Prayers and liturgy

Clement of Alexandria, Doctor

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Clement of Alexandria (c. 155-c. 215), Priest, Apologist, Doctor (source):

St. Clement of AlexandriaO Lord, who didst call thy servant Clement of Alexandria from the errors of ancient philosophy that he might learn and teach the saving Gospel of Christ: Turn thy Church from the conceits of worldly wisdom and, by the Spirit of truth, guide it into all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Epistle: Colossians 1:11-20
The Gospel: St. John 6:57-63

Print this entry

Theology

Advent Programme I: Ethics & Ecclesiastes

Advent Programme at Christ Church 2025
Ethics & Ecclesiastes (Dec 2nd) and Wisdom (O Sapientia – Dec. 16th)
Fr. David Curry

Why Ecclesiastes and why The Book of Wisdom, you may ask? And why Ethics? Let me attempt an explanation. In the Providence of God this Fall, the weekly readings for the Week of the 22nd Sunday after Trinity brought us to the Sunday Next Before Advent. In the Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer we read through the whole of Ecclesiastes and at Mattins on the Sunday Next Before Advent, we read the last two chapters of Ecclesiastes, which are always read at Mattins on that Sunday regardless of the length of the Trinity Season and whatever office readings followed from the last Sunday after Trinity in any given year. Yet this year we had the whole of Ecclesiastes to read and to lead us into the end and beginning of the Church Year. And why Ethics? Because The Book of Ecclesiastes raises the important question about Ethics, namely, about the highest or greatest good for our humanity and thus belongs to the purpose of Revelation. I am drawing upon lectures on Ethics which I have delivered over many years in The Theory of Knowledge course in the IB programme, though minus the wonderful cartoons of Calvin and Hobbes on matters of ethical thinking.

The American philosopher, Peter Kreeft, in his book Three Philosophies of Life: Ecclesiastes, Life as Vanity, Job, Life as Suffering, and the Song of Songs, Life as Love makes a nice analogy to Dante’s threefold division of his spiritual classic, the Divine Comedy – Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso by suggesting that Ecclesiastes in its remarkable treatment of boredom and vanity relates to the Inferno, the Book of Job to the Purgatorio in the positive and redemptive forms of suffering, and the Song of Songs to the Paradiso in the movement of love that perfects and restores all things to their unity in God. Dante himself suggests that the purpose of the Commedia is to lead us “from misery to felicity” or blessedness. All three biblical books belong to Wisdom literature and, especially, it seems to me, to the examination of the ethical.

And Wisdom? You may have noticed that the week following the Sunday Next Before Advent the Office readings at Morning and Evening Prayer are entirely from the Book of Wisdom as if leading us into the radical and deeper meaning of Advent. In the Calendar you will note that the 16th of December commemorates one of the ‘O’ Antiphons, specifically, ‘O Sapientia’, O Wisdom, deliberately recalling the Book of Wisdom and the image of Wisdom that it presents to us. It seemed appropriate to connect these two works for our Advent Programme at Christ Church this year.

Advent Reflections on Ethics & Ecclesiastes (2025)

Austin Farrer in his classic ‘The Glass of Vision’, the Bampton Lectures of 1948, recalls an intriguing observation that in Scripture “there is not a line of theology, and of philosophy not so much as an echo” (Lecture III). Peter Kreeft, on the other hand, states that Ecclesiastes is the only book of philosophy, pure philosophy, mere philosophy, in the Bible” and indeed is “the greatest of all books of philosophy” (‘Three Philosophies of Life’, 1989). I think both are right.

(more…)

Print this entry

Events

Tonight’s Advent Programme cancelled

Due to stormy conditions, the Holy Communion service and Advent Programme scheduled for this evening have been cancelled. The text of the programme will be posted here on the church website shortly.

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

Saint Andrew the Apostle

The collect for today, the Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle and Martyr, Patron Saint of Scotland, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who didst give such grace unto thy holy Apostle Saint Andrew, that he readily obeyed the calling of thy Son Jesus Christ, and followed him without delay: Grant unto us all, that we, being called by thy holy word, may forthwith give up ourselves obediently to fulfil thy holy commandments; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 10:8-18
The Gospel: St. Matthew 4:18-22

Pasquale Chiesa, Martyrdom of St. AndrewA native of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, Andrew was a fisherman, the son of the fisherman John, and the brother of the fisherman Simon Peter. He was at first, along with John the Evangelist, a disciple of John the Baptist. John the Baptist’s testimony that Jesus was the Christ led the two to follow Jesus. Andrew then took his brother Simon Peter to meet Jesus. In Eastern Orthodox tradition, St. Andrew is called the Protokletos (the First Called) because he is named as the first disciple summoned by Jesus into his service.

