UNIT F: Baptism & Eucharist

Contents

UNIT F: Baptism & Eucharist .............................................................................................. F1

Introduction to Session 1 ................................................................................................. F3

Session 1 ........................................................................................................................ F5

Session 2 ........................................................................................................................ F7

Session 3 ...................................................................................................................... F9

Session 4 ...................................................................................................................... F11

Session 5 ...................................................................................................................... F15

Projects ......................................................................................................................... F17

Unit F Baptism and Eucharist Resources ...................................................................... F18

‘We want to get the baby done’ ..................................................................................... F19

Church of England canons relating to initiation .............................................................. F22

The role of priests and deacons .................................................................................... F27

Introduction to Unit F

What is a Sacrament? The definition given in the Catechism is ‘An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace’. This Unit will examine the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion and also look at confirmation, marriage, reconciliation, anointing for healing and ordination. You will have an opportunity to learn more about the many different ways these sacraments are practised within the Church of England and the role of all church members in them.

Preparation

As preparation for Sessions 4 and 5: Plan to attend a Communion Service in a church of a different tradition from your home church. You might like to

arrange to visit the churches of other members of the CCS group. If there are members from another denomination try to include them in these visits as the comparison will be very helpful.

What do you notice that is different? What does this tell you about the importance of various parts of the service to the people there? How do you feel about it? What, to you, are the important aspects of the Holy Communion service?

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Session 1 Looking at Sacraments

Opening worship 1. Whole Group discussion: What is a Sacrament? The definition given in the Catechism is ‘An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace’. Is this helpful to people? How would members of the group explain a Sacrament?

Tutor to give an outline of all the church’s sacraments, including the minor sacraments of marriage, healing, reconciliation, confirmation and ordination. (see website for details) 2. In addition to these sacraments, which may be seen as ways to support strengthen and accompany us on our life journey, there are also many objects and practices that help us in our faith and prayer life. We are physical beings and physical objects and the use of our bodies can help us to express our faith. Some of these are referred to as ‘sacramentals.’ This includes holy water, holding crosses, statues, icons and making the sign of the cross. There may also be other, less formal, places, activities and objects which act as reminders of God’s presence.

Split into groups: In each group can you

a) name some objects or practices that you find helpful in your life of faith? Explain to the others in your group how these things are of help to you. How important are they?

b) The fifteenth Article of Religion states that only Baptism and Holy Communion are ‘ordained of Christ’ and are ‘certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace.’ What does being a baptized person and receiving communion mean for each person? c) The canons of the Church of England state that only episcopally ordained priests may take services of baptism and preside at Holy Communion. What are the theological and practical reasons for this – and are there any disadvantages?

You may need to take a break or fetch some refreshments during this discussion. 3. Feedback some ideas from each group, especially noting which objects or practices aid growth in the Christian life.

4. Consider whether these sacraments, Holy Communion, baptism, the minor sacraments, the sacramentals or less formal sacraments, have power in themselves as God promises to work through them or whether the faith of participants is essential.

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Closing Worship

Preparation for Session Two

1. Read accounts of Baptism in the early Church:

o Acts Chapter 2

o Acts Chapter 8.26-40

o Acts Chapter 10.34-48

o Acts Chapter 18.8-11

2. The Canon of the Church of England says that we cannot refuse baptism. (Resources, page F25)

Find out about the baptismal practice within your own church.

1. What requirements are there for people who seek baptism in your own church?

2. What preparation is offered?

If you are able, read:

o Lion History pp 46-47 - Baptism in the Early Church (resources, page F19)

o Read the Baptism Service and the Service of Thanksgiving from Common Worship

o Church Times article We want to get the baby done (resources, page F20)

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Session Two The sacrament of baptism

Opening worship

1. Begin looking at baptism by finding out each person’s baptismal history – as an infant, as an adult, in the Church of England or elsewhere – or a combination of these!

Did the date of each person’s baptism appear on the life journey, drawn for the previous unit? Was it seen as a significant stage in the growth of faith?

2. The tutor will lead a study of the account of Jesus’ baptism in Mark’s Gospel. John’s was a Jewish baptism of repentance, for the washing away of sin, but Jesus was without sin. We notice that the Holy Spirit rested on him after his baptism. Why was Jesus baptised?

Thinking about the accounts of baptism in the early church, what are the important aspects that we find in the passages you read for preparation?

3. Baptism developments – BCP, in or out of main worship

The tutor provides some background to changes in the past century. Until 1980 all baptisms in the Church of England were according to the Book of Common Prayer. The baptism usually took place in the afternoon with the priest, parent, godparents and family present. In Common Worship we are encouraged to hold the Baptism during the normal Sunday service where the church ‘family’ is gathered. Perhaps in the past families did not move around so much, so the family of the Church might have included many members of the birth family.

But now a large proportion of those who attend church come from families who attended church and there are many members of the population whose families have not been connected to church for generations.

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You may need to take a break or fetch some refreshments during the following discussion.

In small groups 4. Group members share the baptismal practices in their own church and then consider:

o Whether this practice is part of the church’s mission and outreach. Does baptism happen, for example, largely as a response to requests or are people who are part of preparation or enquirer’s groups encouraged to be baptized?

o Is the service of Thanksgiving part of your church’s practice? With reference to the article ‘We want to get the baby done, ‘(Resources, p. F20), when might this service be appropriate?

o What efforts should be made by the church, bearing in mind the promise by the whole congregation to “welcome these children and uphold them in their new life in Christ”?

Closing worship

Preparation for next week: -

1. If you have not already done so, read the Baptism Service and the Service of Thanksgiving from Common Worship.

2. If you are able, watch the video of a baptism (this will be found on the website: www.chelmsford.anglican.org/ccs)

If you have time:

Read the Lima Text on Baptism comparing the practice across the denominations - www.chelmsford.anglican.org/ccs

3. The Church of England Liturgical Commission Commentary on Baptism - Further reading on baptism: www.chelmsford.anglican.org/ccs

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Session 3 Thinking about baptism

Opening worship

1. If participants have not been able to watch the video of the baptism, show it at this point. (found on the website: www.chelmsford.anglican.org/ccs)

Look through the services of Baptism and Thanksgiving, comparing the words and actions in each.

Consider in groups the various aspects of a baptism:

What do we learn from the use of the symbols – oil, water, signing with the cross?

What other elements of the experience are significant for the participants, for example, the welcome received, the gathering of the family? Do these count as informal sacraments as discussed in the first session?

Coffee

2. Tutor to give a brief overview of baptismal practices across the denominations and requirements for baptism. (Information to be found on website.)

3. Christian denominations disagree on whether the person being baptised should be able to make their own declaration of faith. The distinction is between infant baptism and believer’s baptism. The group can divide into two groups, each contributing one point of view, or work as a whole group to identify the reasons for infant or believer’s baptism. These should include biblical, pastoral and historical reasons. The group might like to record these points, on a flip chart, for example.

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What is the case for infant baptism? Such as –

God’s grace, which is undeserved?Welcoming the whole family to the Church?Not turning people away?

What is the case for believers’ baptism?

