth Conference.

Pastoral Practice of the Academic Parish of Prague

This paper examines pastoral practice of the Academic Parish of Prague in compliance with its specific character – service to people from academia. Data analysis from qualitative interviews and document-based research identified two major areas of ministry – pastoral care (ad intra) and public engagement (ad extra) – and positioned the community somewhat between a parish ministry and chaplaincy. Specifically, empirical research suggested that people opt for this parish because it acknowledges their social, spiritual and intellectual needs seriously and relevantly, and addresses its members with respect. Theologically, it maintains there is a compatibility between the parish offer and expectations of people, and argues that the parish interpreted and handled its specific mission – addressing urban and educated people – relevantly and authentically.

Parish Ministry

This chapter surveys Jonathan Edwards’s time as a pastor serving in four congregations, giving particular attention to his years in Northampton, Massachusetts. It begins by considering Edwards’s father, Timothy Edwards, and the challenges of his ministry. These would have shaped Jonathan Edwards as a young man destined to pursue the pastorate. Timothy Edwards also had a significant impact on Jonathan Edwards’s first pastorates in New York and Bolton, Connecticut. The chapter then describes the innovative pastorate of Solomon Stoddard, Jonathan Edwards’s grandfather and predecessor at Northampton, and its attendant controversies—controversies Jonathan Edwards would later inherit as pastor of Northampton. The majority of the chapter explores Edwards’s time at Northampton, from his earliest days of preaching and evangelism to times of revival and success to eventual conflict and expulsion. The chapter closes with a brief look at Edwards’s final years, including his final pastorate at Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Монашество как форма трансляции религии в эпоху гонений на Церковь в 1960-1970-х гг. (по материалам Центральной России)

The article, based on the mentioned sources, discusses the role of monastics who were forced to switch to the parish ministry in the conditions of persecution. Despite the absence of legal monasteries, many churches and Bishop’s houses formed monastic communities. The monks became guides of faith and performed the functions that they previously performed in monasteries. In the case of these communities having a legal status was not required. Many of them, despite their illegal status, were centers of faith, catechism, and charity. The study found that thanks to monastic communities and their illegal status, it was possible to transmit the foundations of the faith and intact Church tradition until the 1990s.

Priest Theodore Delektorsky (in Future Bishop Nikita) and His Anthem of the Moscow Theological Academy

В публикации приводится юбилейное стихотворение и гимн, написанные в честь 100-летия пребывания Академии в Троице-Сергиевой Лавре (1814-1914). Автор поэтических строк протоиерей Феодор Делекторский на момент их составления заканчивал Московскую духовную академию в священном сане, принятом задолго до поступления в неё. Приходское служение не охладило, а, наоборот, усилило стремление его души к духовному образованию. Дальнейший жизненный путь отца Феодора, принявшего монашеский постриг, епископский сан и вступившего на путь юродства, является яркой страницей в академической агиологии. Строки гимна о крестоношении стали пророческими по отношению к судьбе самого автора. Статья основывается на архивных данных и публикациях, часть из которых хранится в библиотеке Московской духовной академии. The publication contains an anniversary poem and anthem written in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Academy in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (1814-1914). The author of poetic lines Archpriest Theodore Delektorsky at the time of their composition graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy in the rank of clergy, adopted long before entering it. Parish Ministry was not discouraged, but rather strengthened the desire of his soul to spiritual education. The further life path of the author Theodore lead him to monastic vows, and then to the Episcopal rank. His life ended in martyrdome - a bright page in academic hagiology. The lines of the hymn about the cross became prophetic in relation to the fate of the author. The article is based on archival data and publications, some of which are stored in the library of the Moscow Theological Academy.

History and contents of the Podolsk Diocesan Gazette

Подольские епархиальные ведомости - это один из журналов, которые начали издаваться в середине XIX века в каждой епархии Русской Православной Церкви. Эти издания имеют огромную историческую ценность для современного историка, так как достаточно дают возможность глубоко познакомиться с бытом, проблемами и интересами православного духовенства и мирян провинциальной России середины XIX - начала XX века. Данная статья является кратким исследованием по истории церковного журнала «Подольские епархиальные ведомости» - официального периодического издания Подольской епархии. Территориально епархия находилась на юго-западе Российской империи и была создана после раздела Речи Посполитой и присоединения этого края к России. В журнале помещались официальные указы Синода и правящего архиерея, епархиальная хроника, печатались статистические данные церквей, приходов и монастырей, заметки по истории и богословию, помещались лучшие проповеди духовенства, обсуждались вопросы духовного образования, богослужебные вопросы, бытовые, сельскохозяйственные и многое другое. Авторами журнала были как правящий архиерей, так и сельские священники, которые также получили возможность поднимать вопросы, непосредственно касающиеся их приходского служения. В контексте общего состояния печати в Российской империи, в данной статье исследуется цель издания, история создания программы, тематика и рубрикация статей «Подольских епархиальных ведомостей», прослеживается вклад правящих архиереев в процесс их издания, освещаются имена главных редакторов и основных авторов журнала. Podolsk diocesan Gazette is one of the journals that began to be published in the mid-19th century in every diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. These publications are of great historical value to the modern historian, as they provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the life, problems and interests of Orthodox clergy and laity of provincial Russia in the middle of XIX - early XX centuries. This article is a brief study of the history of the church magazine "Podolsk diocesan Gazette" - the official periodical of the Podolsk diocese. Territorially the diocese was located in in the southwestern part of the Russian Empire and was created after the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the annexation of this territory to Russia. The magazine contained official decrees of the Synod and the ruling bishop, a diocesan chronicle, and statistical data on churches, parishes, and monasteries, notes on history and theology, the best sermons of the clergy, discussed spiritual education, liturgical issues, domestic, agricultural issues, and more. The magazine's authors included both the ruling bishop and village priests, who also had an opportunity to raise issues directly related to their parish ministry. In the context of the general state of the press in the Russian Empire, this article examines the purpose of the publication, the history of the program, the themes and rubrication of articles of the Podolsk eparchial gazette, traces the contribution of the ruling bishops in the process of their publication, and highlights the names of the editors and the main authors of the magazine.

Moderating Evangelicalism: Revd William Muir of St. Stephen's, Edinburgh

Of those ministers within the pale of pre-Disruption evangelicalism who remained in the Established Church of Scotland following the cataclysmic events of 18 May 1843, none is more paradigmatic than Revd William Muir. Deeply committed to evangelical preaching, rich parish ministry, philanthropic and evangelistic activism, and the idea of a National Kirk, Muir – along with Norman Macleod and others – played a critical role in piloting the ecclesiastical ship through the rough waters of the mid-to-late 1840s and into the era of recovery in which other establishment evangelicals began to exert influence.