"Let All Things Be Done Decently and in Order": Gender Segregation in the Seating of Early American Churches
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Lutheran Forum Vol. 43, No. 2, Summer 2009
FROM THE EDITOR STILL LIFE WITH BAPTISM Sarah Hinlicky Wilson In commemoration of the five hundredth anniversary American congregations on the east coast, baptized me. I of the beginning of the Reformation was his first grandchild and born the day after his birthday. and in gratitude to God for Martin Luther, Years later on his deathbed he would bless me to take up Confessor of the Christian faith the mantle of Christian ministry, to the surprise of us both. But the greater blessing was the baptism. “Sarah Ellen,” he said, scooping the water out of the shallow bowl set in the 1976 font, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the “My faith does not make baptism; rather, it receives baptism.” Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” And the congregation said: I don’t remember the event I am about to report. I was “Amen.” only thirty-seven days old at the time. Then my young mother had the dubious honor of being St. Lucas Evangelical Lutheran Church, its name an the very last woman to undergo the churching of women Americanization of the Slovak Svätý Lukáš (Saint Luke), rite at my grandfather’s hands. “I don’t think I’m going to had blue windows. No stained-glass images of the good do this anymore,” he said afterward. Maybe it was the look shepherd or Moses with his curly snake, just drifting shades on her face. of blue. They cast a cooling tint over the sanctuary and When it was all over, I am told, there was an epic party. -
Religious Forms and Institutions in Piers Plowman
This essay appeared in The Cambridge Companion to Piers Plowman, edited by Andrew Cole and Andy Galloway (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 97-116 Religious Forms and Institutions in Piers Plowman James Simpson KEY WORDS: William Langland, Piers Plowman, selfhood and institutions; late medieval religious institutions ABSTRACT Which comes first: institutions or selves? Liberal democracies operate as if selves preceded institutions. By and large, pre-Reformation culture places the institution before the self. The self, and particularly the conscience as the source of deepest ethical and spiritual counsel, is intimately shaped, by the institution of the Church. This shaping is both ethical and spiritual; by no means least, it ensures the soul’s salvation, though administering the sacraments especially of baptism, penance, and the Eucharist. The conscience is not a lonely entity in such an institutional culture. It is, rather, the portable voice of accumulated, communal history and wisdom: it is, as the word itself suggests, a ‘con-scientia’, a ‘knowing with’. These tensions generate the extraordinary and conflicted account of self and institution in Langland’s Piers Plowman. 1 Religious Forms and Institutions in Piers Plowman Which comes first: institutions or selves? Liberal democracies operate as if selves preceded institutions, since electors choose their institutional representatives, who themselves vote to shape institutions. Liberal ideology, indeed, traces its genealogy back to heroic moments of the lonely, fully-formed conscience standing up against the might of institutions; those heroes (Luther is the most obvious example) are lionized precisely because they are said to have established the grounds of choice: every individual will be able to choose, in freedom, his or her institutional affiliation for him or herself. -
Religious Inventions in America: New Religious Movements
Robert S . Fogarty . Religious Inventions in America: New Religious Movements rederick Jackson Turner made the Census of 1890 famous when well beyond their numbers and has produced vitality and innovation. he used it to document the passing of the American frontier. These new religious movements had their origins in the First Amend- Flittle noted is the fact that the same 1890 census produced a ment that allowed them to flourish and in the conditions of American comprehensive survey of religion in America. Directed by H. K. Car- life that encouraged religious experimentation. roll. the survey "enumerated. classified. and described" the American Such has been the nature of America ever since 1683. when the religious community in all its diversity. In 1893 Carroll issued The Reli- first experimenters from the religious sect known as Labadists settled gious Forces of the United States that included an introduction about the at Cecil County, Maryland, under the leadership of Peter Sluyter. who "Condition and Character of American Christianity." Carroll noted that had exhibited both morbid religious tendencies and strong mercenary Americans were proud that they had invented tendencies. His one hundred followers turned over their possessions on entry. lived under a strict regime (a register of the pieces of bread more curious and useful things than any other and butter served at each meal was kept). and believed in the inward nation. In matters of religion we have not been illumination of the spirit. The range of religious communities started less liberal and enterprising. Our native genius during the post-revolutionary period was extraordinary. -