A decision to follow Christ?The foundation of Christian ministry?Less likely to be an empty ritual?

What is the most important consideration in accessing the merits of each practice? The likely effect on an individual’s faith journey? The message of underserved grace? The capacity of the church family to provide welcome and follow up? Or some other factor?

Closing worship

Preparation for next week 1. Each person in the group to ask a priest and 3 members of their own congregation what a priest is in the Church of England and what is their role. (For discussion in the next session.) If possible ask some people who are not churchgoers what they think a priest is and what they do. 2. If you have not yet, try to attend a Communion Service in a church of a different tradition from your home church. What do you notice that is different? What does this tell you about the importance of various parts of the service to the people there? How do you feel about it? What, to you, are the important aspects of the Holy Communion service?

3. Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Matthew 26:14-30; Mark 14:12-27 and Luke 22.1-30

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Opening worship

1. In groups Read the accounts of the Last Supper and consider the similarities and differences between them.: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Matthew 26:14-30; Mark 14:12-27; Luke 22.1-30Similarities Differences

o What do we learn about the importance of this meal to the first Christians?

o How can we observe the instructions in 1 Corinthians 11 27-34? Are the instructions in

Matt. 5:24 relevant to us?

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2. Tutor input: Using the Bishops’ Report on the Eucharist identify Anglican understanding of the Eucharist. The tutor will draw out the main points. (www.chelmsford.anglican.org/ccs)

In groups: how does this understanding compare with group members’ experience in the churches that were visited?

Coffee

3. ‘Holy Communion is celebrated by the whole people of God gathered for worship. The unity of the liturgy is held together by the president, who in presiding over the whole service holds word and sacrament together and draws the congregation into a worshipping community.’ (from the General Notes introducing Common Worship Holy Communion).

How can the service be conducted so that all people can participate in the celebration?

What difference does the identity of the president make? What would be the effect if the president were not ordained? Should the president be known to the congregation so that they can lead and include all those present?

If time allows

In groups: look at the different Eucharistic prayers in Common Worship. Give each group 2 or 3 Eucharistic prayers to look at. o What are the main differences between them?

o What differences in understanding do we find here?

o What are the emphases of each prayer?

Feedback responses to the questions

Allocate roles for next week’s Eucharist

Closing worship F12

Preparation for next session: The national discussion about children receiving communion has highlighted many of the views that people have about the meaning of the sacrament. If your Church admits children to Communion before Confirmation find out how this works out in your church. What are the requirements to admit children to Communion and what preparation is done? If your church does not do this what are the arguments against it? Optional extra reading: On the Way report Information sheets The Eucharist: Sacrament of unity: House of Bishops 2001, available at www.cofe.anglican.org Lima Text Anglican Methodist discussions on Eucharist Practice in LEPs http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1049/1/1049.pdf A thesis on the changes in the Liturgy for Holy Communion in 20th Century

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Session 5 Celebrating Holy Communion

Opening worship

1. Whole group: How does how we pray express what we believe? The liturgy emphasises what we believe about God. For example, since the mid 20th Century there have been changes made in the way the Eucharist has been celebrated. Churches had generally been built with the altar (or holy table) at the east end of the church and the service was conducted by the priest facing the altar with his back to the congregation. Some priests stood at the north end of the altar, with minimal actions as they said the Eucharistic prayer, to emphasise that it was God who was active not the priest. Modern liturgy has usually changed this arrangement as altars have been brought forward and the priest stands behind it. Some churches are now built with the congregation gathered around the altar emphasising the communal aspect of the service.

In groups: How is theology – what people believe – expressed in what is done?

Who may receive communion in your church?

Which posture do people adopt – kneeling or standing? Do they receive the wafer in their hands or on their tongue? What do these actions signify?

Does the priest face the congregation behind the altar, stand to one side, facing north or stand with his/her back to the congregation? How far away are the congregation?

What happens to the consecrated bread and wine that is left? What does this tell us about what we believe has happened?

In churches where the sacrament is reserved in an aumbry or tabernacle you will often see people stop and bow or genuflect as they pass the Sacrament. What does this indicate, to them and to others? How do you react to this?

Two practices which indicate beliefs about Holy Communion are the inclusion of children and the use of the reserved sacrament.

Children and Holy Communion – share different experiences and feedback on the preparation work. If there is not a variety of experience Tutors may have to present the reasons for each position.

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Reserved Sacrament: In some churches the Sacrament is reserved for taking out to the sick and housebound. Have the people in the group had any experience of this? How is the connection with the worshipping congregation observed?

coffee The unit concludes with a celebration of Holy Communion.

Recommended Reading o Common Worship Baptism and Communion Services o Take the Plunge - Timothy Radcliffe o Baptism today - Thomas Best o Why go to Church - Timothy Radcliffe (The drama of the Eucharist) o Guide to the Sacraments - John Macquarrie o On the Way Report: Church House Publishing.

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Summer Projects – these are optional and assessment should be negotiated with your tutor.

1. Design a course to prepare children to receive Holy Communion. It may be for under 11s or 11 – 16 year olds. As a guideline this should be 3 sessions of one hour each. 2. Write an essay of 1500 and 2000 words answering the question: ‘How does your church nurture those who have been newly baptised, whether children or adults? Are there things that could be done to improve it? 3. Compile a portfolio to show the impact of one of the main baptismal symbols, (water, oil or light.) No more than 14 images and give reasons for each choice. 4. Write an essay of 1500 and 2000 words taking one element of the Communion service (e.g. forgiveness, sharing the peace) and consider how you would encourage your congregation to live it out in their daily lives. 5. Write an essay of 1500 and 2000 words considering the changes in the structure of the service of Holy Communion in the words and in the layout of churches and how this reflects different ideas about our relationship with God. Each of the essay topics (2., 4., and 5.) may be delivered as a recorded speech of approximately ten minutes length.

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Unit F Baptism and Eucharist Resources

BAPTISM IN THE EARLY CHURCH

Baptism was originally an occasion for witnessing to faith in Christ on conversion, and was the entrance ceremony to the church, identifying the person with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Only those who had been baptized took part in the communion service. Then, from an early period, considerable preparation was considered necessary before baptism took place. Candidates often had a period of three years’ probation, to see if they were of good character. Then came a period of intensive instruction in Christian doctrine, often involving memorizing a short statement of Christian belief (the ‘creed’). It was very likely that the creed began in the form of questions put to a candidate when he was baptized, and later became a statement of belief memorized and then recited at baptism. Baptism was normally by immersion either in the river or in the bath-house of a large house. The person was normally immersed three times, in response to the three questions about belief in three persons of the Trinity. From the early second century, baptism by pouring of

water was allowed in cases of emergency or sickness. From the third century, the baptismal service also included the laying-on-of-hands by the chief minister of the church (the bishop), with a prayer that the candidate would receive the Holy Spirit.

Baptism seems normally to have taken place on Sundays. At first, baptism was probably

only administered to adults. The first definite mention of child-baptism comes early in the third century, and infant baptism was beginning to be widespread by the mid-third century.

