The Dancing Vicaress of Blyth and Other Such Folly
Embryo Parson Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 03:55PM 12/23 Update: Discussion continued here.
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For the "Anglican Follies" file.
Here is Kate Bottley, the "Dancing Vicar(ess)" of Blyth (or is that Blithe?):
Now, conservative Anglicans will simply dismiss this as yet another example of the antics of lunatic left clergy in the Church of England, but then they would need to explain the whys and wherefores of what occurs in ACNA's Diocese of the Upper Midwest (DUM). Here's a clip from the consecration of Stewart Ruch III, DUM's first bishop:
And a photo of something that happened at the same church. Fire jugglers!:
A friend mine commenting on this says,
I'm not the only one (to have left). There is a huge revolving door in that diocese: people come in by the droves, and the ones who buy what their selling stay, but a significant amount of members end up bolting for Catholicism or Orthodoxy--I know tons. They spend their years in that diocese getting silenced or marginalized if they don't drink the Three Streams Kool Aid. As a result, they create a diocese of uncatechized charismatic/evangelicals who dress up and play church.
Ouch. So which is worse, I wonder? The liberal Dancing Vicaress of Blyth or the "conservative" Dancing Fire Jugglers of DUM? Both end up forcing people who are seeking traditional Catholic faith and practice away from Realignment Anglicanism and into Roman, Orthodox or Continuing Anglican ranks. I must be honest and say that I'm feeling the latter's tractor beam on me these days. And I wonder how long the REC will hang in there with ACNA.
Reader Comments (5)
Fire jugglers? Next will be a clown mass. Or a Star Wars mass. Sigh.
I was there for the fire juggling. If was not off base. Giving the context would help. Before critizing please do more research. Context is so important. ...it was something fun at a conference. It was not a formal Sunday worship service. They demonstrating in a fun way the fire of the east African revival and passing it to the US.
Hello, Tim. Thanks for taking the time to read this article and comment on it.
The man who took this photo is a former member of Church of the Resurrection, who left it after three years and joined the Reformed Episcopal Church. Here is his response to your comment:
"It is true that this was a conference introduction and worship (singing songs) session. And because it was the first event of the conference, it was also a reception for Archbishop Wabukala, so _____________ decided to do another juggling act (he juggles in formal worship all the time too.... At the East Vigil this year, he juggled blocks at the altar as part of their "interactive readings," symbolizing the Valley of the Dry Bones coming alive.........yes....this really happens at the Easter Vigil).
And that's exactly the point: because the altar is desacralized all throughout the year, everyone is numb to the reality of sacrilege... The altar is a table that is only "holy" when we do the Eucharistic Canon, in their eyes. So, even though this was an opening reception/worship for the Revive Conference, that is still the altar--an altar which we went through so much effort to consecrate with a formal consecration service when we bought the building..
The juggling act was meant to "symbolize" ACNA 'standing on the shoulders' of East Africa in order to 'fire up' a 'revival'.....clever..
Three things:
(1) that's a really stupid symbol, it communicates only how incredibly immature and clownish we have become here in America.
(2) the altar is holy all the time, and nothing circus-like should ever take place there. If the Holy of Holies of the OT inspired such fear that the High Priest had a rope tied to Him--a place, btw, which held tablets, manna, and a budding rod--how much more should we be filled with awe and holy fear when we approach the very table which the Church has consecrated and where the Church offers herself to God and receives his Body and Blood back as a reciprocal offering? This is the place where Man communes with the Living God. Christ whipped people for practicing currency exchange in the OUTER COURTS of the Temple.....and currency exchange was actually a necessary part of Temple life, since Jews were coming in from all over the Empire with various currencies... Now, if Jesus whipped people and exploded with righteous indignation over THAT, I can't imagine what he would do if he saw fire jugglers doing a comedic act AT THE ALTAR.. Christ affirms sacred space; and, btw, so do real catholic Christians. The second homily in 'On the Right Use of the Church or Temple of God' from the Book of Homilies tells us plainly how we are to conduct ourselves in the church building.
(3) this was actually a very stupid and childish way to receive the most important and influential Primate in the Anglican Church worldwide... Wabukala, being the head of Gafcon, can be argued to be even more important to worldwide Anglicanism than the Archbishop of Canterbury himself. All I could think to myself was, "THIS is how we receive our Primate? With juggling acts and comedy? How undignified...how disrespectful.."
You could sense Wabukala's mild, though graceful, discomfort. When ________ had stopped the juggling act and started to walk off the 'stage,' Wabukala called him back up and began talking about what the East African Revival really was... He said, "The revival was about repentance. People turned away from their sins and to God, even though it might have cost them their lives."
When Americans hear the word, "Revival," they think of charismatic outbreaks, frenzies of activity, the breaking down of traditional stagnancy, etc... That's what Beasley's juggling act represented. The East Africans do not see "revival" in that light. "Revival," to them, is a mass conversion to the true faith and to holiness of life. His juggling act made a mockery of their experience, so Wabukala--albeit very graciously and lightly--set the record straight for the audience. "
Mr. Smith, church isn't about having "fun." It wasn't about "fun" when the Israelites gathered before God in the Tabernacle, Temple and synagogue, it wasn't about "fun" when the first Christians met on houses to worship the Lord, and in the two millennia since then Christians have assembled reverently to receive Word and Sacrament, and to worship God in spirit and truth, but never to have "fun." Doing "fun" stuff in church is a modern phenomenon invented people who wish to draw and retain people with gimmickry rather than the Gospel. I mean, can you really imagine St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Anselm of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Bradwardine, the English Reformers, the Caroline Divines, the Tractarians, or even the old Anglican Evangelicals countenancing this kind of stuff?
It makes no difference that the fire juggling didn't occur during the Eucharist, for the reasons mentioned above, and besides, according to this witness' testimony sometimes this claptrap does occur during the worship service at Church of the Resurrection.
"Brethren, these things ought not be so."
Thanks for your response. I will think about what you wrote. Maybe I don't agree 100% with you but you have given me some things to think about. I grew up in the Episcopal Church but left for 10 years. Now I am looking at ordination in the ACNA. The ACNA is so diverse! Its hard to make sense of it.
"The ACNA is so diverse! Its hard to make sense of it."
Indeed it is, Tim. With that statement you've put your finger on the vexing issue of "Anglican identity". The issue is so vexing that many Evangelicals, looking for a church rooted in history and the Church's timeless liturgy, go on to become either Roman Catholic or Orthodox.
There are those in Anglican Realignment churches such as ACNA who both know what classical Anglicanism is and care about preserving it. But then there are those who either don't know, or worse, do know and don't care about preserving it. You'll find the former in places like DFW, REC and CANA East. If you do end up seeking holy orders in the ACNA, I hope you will consider one of these more historically and doctrinally-grounded jurisdictions.
You'll also find classical Anglicanism in low-church, high-church, and Anglo-Catholic expressions in the Anglican Continuum. I think the Continuum has a much better sense of what true Anglican identity is than do the Realignment churches. The Continuers' problem is that they haven't yet figured out how to perpetuate their faith. There are hopeful signs, however, that this will change.
The Lord bless you as you enter into your discernment period.