Robert M. Andrews the CREATION of a PROTESTANT LITURGY
COMPASS THE CREATION OF A PROTESTANT LITURGY The development of the Eucharistic rites of the First and Second Prayer Books of Edward VI ROBERT M. ANDREWS VER THE YEARS some Anglicans Anglicanism. Representing a study of have expressed problems with the Archbishop Thomas Cranmer's (1489-1556) Oassertion that individuals who were liturgical revisions: the Eucharistic Rites of committed to the main tenets of classical 1549 and 1552 (as contained within the First Protestant theology founded and shaped the and Second Prayer Books of Edward VI), this early development of Anglican theology.1 In essay shows that classical Protestant beliefs 1852, for example, the Anglo-Catholic were influential in shaping the English luminary, John Mason Neale (1818-1866), Reformation and the beginnings of Anglican could declare with confidence that 'the Church theology. of England never was, is not now, and I trust Of course, Anglicanism changed and in God never will be, Protestant'.2 Similarly, developed immensely during the centuries in 1923 Kenneth D. Mackenzie could, in his following its sixteenth-century origins, and 1923 manual of Anglo-Catholic thought, The it is problematic to characterize it as anything Way of the Church, write that '[t]he all- other than theologically pluralistic;7 nonethe- important point which distinguishes the Ref- less, as a theological tradition its genesis lies ormation in this country from that adopted in in a fundamentally Protestant milieu—a sharp other lands was that in England a serious at- reaction against the world of late medieval tempt was made to purge Catholicism English Catholic piety and belief that it without destroying it'.3 emerged from. -
Lapratt Faculty of Religious Studies Mcgill University [email protected]
69 Childbirth Prayers in Medieval and Early Modern England: “For drede of perle that may be-falle.” Delores LaPratt Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University [email protected] A woman, when she travaileth, hath sorrow, for her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she thinketh no more of the anguish, for joy that man is born onto the world. I beseech thee therefore in the dangerous time of my travail, grant me speedie delivery, and joyful holding of my child.1 Such a prayer might be recited by a woman with child in early modern England before her ‘travail.’ Childbirth is an integral part of life but in medieval and early modern England, childbirth occurred within an almost exclusively female domain. It was a complex event involving a number of rituals, including the use of prayers and charms, a ‘lying-in’ period of confinement following childbirth, and a subsequent ‘churching’ of the woman as she was reintegrated into the broader community in a church ritual. Through a study of childbirth prayers and rituals, one may get an impression of how childbirth was viewed by, and experienced by, its participants. Childbirth prayers and rituals also reflect societal beliefs and ideology. Thus, in comparing childbirth prayers and rituals used in pre-Reformation England with those used after the Reformation, one would expect changes in the types of rituals and prayers performed. Despite many changes in official ideology during this period, an analysis of childbirth prayers will demonstrate that this change was not so easily implemented by the Church and was, at times resisted by lay participants. -
Convened by the Peace Council and the Center for Health and Social
CHSP_Report_cover.qxd Printer: Please adjust spine width if necessary. Additional copies of this report may be obtained from: ............................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................. International Committee for the Peace Council The Center for Health and Social Policy 2702 International Lane, Suite 108 847 25th Avenue Convened by The Peace Council and The Center for Health and Social Policy Madison, WI 53704 San Francisco, CA 94121 United States United States Chiang Mai, Thailand 1-608-241-2200 Phone 1-415-386-3260 Phone February 29–March 3, 2004 1-608-241-2209 Fax 1-415-386-1535 Fax [email protected] [email protected] www.peacecouncil.org www.chsp.org ............................................................................................................. Copyright © 2004 by The Center for Health and Social Policy and The Peace Council ............................................................................................................. Convened by The Peace Council and The Center for Health and Social Policy Chiang Mai, Thailand February 29–March 3, 2004 Contents Introduction 5 Stephen L. Isaacs and Daniel Gómez-Ibáñez The Chiang Mai Declaration: 9 Religion and Women: An Agenda for Change List of Participants 13 Background Documents World Religions on Women: Their Roles in the Family, 19 Society, and Religion Christine E. Gudorf Women and Religion in the Context of Globalization 49 Vandana Shiva World Religions and the 1994 United Nations 73 International Conference on Population and Development A Report on an International and Interfaith Consultation, Genval, Belgium, May 4-7, 1994 3 Introduction Stephen L. Isaacs and Daniel Gómez-Ibáñez Forty-eight religious and women’s leaders participated in a “conversation” in Chi- ang Mai, Thailand between February 29 and March 3, 2004 to discuss how, in an era of globalization, religions could play a more active role in advancing women’s lives. -