Both adult and infant baptisms were practised until the sixth century, after which, normally, only infant baptism was practised. As early as the end of the second century some people had come to believe that baptism had a magical effect. Tertullian mentions prayer to ‘sanctify’ the water, and from then on it was widely believed that baptism automatically washed away sins. From this period too, there arose the practice of exorcizing the candidate before baptism, often accompanied with ceremonial anointing with oil.

The History of Christianity (Revised Edition) Oxford: Lion Publishing, 1994 pp 29,30.

Support for the baptism of infants comes from references in the New Testament to whole households being baptised. A household would have included adults and children, those related to each other and also servants. Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48; 11:14). The three definite cases of household baptisms are those of Lydia (Acts 16:15), the Philippian jailor (Acts 16:33-34), and Stephanas (1 Corinthians 1:16).

F18‘We want to get the baby done’

Extract from the Church Times: used with permission.

When Helen Sammon interviewed families who had asked to have their children christened, she found that baptism was not always what they were looking for

On the threshold: finding what the family wants on parade

THE PHONE rang. “Is that the church?” a young woman asked. “Do you do Christenings?”

“Yes, of course,” I replied.

“That’s good. Most churches don’t do them any more. I’ve asked several, but they only do baptisms. I don’t want that: I want a Christening.”

As the Vicar of a large, semi-urban parish in the west of England, I receive 30 to 40 requests a year from families asking to have their child “Christened”. None of them attends church regularly, and most have very little contact with the church between the baptism of each child.

Such figures are echoed nationally. Thirty-five per cent of all babies born in the UK are baptised in one of the main denominational churches, although only six to eight per cent of

people attend church regularly.

In order to respond with integrity, both pastorally and liturgically, I wanted to explore and understand what it was that these families wanted, or expected, from a Christening. For those who wanted to “get the baby done”, what was it, I wondered, that they wanted me to “do” to him or her?

I never want to “do” to anyone’s baby what they have not asked for; and yet I want to welcome and affirm every family who approaches the church and asks for our ministry.

It is not only the number of requests which is interesting, but the changing attitudes and practice surrounding baptism. Rather than “a quiet family occasion with a cup of tea afterwards”, as one of my elderly parishioners fondly remembered, they have become, almost without exception, large family celebrations attended by upwards of 50 to 100 people.

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People dress lavishly, venues are hired for a reception afterwards, and adults and children arrive in expectation of a party. Families appear to know what they are expecting from a Christening, but there is a long-recognised discrepancy between this and the sacrament of baptism which the Church has to offer.

IN ORDER to explore what families understood by Christening, and what they expected from it, I interviewed 15 families in their homes, over a six-month period.

I recognised that these families had little knowledge of the Christian story, or of the liturgy, doctrine, or traditions of the Church, but I believed that, although they did not share the language, they were genuinely seeking something of depth, both from God and from the Church.

After listening to their stories, I asked them why they had decided to have their child christened, and what would be important about it for them, their child, and for their family.

Every family I visited had a story. There were longed-for pregnancies and the joy of conception and birth; there were unexpected pregnancies and the pain of being left alone to bring a child into the world. I heard of the support and care of extended family, friends, and community; and there were stories of premature babies, special-care baby units, and nurses.

These were the stories that the families wished to bring before God, and I realised that they were the key I had been searching for to enable me to respond with integrity — both pastorally and liturgically — to the requests for Christening. There could be no one-size-fits-all service, any more than there was a standard baby or family situation.

I identified four main expectations and understandings of Christening. The first was “Welcome and belonging”; the second, “Saying thank you to God”; the third, “Blessing the child”; and, finally, “Appointing the godparents”.

It was then my challenge to look creatively at the Common Worship services of baptism and Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child, and to find out how, within these liturgies, I could appropriately respond to the families’ needs and expectations.

Welcome and belonging

CHRISTENING was widely understood as the child’s official welcome into his or her extended

family and chosen community. “It’s a celebration — it’s welcoming her into the family,” one family said. “It’s when she’ll be welcomed into the community,” said another. “It’s his official welcome into the world,” a third said.

This is also demonstrated in the large numbers of people who are invited, and the way in which the date is chosen so that everyone can attend. Families often used the word “celebration” in this context, recognising it as an occasion when the community comes together to celebrate the new child.

None of the families I interviewed regarded Christening as a “naming ceremony”, although, occasionally, if the child had been given a family name, they asked for this to be acknowledged.

Welcoming the child as a new member of the church community is central to baptismal theology as expressed in the Common Worship liturgy. In baptism, the parents and godparents promise to “draw the child … into the community of faith” and help him “take his place within the life and worship of Christ’s church”. The whole congregation greets the child with the words “We welcome you into the fellowship of faith.”

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The families that formed my study were similarly expressing the importance of their child’s belonging to a wider community, and, in Christening, establishing his or her identity within that community. But the families regarded their family and friends as the community to which they belonged rather than the Church.

The thanksgiving service, although it does not include words of welcome, can be used creatively to express this. And there is also scope in the baptism service for a recognition of the importance in a child’s upbringing of relationships beyond the church, as well as within it.

Saying thank you to God

THE desire to say thank you for their child was much greater in those families where there had been problems in conceiving the child, or illness. “It’s definitely about saying thank you,” one family said. “We didn’t think we’d be able to have children, and then we had two miscarriages.”

All the families regarded giving thanks as an inherent part of the Christening, and assumed it to be part of the service. Their own prayers and poems, almost without exception, strongly expressed this concept of thanks. One family wrote: “Dear Lord, thank you for bringing our beautiful daughter Jessica into our lives. We love her more than words can express, and we are so grateful for the joy that she blesses us with, every minute of each and every day.”

If the family’s main purpose in having the child christened is to thank God, the service of thanks-giving can be offered with integrity as an alternative to baptism. It is important, however, not to assume that the words of either the thanksgiving or baptism liturgies will adequately express parents’thanks.

The thanksgiving service, by its nature, sets out to give parents the opportunity to thank God. “We are here today to give thanks for these children. . .” The first prayer, said by the minister, gives thanks generally for the “gift of human life”, and for the skill of those who have enabled the safe birth. It is not a specific prayer of thanks for the child itself, however, and there is no scope to include a name.

The later prayer, “God our creator, we thank you for the gift of these children,” seems closer to the sense of thanksgiving expressed by the parents, and the rubric reminds us that it may be said by the parents alone rather than by the whole congregation, giving them an opportunity to voice their

thanksgiving.

The only provision for thanksgiving in the baptism liturgy is in the rubric “The president may use the prayer of thanksgiving,” referring to a generic prayer similar to that in the thanksgiving service. If a baptism has not been preceded by an earlier thanksgiving service, it may be important for the family that provision is made to fulfil their expectation of thanking God.

The informal parts of either service can provide an opportunity for giving thanks to God, but can be done personally and with integrity only when the minister has first listened to, and heard, the family’s story.

Blessing the child

Without exception, the families I interviewed expressed a desire for their child to be presented to, and known by, God. It was important to them that the service would take place in church, that the vicar would be robed, and that there would be a sense of reverence. They expressed a desire for God’s protection of their child throughout this life, as well as beyond, using the phrase “If anything happened”.