At first Andrew and Simon Peter continued to carry on their fishing trade, but the Lord later called them to stay with him all the time. He promised to make them fishers of men and, this time, they left their nets for good.

The only other specific reference to Andrew in the New Testament is at St. Mark 13:3, where he is one of those asking the questions that lead our Lord into his great eschatological discourse.

In the lists of the apostles that appear in the gospels, Andrew is always numbered among the first four. He is named individually three times in the Gospel of St. John. In addition to the story of his calling (John 1:35-42), he, together with Philip, presented the Gentiles to Christ (John 12:20-22), and he pointed out the boy with the loaves and fishes (John 6:8).

(more…)

Print this entry

Uncategorized

An Advent Meditation, 2025

An Advent Meditation – 2025
“My words shall not pass away”

Luke’s apocalyptic warnings which we hear on Advent II are strong and disturbing words. “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring” (Luke 21. 25-33). There is nothing really new about that: “same old, same old,” we might even say, other than being far more eloquent than, perhaps, either the news or the weather report!

Yet, it must surely give us pause, “men’s hearts failing them for fear,” anxious and worried on account of “looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” There is a profoundly cosmic quality to these Scriptural warning notes which signal the Advent theme of judgment at once coming to us and ever present.

But exactly how, to use Cranmer’s words in his marvellous Collect for Advent II, do such disturbing warnings about judgment provide us with “patience and comfort of thy holy Word”, let alone give us “hope”? And yet that is precisely Jesus’ claim here. “My words shall not pass away.”

(more…)

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

Audio file of 8:00am Holy Communion service, First Sunday in Advent

Click here to listen to an audio recording of the 8:00am service of Holy Communion at Christ Church on the First Sunday in Advent.

Print this entry

Sermons

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

“Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord”

Today’s Gospel is unique among the churches of Christendom historically speaking and in two ways. First, it was the English Church alone, early in that long period which we rather ambiguously and perhaps mistakenly call the Middle Ages, that chose this Gospel reading for Advent Sunday, and secondly, it was Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the architect of the Prayer Book, who in the 16th century extended the reading to include the story of Christ’s cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem. Both features offer a profound insight into the meaning of Advent at once as the season of expectancy and waiting and as the doctrine of the Advent in the constant coming of God towards us in judgement and mercy, in humility and power, in truth and love, through the pageant of Revelation in the ordered life of the Church.

Advent is the motion of God’s Word coming to us now and always. That coming is threefold: the coming of God in carne, in the flesh of Christ’s holy Incarnation, the coming of God in judicio, in judgement and truth, and the coming of God in mente, in heart and mind. Advent is really about our constant waiting upon those motions of God coming towards us that awakens in us a sense of expectancy and preparation. In a way, the whole of our lives is about our waiting upon those motions of God coming towards us which is the real truth and meaning of human redemption. That is found precisely in the motions of God’s love towards us in Word and Sacrament, in judgement, and in humility and mercy, in grace and love, all conveyed through the Scriptures.

Paul in Romans highlights two things: first, that law is love, and secondly, that in the coming of God as light in the darkness of human sin and evil, we are bidden to walk in that light, “put[ting] on the armour of light” which is nothing less than “put[ting] on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Such is the meaning of “cast[ing] off the works of darkness and put[ting] on the armour of light” concentrated in the Collect that is to be prayed not just on this Sunday and week but throughout the Advent Season.

Christ comes “in great humility,” as the Gospel images from Zechariah the prophet make clear. His triumphal entrance into Jerusalem – the pageant of Palm Sunday – is not in pomp and circumstance but in “meek[ness] and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” This challenges all our worldly expectations of glory and majesty. We see at once the wonder and joy of the multitude who welcome him with cries of “Hosanna to the Son of David,” cries that convey the sense of majesty even as we know only too well how those cries of rejoicing will be turned to cries of “Crucify. Crucify.” Such is our darkness, to be sure, the darkness of sin and ignorance. Something of both those aspects of fallen humanity is present in the bewilderment of the crowd, for “when he was come into Jerusalem all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?”