Early Mormon and Shaker Visions of Sanctified Community
BYU Studies Quarterly Volume 44 Issue 1 Article 4 1-1-2005 Early Mormon and Shaker Visions of Sanctified Community J. Spencer Fluhman Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq Recommended Citation Fluhman, J. Spencer (2005) "Early Mormon and Shaker Visions of Sanctified Community," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 44 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol44/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Studies Quarterly by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Fluhman: Early Mormon and Shaker Visions of Sanctified Community Early Mormon and Shaker Visions of Sanctified Community /. Spencer Fluhman olly Knight's health was failing as she and her family trudged toward Pwestern Missouri. Having accepted Joseph Smith Jr. as God's prophet on earth, the Knights left their Colesville, New York, farm and joined with other Mormon converts at Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831. Finding a brief respite there, they again set out, this time for the city of "Zion" that Joseph Smith said they would help build in Jackson County, Missouri. Worried that Polly was too ill to complete the trek, her family considered stopping in hopes she might recover. But "she would not consent to stop traveling," recalled her son Newell: "Her only, or her greatest desire was to set her feet upon the land of Zion, and to have her body interred in that land." Fearing the worst, Newell bought lumber for a coffin in case she expired en route. -
Women's Studies in the History of Religions
1 Women’s Studies in the History of Religions DAVID KINSLEY On the most archaic levels of culture, living as a human being is in itself a religious act, for alimentation, sexual life, and work have a sacramental value. In other words, to be— or rather, to become—a man means to be “religious.” —Mircea Eliade, A History of Religious Ideas o appreciate the radical impact women’s studies has had on the discipline Tof history of religions, it is necessary first to describe briefly how the his- tory of religions understands its task. The history of religions, which claims to be the objective, scientific study of religion, sets as its task nothing less than the study, in historical and cross- cultural perspective, of all human religious phenomena. It includes in its pur- view, not only sophisticated, literate, philosophical, and theological materials, but also popular expressions of human religiosity such as festivals, life cycle rituals, myths, and practices that are found only in oral traditions. The history of religions seeks to avoid an approach to human religiosity that privileges cer- tain materials as “higher” and others as “lower.” It assumes that all expres- sions of human religiosity are worthy of study. In the words of Mircea Eliade: “For the historian of religions, every manifestation of the sacred is important: every rite, every myth, every belief or divine figure reflects the experience of the sacred and hence implies the notions of being, of meaning, and of truth.”1 History of religions does not seek to evaluate one religion (or religious expression) vis-à-vis another with a view to declaring one superior to the other. -
The Churching of Women Benedictio Mulieris Post Partum
The Churching of Women benedictio mulieris post partum The Churching of women (or simply "Churching"), while not a required ritual, should be carried out as soon as the new mother is able to leave the house (the Church permits women to stay home, without culpability, from church for 6 weeks after giving birth) and after the baby has been baptized. Churching is the woman's way of giving thanksgiving to God for the birth of her child, and predisposes her, through the priestly blessing that is a part of the ritual, to receive the graces necessary to raise her child in a manner pleasing to God. Know that Churching is not a "purification" ceremony, though it is imitative of the day, which we commemorate on 2 February (Candlemas), that Mary underwent her "purification" (ceremonially speaking and in obedience to the Old Law) and presented her Son in the Temple to Simeon. The ritual The woman will make arrangements with her priest (ideally, the priest should know the women of his parish and make the offer to her). At the appointed time, she will kneel in the Narthex, holding a lighted candle. The priest, wearing a white stole, will bless her with holy water, and say: V. Our help is in the Name of the Lord. V. Adjutórium nostrum in nómine Dómini. R. Who made Heaven and Earth.. R. Qui fecit cælum et terram. Psalm 24 ANT. She shall receive a blessing from the Lord, ANT. Hæc accípiet benedictiónem a Dómino, et and mercy from God her Savior: for this is the misericórdiam a Deo salutári suo: quia hæc est generation of them that seek the Lord. -
Style: Figuring Subjectivity in 'Piers Plowman C' and 'The Parson's Tale' and 'Retraction': Authorial Insertion and Identity Poetics 04/05/2006 09:03 AM