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“I don’t like to think it, because this is about the beginning,” one family said, “but, yes, if anything happened. . .”

The same concept of protection of the child was implied in family traditions of Christening. The majority of parents who requested Christening for their child had been baptised themselves, and “wanted the same” for their child.

It must be asked whether this in any way reflects the Christian understanding of God’s blessing, or is closer to superstition. But we can acknowledge the families’ desire for their child to be known by God, and for God to be involved in the child’s life and well-being.

The thanksgiving service includes actions and words that articulate the “blessing” of the child. After the presentation of the child, the minister may take the child in his or her arms, and say, “So now we ask God’s blessing on N.”

When families express God’s blessing of their child as their priority, it may therefore be most appropriate to encourage them to consider a thanksgiving service.

A baptism service does not include a prayer of “blessing” in the way that families might expect, although those I interviewed equated a concept of God’s blessing with the symbols, actions, or words they associated with the service. This observation highlighted the discrepancy between families’ expectations of Christening and the theology and liturgy of baptism.

Appointing the godparents

CHOOSING and officially appointing godparents was a central feature of Christening for most families. Those who seemed to have little understanding of what baptism might mean, or what the service would include, were nevertheless fully aware that it was to be the occasion of announcing godparents.

Many used the words “guardian”, “guide”, or “support” when they spoke of the part played by godparents, and expected them to develop a special relationship with the child in the future. Single mothers in particular, and those who had experienced illness or difficulty, often chose godparents who had already given help and support.

Asking someone to be a godparent was seen as a way of honouring their friendship and help. Parents who emphasised the guardian role of godparents were often those who spoke of their desire for God’s

protection of their child, and who understood that life may have difficulties and dangers.

In the baptism service, no distinction is made between the godparents and parents; nor are godparents given specific words to say. The rubrics, however, do give the opportunity for godparents to be introduced, and for them to present the child.

The thanksgiving service makes provision for special people to be recognised, calling them “supporting friends”. They may present and name the child, and are asked to make a specific promise to “help and support the parents in the bringing up of N.”

Whichever service is being held, there is scope to express the parents’ honouring of these special people, and their affirmation of them. If a thanksgiving is followed at a later date by baptism, there is the possibility that some, or all, of the supporting friends may take on the part of godparent, as appropriate.

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Parents who seek a Christening for their child can, and should, be honoured in their request. Ministers have a privileged opportunity to listen to the stories of the families who approach them, and to under-stand what it is that those families expect from a Christening.

For many of them, a service of thanksgiving for the gift of a child may be the most appropriate litur-gical choice. But, whether using baptism or thanksgiving, clergy should be bold in approaching the service creatively.

The Revd Dr Helen Sammon is Vicar of St Barnabas’s, Gloucester, and a Research Associate of The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham, where this research was carried out, with the Revd Mark Earey, tutor in Liturgy.

‘Thank you for Holly’

SOME families are often grateful to be offered a thanksgiving service instead of baptism — an option of which they had not previously been aware.

I visited Leanne and Shaun at home. In their neat sitting-room there was an array of medical equipment and a large, noisy oxygen concentrator. Their child, Holly, had been born at 26 weeks, and she and her parents had spent the first six months of her life in hospital. She had suffered many of the complications of prematurity, and, on several occasions, had not been expected to survive. Holly had been home a few weeks, and was still on oxygen, but a check-up had shown that she had no ongoing problems, and was developing normally. Their request for Christening was to mark this good news and also their hopes for her future. They wanted to thank God for Holly. When I suggested that we could have a special service just to say this, which would not involve the promises or commitment of baptism, Shaun turned the television off, and, for the first time, engaged with the conversation “Thank you,” he said. “I’m not religious, and I don’t want to say anything that would be hypocritical, but I really want to bring Holly to church to thank God for her.”

The service of thanksgiving

“THE SERVICE of Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child” can be found in Common Worship. At the heart of the service is thanksgiving for the child, with a prayer for God’s blessing. Parents, and

optional supporting friends, are asked to pledge their support for the child as he or she grows up, and a copy of gospel is given as an invitation to explore the good news of Christ.

The notes make it clear that this flexible service can be used as a preliminary to baptism, or as an alternative to baptism for those “who do not ask for baptism, but who recognise that something has happened for which they wish to give thanks to God”. In this case, although the Church’s hope would be that the child would “in due time” come to faith and baptism, many parents, in my experience, feel less clear about that, and see the service simply as an appropriate way of welcoming their child into the world and into their family.

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Church of England canons relating to initiation

B 21 Of Holy Baptism

It is desirable that every minister having a cure of souls shall normally administer the sacrament of Holy Baptism on Sundays at public worship when the most number of people come together, that the congregation there present may witness the receiving of them that be newly baptized into Christ’s Church, and be put in remembrance of their own profession made to God in their baptism.

B 22 Of the baptism of infants

1. Due notice, normally of at least a week, shall be given before a child is brought to the church to be baptized.

2. If the minister shall refuse or unduly delay to baptize any such infant, the parents or guardians may apply to the bishop of the diocese, who shall, after consultation with the minister, give such directions as he thinks fit.

3. The minister shall instruct the parents or guardians of an infant to be admitted to Holy Baptism that the same responsibilities rest on them as are in the service of Holy Baptism required of the godparents.

4. No minister shall refuse or, save for the purpose of preparing or instructing the parents or guardians or godparents, delay to baptize any infant within his cure that is brought to the church to be baptized, provided that due notice has been given and the provisions relating to godparents in these Canons are observed.

5. A minister who intends to baptize any infant whose parents are residing outside the boundaries of his cure, unless the names of such persons or of one of them be on the church electoral roll of the same, shall not proceed to the baptism without having sought the good will of the minister of the parish in which such parents reside.

6. No minister being informed of the weakness or danger of death of any infant within his cure and therefore desired to go to baptize the same shall either refuse or delay to do so.

7. A minister so baptizing a child in a hospital or nursing home, the parents of the child not being resident in his cure, nor their names on the church electoral roll of the same, shall send their names

and address to the minister of the parish in which they reside.

8. If any infant which is privately baptized do afterwards live, it shall be brought to the church and there, by the minister, received into the congregation of Christ’s flock according to the form and manner prescribed in and by the office for Private Baptism authorized by Canon B 1.

9. The minister of every parish shall warn the people that without grave cause and necessity they should not have their children baptized privately in their houses.

B 23 Of godparents and sponsors

1. For every child to be baptized there shall be not fewer than three godparents, of whom at least two shall be of the same sex as the child and of whom at least one shall be of the opposite sex; save that, when three cannot conveniently be had, one godfather and godmother shall suffice. Parents may be godparents for their own children provided that the child have at least one other godparent.

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2. The godparents shall be persons who will faithfully fulfil their responsibilities both by their care for the children committed to their charge and by the example of their own godly living.

3. When one who is of riper years is to be baptized he shall choose three, or at least two, to be his sponsors, who shall be ready to present him at the font and afterwards put him in mind of his Christian profession and duties.

4. No person shall be admitted to be a sponsor or godparent who has not been baptized and confirmed. Nevertheless the minister shall have power to dispense with the requirement of confirmation in any case in which in his judgement need so requires.