(more…)

Print this entry

Events, Month at a Glance

Month at a Glance, December 2025

Tuesday, December 1st
7:00pm Parish Hall: Packing boxes for Mission to Seafarers

Tuesday, December 2nd, St. Andrew (transf.)
7:00pm Holy Communion & Advent Programme I on Ethics & Ecclesiastes

Friday, December 5th
3:00pm KES Advent/Xmas Service

Sunday, December 7th, Advent II
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion
3:00pm ‘A Medieval Christmas Tour’ – Flutes, Fiddle, Harp, Bouzouki – Sacred Songs & Lively Dance Tunes from the medieval era to the 18th century. Sponsored by Musique Royale. $25.00 advance Tickets; $ 30.00 at the door; Students free.

Tuesday, December 9th
7:00pm Parish Council Meeting

Sunday, December 14th, Advent III
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Tuesday, December 16th
7:00pm Holy Communion & Advent Programme II on Wisdom (Sapienta)

Sunday, December 21st, Advent IV
8:00am Holy Communion
10:30am Holy Communion

Tuesday, December 23rd, St. Thomas (transf.)
7:00pm Holy Communion

Print this entry

Prayers and liturgy

The First Sunday in Advent

The collect for today, the First Sunday in Advent, being the Fourth Sunday before Christmas Day, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, now and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: Romans 13:8-14
The Gospel: St. Matthew 21:1-13

Rembrandt, Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple, 1635Artwork: Rembrandt, Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple, 1635. Etching, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Print this entry

Anglican issues, Statements and other writings, Theology

Quiet Day on Classical Anglicanism

Two Reflections on the First of the Christ Church Quiet Days,
Fall 2025: re Classical Anglicanism
Fr. David Curry

I: The Ordinal

At our first Quiet Day on October 25th at Christ Church, the Rev’d Dr. Ross Hebb reminded us of things which we have to “unlearn” in considering the history of the English Church such as thinking in terms of ‘denominations’. I reminded us that classical Anglicanism is robustly non-sectarian. The whole emphasis of understanding is on the idea of being “an integral portion of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” as articulated in the Solemn Declaration 1893 and as further elucidated in Fr. Crouse’s paper ‘The Essence of Anglicanism’.

It is worth noting how this emphasis is expressed in the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer, and especially with respect to ordination. The phrase “The Anglican Church of Canada” appears nowhere in the public liturgies of the Offices and Communion and other sundry services. It appears in the Preface to the Ordinal (BCP, p. 637), but only once in the oath of obedience of bishops to the Metropolitan (BCP, p. 661). It does not appear in the ordination oaths for Deacons and Priests. Even with respect to Bishops, it is there only in the context of subordination: the profession and promise of the bishop elect “to hold and maintain the Doctrine, Sacraments, and Discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded in his holy Word, and as the Anglican Church of Canada hath received and set forth the same” (BCP, p. 661, my italics). This reflects the same sensibility as the Solemn Declaration where there is also no mention of the Anglican Church of Canada; only “the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada” (BCP, p, viii) and again emphasizing what has been received and the setting forth of the same by way of the Book of Common Prayer.

The point for the postulants is simply this. Those who are ordained are ordained as deacons, priests, and bishops in “Christ’s Church”(BCP, p. 637),“the Church of Christ” (BCP, p. 662), or “the Church of God,” (BCP, p. 643, p. 655, p. 666) of which “the Anglican Church of Canada” or “the Church of England in Canada” understands itself to be an integral or whole portion through the magisterium of the classical Book(s) of Common Prayer. This is a necessary and important subordination without which one moves in a sectarian direction.

The Ordinal in the BAS is, for the most part, conservative, or, at least, can be read in that way, but in the ordination rites themselves there is a tendency to collapse “the Church of God” or “Christ’s Church” to “the Anglican Church of Canada”; in short, to the institution itself. For instance, in the BCP Ordination of Bishops, the profession and promise “to hold and maintain the Doctrine, Sacraments, and Discipline of Christ” is defined unambiguously “as the Lord hath commanded in his holy Word, and as the Anglican Church of Canada hath received and set forth the same” (BCP, p. 661, my italics). By way of contrast, in the BAS, the ordination of bishops, priests, deacons requires the solemn “promise to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Anglican Church of Canada” (BAS, p. 635, p. 645, p. 654). The Preface in the BAS may act as a corrective to this tendency and, of course, in principle, the BAS is subject to the Book of Common Prayer; it is not an equal or substitute authority. Thus BAS ordination rites are strictly speaking to be understood in terms of the doctrine of the Prayer Book and the Ordinal which is included in it (Cdn. BCP.)

(more…)

Print this entry