Style: Figuring subjectivity in 'Piers Plowman C' and 'The Parson's Tale' and 'Retraction': authorial insertion and identity poetics 04/05/2006 09:03 AM FindArticles > Style > Fall, 1997 > Article > Print friendly Figuring subjectivity in 'Piers Plowman C' and 'The Parson's Tale' and 'Retraction': authorial insertion and identity poetics Daniel F. Pigg For some time, scholars and readers of Chaucer have pondered his knowledge about one of the major poets of his day: William Langland. Readers may typically find statements in scholarly discourse such as "We can now scarcely avoid considering the probability of Chaucer's having actually seen a copy of Piers Plowman in the interval between its first publication (c. 1370) and the beginnings of the Tales at least ten years later" (Bennett 321). Given internal evidence in the fifth passus of the C text - if we are willing to accept any connection between Langland's "autobiographical" confession/apologia and the writer - and documentary evidence of the historical Chaucer, we must assume that each poet was in London for at least a short time. Hypotheses about Chaucer's reading have always been at the forefront of scholarly debate. No one, however, has been about to demonstrate absolutely that Chaucer had knowledge of Piers Plowman. In her closing remarks at the 1994 New Chaucer Society meeting in Dublin, Ireland, Anne Middleton challenged those present to "trouble Chaucer's silences." The present attempt to "trouble the silence" relates to the growth and development of major poetic projects: the C text of Piers Plowman (likely written in the 1380s) and the "final" shape of the Canterbury Tales. -
The Musical Heritage of the Church
The Musical Heritage of the Church Volume VII Edited by Theodore Hoelty-Nickel Valparaiso, Indiana The Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church Volume VII Table of Contents Publisher’s Foreword O. A. Dorn Editor’s Preface Theo. Hoelty-Nickel Foreword Elmer E. Foelber The Authors Church Music and Theology Theo. Hoelty-Nickel, Valparaiso University Worship from Luther to Lutheranism Helge Nyman, Abo, Finland The Hymnody of the Reformation, Then and Now Mandus Egge, Minneapolis, Minnesota Church Music and the Ecumenical Scene Charles Anders, Northfield, Minnesota Luther and the Composers of His Time Charles Anders, Northfield, Minnesota New Concepts of Hymnody and Polyphony Heinz Werner Zimmermann, Berlin, Germany “Word” and “Tone” in Three Different Musicae Novae M. Geerink Bakker, Hilversum, Holland The Place of Religious Music in Broadcasting M. Geerink Bakker, Hilversum, Holland Christian Culture and the Cultured Christian Leader Walter E. Buszin, Omaha, Nebraska Has the Lutheran Hymn Run Its Course? Friedrich Hofmann, Neumarkt/Obf., Germany Luther and the New Song Martin J. Naumann, Springfield, Illinois What Makes It Lutheran? E. Theo. DeLaney, St. Louis, Missouri From The Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church, Volume VII (Valparaiso, Ind.: Valparaiso University, 1970). Reprinted by permission of Valparaiso University. For personal use only. The Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church Volume VII Aesthetics of Music Joachim Widman, Munich, Germany International Cooperation in Church Music Willem Mudde, Den Haag, Holland The Problem of Expression in Music Donald Ferguson, Minneapolis, Minnesota Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach in the Protestant Liturgy Leo Schrade †, University of Basel, Switzerland From The Musical Heritage of the Lutheran Church, Volume VII (Valparaiso, Ind.: Valparaiso University, 1970). -
Dawn of the Reformation Vol 1
THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION BY HERBERT B. WORKMAN, MA. VOL. I THE AGE OF WYCLIF London: CHARLES H. KELLY 2, CASTLE ST., CITY RD.; AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1901 OCR and formatting by William H. Gross www.onthewing.org Nov 2016 Page breaks have been adjusted for readability (widow/orphan) PREFACE I HAVE entitled this little work The Dawn of the Reformation. My purpose is to trace the various influences and forces both within and without the Church, which produced the great revolution of the sixteenth century. At what hour" dawn" begins is always a matter of dispute, and depends largely on local circumstances. But one thing is certain. A new day has begun long before the average worker has commenced his toil. So with the Reformation. The study of its causes cannot commence with Erasmus or Savonarola; its methods and results were to some extent settled for it in the century before Luther or Cranmer. My narrow limits have compelled me to omit many things of interest, and to compress into a few lines others which demanded as many pages. viii PREFACE I have constantly realised that to write a small history is more difficult than to write one of larger margins. In what I have included, as well as in what I have omitted, the understanding of the Reformation and its causes has alone had weight. If it be objected that I have given a disproportionate space to Wyclif, or made him bulk larger than he did in his own day, I must plead that his life has scarcely received the attention it deserves.