B 24 Of the baptism of such as are of riper years

1. When any such person as is of riper years and able to answer for himself is to be baptized, the minister shall instruct such person, or cause him to be instructed, in the principles of the Christian religion, and exhort him so to prepare himself with prayers and fasting that he may receive this holy sacrament with repentance and faith.

2. At least a week before any such baptism is to take place, the minister shall give notice thereof to the bishop of the diocese or whomsoever he shall appoint for the purpose.

3. Every person thus baptized shall be confirmed by the bishop so soon after his baptism as conveniently may be; that so he may be admitted to the Holy Communion.

B 25 Of the sign of the Cross in baptism

The Church of England has ever held and taught, and holds and teaches still, that the sign of the Cross used in baptism is no part of the substance of the sacrament: but, for the remembrance of the Cross, which is very precious to those that rightly believe in Jesus Christ, has retained the sign of it in baptism, following therein the primitive and apostolic Churches.

B 26 Of teaching the young

1. Every minister shall take care that the children and young people within his cure are instructed in the doctrine, sacraments, and discipline of Christ, as the Lord has commanded and as they are set forth in the Holy Scriptures, in The Book of Common Prayer, and especially in the Church Catechism; and to this end he, or some godly and competent persons appointed by him, shall on Sundays or if need be at other convenient times diligently instruct and teach them in the same.

2. All parents and guardians shall take care that their children receive such instruction.

B 27 Of confirmation

1. The bishop of every diocese shall himself minister (or cause to be ministered by some other bishop lawfully deputed in his stead) the rite of confirmation throughout his diocese as often and in as many places as shall be convenient, laying his hands upon children and other persons who have been baptized and instructed in the Christian faith.

2. Every minister who has a cure of souls shall diligently seek out children and other persons whom he shall think meet to be confirmed and shall use his best endeavour to instruct them in the Christian faith and life as set forth in the Holy Scriptures, The Book of Common Prayer, and the Church Catechism.

3. The minister shall present none to the bishop but such as are come to years of discretion and can say the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and can also render an account of their faith according to the said Catechism.

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4. The minister shall satisfy himself that those whom he is to present have been validly baptized,

ascertaining the date and place of such baptism, and, before or at the time assigned for the confirmation, shall give to the bishop their names, together with their age and the date of their baptism.

5. If the minister is doubtful about the baptism of a candidate for confirmation he shall conditionally baptize him in accordance with the form of service authorized by Canon B 1 before presenting him to the bishop to be confirmed.

6. If it is desired for sufficient reason that a Christian name be changed, the bishop may, under the laws of this realm, confirm a person by a new Christian name, which shall be thereafter deemed the lawful Christian name of such person.

B 28 Of reception into the Church of England

1. Any person desiring to be received into the Church of England, who has not been baptized or the validity of whose baptism can be held in question, shall be instructed and baptized or conditionally baptized, and such baptism, or conditional baptism, shall constitute the said person’s reception into the Church of England.

2. If any such person has been baptized but not episcopally confirmed and desires to be formally admitted into the Church of England he shall, after appropriate instruction, be received by the rite of confirmation, or, if he be not yet ready to be presented for confirmation, he shall be received by the parish priest with appropriate prayers.

3. If any such person has been episcopally confirmed with unction or with the laying on of hands he shall be instructed, and, with the permission of the bishop, received into the Church of England according to the Form of Reception approved by the General Synod, or with other appropriate prayers, and if any such person be a priest he shall be received into the said Church only by the bishop of the diocese or by the commissary of such bishop.

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The role of Priests and Deacons

Priests and Deacons have a specific role within the Church which is summarised in the Declaration in the Ordination Service:

Deacons

Deacons are called to work with the Bishop and the priests with whom they serve as heralds of Christ's kingdom. They are to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, as agents of God's purposes of love. They are to serve the community in which they are set, bringing to the Church the needs and hopes of all the people. They are to work with their fellow members in searching out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely and those who are oppressed and powerless, reaching into the forgotten corners of the world, that the love of God may be made visible.

Deacons share in the pastoral ministry of the Church and in leading God's people in worship. They preach the word and bring the needs of the world before the Church in intercession. They accompany those searching for faith and bring them to baptism. They assist in administering the sacraments; they distribute communion and minister to the sick and housebound.

Deacons are to seek nourishment from the Scriptures; they are to study them with God's people, that the whole Church may be equipped to live out the gospel in the world. They are to be faithful in prayer, expectant and watchful for the signs of God's presence, as he reveals his kingdom among us.

Priests

Priests are called to be servants and shepherds among the people to whom they are sent. With their Bishop and fellow ministers, they are to proclaim the word of the Lord and to watch for the signs of God's new creation. They are to be messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord; they are to teach and to admonish, to feed and provide for his family, to search for his children in the wilderness of this world's temptations, and to guide them through its confusions, that they may be saved through Christ for ever. Formed by the word, they are to call their hearers to repentance and to

declare in Christ's name the absolution and forgiveness of their sins.

With all God's people, they are to tell the story of God's love. They are to baptize new disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to walk with them in the way of Christ, nurturing them in the faith. They are to unfold the Scriptures, to preach the word in season and out of season, and to declare the mighty acts of God. They are to preside at the Lord's table and lead his people in worship, offering with them a spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. They are to bless the people in God's name. They are to resist evil, support the weak, defend the poor, and intercede for all in need. They are to minister to the sick and prepare the dying for their death. Guided by the Spirit, they are to discern and foster the gifts of all God's people, that the whole Church may be built up in unity and faith.

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Introduction to Unit G: The Church, The World and Essex

Christianity is an historical religion; our faith is based on historical events and has continued to develop within that context. Some knowledge of the two thousand years of church history helps us to understand where we are now; we can put the present into perspective, both in relation to the past and also in the context of our belief that God is Lord of history, still working his purpose out for his world and his people.

To cover such a vast subject in any detail in one five week Unit is not possible, even for those who have a good knowledge of general history already. We will study some key developments and the beliefs, assumptions and aspirations which will help to answer the following questions:

o How can we handle quarrels amongst ourselves?

o Who has the greatest claim on us; the Church or the State?

o How can Christians be distinctive in society?

o How do individual believers relate to the wider church?

o How might the church develop in the future?

The unit will ask how national and international events have affected life in for those living in what is now Chelmsford diocese. Until 1965 nearly all this area was part of the county of Essex. It has developed its own character, needs and opportunities.

There are two key resources for this unit:

An Amazingly Short History of The Christian Church by Ray Samuels, referred to in the study notes as ASH. This excellent little booklet is supplied with the course material and gives an overview of Church history in easily accessible form (only 45 pages!).

Further information, especially relating Church history to events in Essex and East London, is found in the accompanying booklet, The Church, the World and Essex.

How can we handle quarrels amongst ourselves?

Perhaps it seems strange to begin a history of the Christian church by looking at division – but the story of the church in the book of Acts is not slow to record the difficulties which arose. Despite the Lord’s prayer that his followers should be one, united in heart and mind (John 17, 11 & 23) the “holy, catholic and apostolic church” has never been wholly united; at least, not since the Council of Jerusalem was called in 47AD to negotiate between Jewish and Gentile Christians.

Church history is littered with quarrels between opposing groups, all of whom were convinced of their own cause, believing that God was on their side. Denominations still find their identity in disagreements that became permanent divisions: Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, etc. Within the Church of England divisions and misunderstanding between Evangelicals, Liberals and Anglo-Catholics continue.

How can we glory in the richness of different traditions without them becoming an obstacle between us?

Introductory notes

Essential reading before the session: ‘The religious environment of early Christianity’ in The Church, the World and Essex, pages 2-4

and

'The Roman and Celtic Church in Essex' page 9 -10.

Additional Reading:

‘Constantine’ and ‘The Desert a City’ page 8 of The Church, the World and Essex’

Samuels, R, ASH, 2-18.

Threlfall-Holmes, Miranda, The Essential History of Christianity. London: SPCK, 2012. pp 1-14.

Reading before Session 1

Read 'The Religious Environment of Early Christianity pp 2-4

and 'The Roman and Celtic Church in Essex' p.

If you are able, read: Letter to Diognetus, pp. Constantine, pp. and 'The desert a city,'

The Religious Environment of Early Christianity

The Christian faith was born into a Graeco-Roman world that was in many ways well prepared to receive and spread it. The Roman Empire encompassed all the shores of the Mediterranean, stretching through Gaul (modern France) and parts of Germany to England. The legions kept it relatively peaceful, and the roads along which they marched served also for the passage of traders - and missionaries. A common language, Greek, facilitated communication. The Way, as the Christian faith was known, thus spread quickly and far.

Roman religion was a syncretism (an amalgam of religions): it embraced spirits of the natural world, guardians of the home and of stages in life, the Greek pantheon of gods and the deification of the Emperor. Priests were state officials rather than spiritual leaders. There was little spirituality or ethical teaching. The many mystery cults attempted to fill this spiritual vacuum, with varying success. Most had secret rites; some practised baptism in water, and sometimes blood, and communicated with the god in a common meal. Then there were the philosophies which originated in Greece, e.g. Platonism, Aristotelianism, Stoicism, Epicurianism - often with great moral seriousness, but appealing particularly to intellectuals with time on their hands for discussion, as Paul discovered in Athens (Acts 17).

The Empire was generally tolerant of the religions of subject peoples, recognizing them as a cohesive force and realising pragmatically that attempts at suppression were likely to stir up rebellion. These other religions were found in Rome, having been brought there by immigrants. Like others, Judaism enjoyed this toleration; but it was different in being monotheistic and in refusing to integrate the cult of the Emperor, though some did offer sacrifices on his behalf. So long as Christianity was regarded as a Jewish sect it was granted the same latitude. But once Jewish hostility became evident and it was seen to be not a national but an international faith, it was perceived as a threat to the stability of the Empire.

Christians made themselves conspicuous by their refusal to join in temple worship and feasts and sometimes to buy meat from temple sacrifices (1 Corinthians 8:10-13). They ignored the usual divisions in society and invited men and women, old and young and all races to meet together. Failure to acknowledge the gods of the official cult who were believed to have made Rome great was regarded as atheism, which risked bringing down the gods' anger on society. Christians were therefore bad citizens, antisocial. Since they were forced to worship in houses rather than openly in temples, it was not long before alarming tales were spread of practices including cannibalism, infanticide and incest. Christianity was seen as a pernicious

doctrine and believers regarded with suspicion and dislike. Their unpopularity made them a convenient scapegoat in the event of disaster, as when Nero blamed them after the burning of Rome in 64 CE.

2

Generally speaking, persecution was local and sporadic. Occasionally, however, a particular Emperor would order a general persecution, the last and worst being under Diocletian in 303-4. Books were burnt and buildings destroyed, while the clergy, as the leaders were now called, were made special targets since it was thought that without leaders the faith would die.

Persecution proved to be an ineffective weapon, indeed counter-productive - partly because its implementation depended on the local governor, but principally because the courage shown by individual Christians attracted people into the Church. Hence Tertullian's saying that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church. It is impossible to say how many actually died; we know about martyred bishops and other notable figures whose burial places became Christian shrines, but there are few records of rank-and-file martyrs - of whom there were quite possibly fewer than is popularly thought. Nevertheless, Constantine's declaration of religious freedom for all in 313 was a relief to the Church.

Despite persecution and official disapproval, by the mid-second century Christianity was not only firmly established at the heart of the Empire but had spread to North Africa and to Spain and Gaul. In the late second century Tertullian suggested it had reached Britain, though the evidence is sketchy.

*************************************

More dangerous to the Church's integrity than state persecution were the tensions within. Maybe it sounds strange to begin a survey of the history of the Church with an examination of disagreement! Surely the church is to be the place 'where all things are held in common .. (Acts 4: 32). But from the earliest days it is clear that members of the Christian community disagreed with each other about how to be faithful to Jesus' teaching and live the life of Christian discipleship. They were fallible humans, not perfect saints, after all! But a further prime reasons for disputes was the radical nature of what they were attempting to do. The early Christian fellowships were unique in the ancient world in being inclusive - all people, slaves and free citizens, male and female, all races could join. There was simply nowhere else which had this mixture of ages, backgrounds and cultures. Though many of the towns of the Roman world had a multi-racial, multi-cultural population - especially the ports and trading centres like Corinth and Ephesus - the lack of restriction on the mixing of the sexes and social classes amongst Christians appeared scandalous to outsiders. It clearly caused some problems for the followers of Christ as well: how to behave when eating together, how to choose a leader, how to dress? These issues where well settled in societies where people of similar race and social standing lived and worked together, but when the usual rules no longer applied there could be confusion - and disagreement. Many parts of Paul's letters address these sorts of questions.

Not that it was a complete free-for- all. The Christian communities were also distinctive in the demands on those who became a member. Anyone could join, but a lengthy period of instruction before full acceptance as a eucharistic member and adherence to a strict moral

3code was then required. Faithfulness within marriage, refusal to sacrifice to the Emperor and a sober lifestyle were some of the habits which marked out the Christians.

Then there were disputes about the nature of Jesus' teaching. From the start there were the Judaizers, who wanted to keep the new Way within the Jewish faith and to impose Jewish Law on converts and with whom Paul had a long and ultimately successful battle. (See Acts 15 and the account of the Council of Jerusalem studied in Module C) Church and synagogue split permanently in about 85 CE; but a distinctly Jewish kind of Christianity continued for a time in the Ebionite movement, which denied the divinity of Christ.

A much more widespread movement was gnosticism (from gnosis, Greek for 'knowledge'. It was not an exclusively Christian phenomenon. There had been earlier syncretisms of belief - for example, that of Philo of Alexandria, drawn from Moses and Plato. Gnosticism appealed to those who found Christianity too earthy and failing to answer all their questions about the nature of the world.

Gnostic religions were ones of individual salvation. They believed this salvation came through knowledge rather than through activity. They didn't all agree on the precise content of the knowledge that brings salvation, and we find various schools of Gnostics flourishing in the early Christian centuries, some quite unconnected with Christianity. There were several systems of gnostic mythology, using Hebrew, Greek and pagan sources.

One belief they held in common was that the material world could have no contact with the spiritual world. The good God of the spiritual could not have created matter, and part of their teaching explained how lesser agents were responsible for creating the world.

As matter is evil, man's good spirit feels itself imprisoned in it and longs for the release which the knowledge of God can bring. The Gnostics in their various ways claimed to initiate people into this knowledge and so to ensure their salvation. The affairs of this world are of no account in this transaction. Some Gnostics inferred from this that we should punish our bodies mercilessly because they cause us to be anchored too firmly in matter if they become comfortable. Others took the opposite view and felt free to live lawless lives because our material actions have no effect on the spirit.

This great divide between matter and spirit (dualism) has a crucial effect on the Church's teaching about the work of Jesus. Gnostics who tried to come to terms with Christianity saw Jesus as pure spirit, come to give us the knowledge which will bring us to God. He could not have been a real man, because God can't make contact with flesh. So his whole life, including the cross, was an appearance only. (From the Greek word for ‘appearance’, dokesis, comes the term Docetism, applied to those who deny that Jesus was genuinely human and mortal.)

Many thoughtful and articulate Christians were particularly drawn to Gnostic doctrines. One outcome of the fight to overcome them was that the Christian faith was more firmly defined and ordered.

4.Letter to Diognetus

"Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.

And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labour under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a for-eign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives.

They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally des-titute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are de-famed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they, rejoice, as though receiv-ing the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.

To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invis-ible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the re-striction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.

Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body's hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul be-nefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Chris-tian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself."

From an anonymous letter to Diognetus, possibly dating from 2nd. century.

5.

Constantine

The year 303 brought terrible persecution to the Church under the Emperor Diocletian. In the East of the Empire all churches were to be burned, all scriptures given up to the authorities and no meetings for worship held. The decline of the Empire was being blamed on the move away from the gods towards Christianity; it followed that Christianity had to be wiped out.

But one of Diocletian’s reforms was to split the Empire into two. In the West the persecution was never so severe, and when Constantine gained the leadership of the West upon the death of his father in A.D. 306, the Church enjoyed a peace only rarely disturbed. Constantine’s mother, Helen, was a Christian, and he had a half sister called Anastasia, a name derived from the Greek for Resurrection. Constantine himself worshipped the Sun; but by the end of 312 he was also professing Christian belief.

The story is told that he had a vision before a battle; the vision was of a cross held against the midday sun with the words By this sign conquer. In 312 he rather rashly attacked his rival in the West, Maxentius, who against all common sense marched out of Rome to meet him in battle with the river Tiber behind his troops. Constantine won a decisive victory, Maxentius being driven backwards into the river. Whether or not this was the battle before which Constantine had his vision is unclear, but certainly Christians in general believed that their God had granted Constantine victory as a dramatic proof of his favour. Romans believed he won by the favour of the Sun-god. Constantine certainly believed it was the Christian God enough to have his soldiers carry the chai-ro sign on their shields; whether he believed the Sun-god had nothing to do with it is not so certain.

But by the end of 312 Constantine was most certainly favouring Christianity. It was no longer illegal; it became quite respectable. He made huge gifts to the Church and caused some splendid Christian churches to be built. He passed rules on matters such as the freeing of slaves that showed Christian influence. And in 324 he conquered the Eastern ruler Licinius, an unreformed pagan, and extended the peace of the Church eastwards to cover the whole empire. Less than a generation after the terrible days of Diocletian, the Church was allowed her freedom. It seemed to any thoughtful Christian that God had spoken and acted through Constantine in an unmistakable way.

But of course there was a price for the Emperor’s favour. And it is this price which has made Constantine’s ‘conversion’ a matter of debate and controversy among Church historians. First of all it can be pointed out that while Constantine certainly favoured Christianity and made it the official religion of the Empire, he did not seem to have given up worshipping the Sun. Quite possibly Constantine, with no great time for religious niceties and lacking a contemplative or metaphysical turn of mind, simply never really understood the contradictions. After all Christians worshipped on the day of the sun, and Christian thought was full of sun-symbolism. A blurring of the boundaries was inevitable. And because he was the Emperor, blurred boundaries in Constantine’s mind tended to become blurred boundaries in the corporate mind of his subjects.

And no less seriously, there was a great price to be paid in the independence of the Church. Constantine was greatly concerned about the unity of his Empire. And he saw Christianity as a force which could bind together the two rather different cultures, East and West, which made up his empire.

But Christianity, in its Eastern and Western forms, was not necessarily a united entity! In the doctrinal

disputes upon which the Church now embarked, East and West often sat on opposite sides 6.

of the fence. Constantine did not care too much about the niceties and was quite prepared to impose solutions, exile dissident Bishops and generally meddle in affairs he quite obviously did not understand to any great degree. And so, as Bishops became people of note in society as much as in the Church, access to the Emperor’s ear became more profitable than a cogent theological argument. The battle was on for the patronage of the imperial power. Constantine and his successors wielded power in the Church commensurate with their political power but quite out of proportion to their theological understanding.

By any standards the conversion of Constantine was a turning point in Church history. It most certainly brought peace to a Church which, in the East at least, had been suffering a desperate persecution. But the price it paid, in now being under the gaze of the Emperor and having him exercise his authority within its affairs, was also great. The Church lost something of its integrity and purity. She had to come to terms with political influence of her own, and with people who were willing to use her in order to gain power, influence and authority. It is in no way a story of black and white, of obvious good and obvious evil. How much the Church gained and how much it lost is a matter of judgement and opinion. But gains and losses there most certainly were.

An afterword. Residents of Colchester will know that tradition connects St Helen, Constantine’s mother, with Colchester, as her place of birth. The Orthodox community there reveres her: see www/orthodoxcolchester.org.uk.

7. 'The Desert a City'

The fourth and fifth centuries saw the rapid growth of Christian monasticism, first in the East, then in the West. Men, and later women, began to live outside the civilized world to concentrate on prayer, fasting, manual labour and spiritual discipline. The first was probably Antony of Egypt (c. 251-356), who settled in the Egyptian desert; his biographer - traditionally identified as Athanasius - said that as a result of Antony's example 'the desert was made a city by monks, who left their own people and registered themselves for citizenship in the heavens'.

Was this movement a genuine development of the Christian gospel? Or was it - as sceptical historians like Gibbon portrayed it - the symptom of neurotic world-hating fanaticism? And why did it arise at this point in history?

Asceticism was not invented by Antony. The Greek word askesis means 'discipline' or ‘training'; and Christians like Jews had always stressed the importance of a disciplined moral and spiritual life (e.g. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Rules of fasting and of times for prayer were general. The Church placed growing value on virginity. Those who went out to the testing desert saw themselves following the steps of Moses and Elijah, John the Baptist and the celibate Jesus himself. And ascetic practices were widespread in other religious and philosophical movements - the Gnostics, for instance, or the wandering Cynic preachers who renounced possessions.

The third and fourth centuries also saw great increase in the size and acceptability of the Church and the end of the persecution of Christians by the State. The 'conversion' of Constantine in particular symbolized the growing fusion of Church and Empire, and it meant that the opportunity for heroic witness in martyrdom was ended. For those disillusioned by materialism and by the Church's own worldliness, monasticism became the new way of witness. So the desert life was in part a protest against civil life and religion, a refusal to compromise between God and Mammon. Antony himself decided to become a hermit after hearing in church the story of Jesus and the rich young man (Matt 19:16-22).

But a large part of Athanasius' Life of Antony is taken up with stories of the hermit's great ascetic feats and miracles and his ceaseless struggles with demons. The stories of the 'Desert Fathers' make it plain that like most of their contemporaries they saw the demons as real beings inhabiting the desert; but they saw them also as dark facets of their own souls, fanning the lust for possessions, sex and popularity. The monks' aim was to continue the work of Christ by conquering the demons, in their own souls certainly but as a consequence also in the world at large.

Not surprisingly, hermits ('solitaries' or 'anchorites') were liable to become eccentric and to see the Church in 'the world' as corrupt. A way of countering both tendencies was the formation of monks into communities and the development of monastic 'rules' approved by the bishop. The pioneer in Egypt was Pachomius. His work was highly successful - by the end of the fourth century the town of Oxyrhynchos was said to be so overcrowded with monasteries that a new town had to be built for 10,000 monks and 20,000 nuns.

Although Egypt is generally seen as the home of Christian monasticism it seems to have developed in Syria at about the same time. Certainly the movement spread rapidly in the eastern Empire, attracting leading churchmen: in the ascetic and contemplative quest they found a way of uniting the Christian evangelical calling with Greek thought. Among these was Basil in Asia Minor; his influence was sealed by his election as Bishop of Caesarea, and his rule is still normative for eastern monks. And a westerner, the great biblical scholar Jerome, was also a monk in Palestine.

8.

Monasticism spread more slowly in the west. But it became increasingly central to Christian life after the fall of Rome in the fifth century, particularly in the Celtic church. The two people with the greatest influence on western European culture over the next thousand years, St Augustine of Hippo and St Benedict, were both writers of monastic rules.

Christopher Burdon

9The Roman and Celtic Church in Essex: Christianity arrived in Essex with the Romans. There was the garrison at Colchester and a few villas in the northern half of the county. The ruins of a Christian church, built between AD 320 and 340, has recently been excavated in Colchester. But as the Roman soldiers left Britain to try to defend their empire from the attacks which caused its ultimate downfall the Christian heritage was lost as well. The faith returned nearly 600 years after Christ's birth, from two sources: from the Roman Church through St Mellitus and from St Cedd, a monk of Northumberland, inspired by the Irish Celtic Church. These two traditions met - and clashed at the synod of Whitby in 664AD.

In 597 Pope Gregory sent Augustine to England. King Aethelbert, based in Kent, whose wife was a Christian, received him and became a Christian. Bede, writing in 8th century, records how Augustine appointed Mellitus as Bishop of London, with responsibility for the East Saxons. Pagan worship was strongly entrenched. Sabert, the E. Saxon King (nephew of Aethelbert) was soon converted, but later his sons drove Mellitus out after a dispute and he did not return. He later became Archbishop of Canterbury.

A later King of Essex, Sigebert who had been converted in Northumbria, asked for help in bringing the faith to his kingdom and Cedd was sent in 653. He had grown up in the tradition of the Celtic church, planted by Irish missionaries in Northumbria and was the older brother of Chad, first bishop of Lichfield. He sailed from Lindisfarne and landed at Bradwell where he established a Christian community from which Christian believers took the Gospel message to the rest of Essex.

Around 25 churches in Essex have some Saxon feature, but by far the best preserved are the chapel at Bradwell and the wooden church at Greenstead.

The Celtic and Roman Christian traditions had different customs, rather than different beliefs. Indeed, both had grown from early Roman Christianity. The tradition is that Patrick, a Roman Briton, was enslaved by the Irish but after he escaped he willingly returned to Ireland to take the Gospel there. Monks inspired by him travelled to Western Scotland, to Iona and from there established the monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria. The Celts, separated from their Roman roots, adapted their traditions to suit local needs and circumstances. Some differences would not seem important to us: the shape of a monk’s tonsure, for example, and some would: such as the date of Easter or the structure of baptismal service. The Celtic tradition had no central organisational structures; instead, monasteries were the centre of spiritual life – with the abbot, rather than the bishop, being the highest authority. When Augustine arrived in Canterbury, with a mandate from Pope Gregory to convert the heathen English, he discovered the existence of the British (i.e. Celtic) Church. He

10summoned its leaders to meet him in 602, to try and persuade them to change to the Roman ways, with their centralised authority of the pope, and the relative pomp and richness of their ceremonies. But the Celts found Augustine arrogant and overbearing, and refused point blank.

King Oswy of Northumbria – at that time the most powerful of all the English kings –worshipped in the Celtic tradition as taught by the monks of Lindisfarne. He had married a Kentish princess, whose family had been converted by Augustine to the Roman ways. Oswy faced divisions at court as, while his wife was still enduring the harsh fasts of Lent (according to the Roman calendar), he and his retinue were feasting and rejoicing, celebrating Easter earlier, according to the Celtic calendar. So he decided to settle matters once and for all. He summoned a synod at Whitby in 664, and, appointing himself as judge, called experts in the two traditions – Celtic and Roman – to engage in debate in front of an audience. The Roman side clinched the argument by explaining to Oswy that Christ had given to Peter, the founder of the Roman Church, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, with authority to decide about who should be admitted. ‘Can you show that a similar authority was given to your Columba?’, Oswy demanded of the Celtic group. ‘No’, they admitted. ‘Then I tell you’, said Oswy, ‘I shall obey Peter’s commands in everything . . . Otherwise, when I come to the gates of heaven, there may be no one to open them, because he who holds the keys has turned away.’ So, according to the Saxon historian Bede, was the course of English church history decided for many centuries to come.

St Cedd won acclaim at the Synod of Whitby, translating the Roman’s Latin speeches into Oswy’s Northumbrian speech. Thus he aided the defeat of his own tradition! The Abbey at Barking, which had been founded around 666AD and contained both monks and nuns, also played an influential role in bringing Essex and East London into line with the Church of Rome. St. Ethelburga was first Abbess of Barking. She came from a royal family and she was sister of St. Erconwald, Bishop of London. Barking monks and nuns became celebrated for the study of the Holy Scriptures, the fathers of the Church and their knowledge of Latin and Greek. They were also widely praised for their care of the poor and sick.

The significance of the Council of Whitby may have been emphasised after the English Church's break with Rome at the time of the Reformation in the 16th century. The idea that there had been an indigenous church, which was overruled by a Roman one, had obvious attractions. It is not uncommon for disputes in the past to assume renewed significance at other times in history. for further study; Bradwell www.bradwellchapel.org/St Andrew's Greenstead :http://www.greenstedchurch.org.uk/history.html , Barking Abbey www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39832Bede's account of the Synod of Whitby: www.britannia.com/history/docs/whitby.html