A new website by Gerald Stranraer-Mull, Dean Emeritus of Aberdeen and Orkney, tells the story of the Scottish Episcopal Church as a chronological series of dates. This useful source of reference is enlivened by vignettes drawing out the important events of each century, a preface and further reading.
It can be found at www.episcopalhistory.org
Friday, 5 July 2013
The Ethics of Church History
One of the many insights of Diarmaid MacCulloch's Gifford Lecture series on silence in Christian History, now released as a book, is that there is a profoundly ethical dimension to the careful and truthful telling of church history. His approach to silence is to see the theme in its variety of positive and negative forms. Those who are used to reading this blog will know that I have a particular fondness for telling the positive story of Christian silence insofar as it relates to under-appreciated mystical dimension of the faith, with its origins in the teachings of such early exponents as the Desert monastics, Pseudo-Dionysius and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing, and such modern champions as Thomas Merton, Bede Griffiths and William Johnston.
But it is the negative story where the question of ethics comes most into focus. Other forms of Christian silence have include the (not always complete and occasionally brutal) repression of heterodox ideas and, most significantly for contemporary Christianity, in the denial and obfuscation surrounding abuse. As well as the sexual abuse of children, MacCulloch reminds the churches of their enormous success in finding arguments to approve of the continuation of slavery and of their undeniable role in the formation and perpetuation of anti-semitic ideologies. The ethical task of the historian is the fearless identification of the causes and practice of such abuses, the analysis of the apparatus used to cover them up and the exercise of careful moral judgement in condemning wrongdoing. On that latter point, it is too easy for historians to excuse past behaviour with the qualification that it was 'reasonable by the standards of the time'. MacCulloch does the church a great service in not letting it use such a lazy way out. He points out that those who discovered some of the earliest recorded clerical abuse of children in the 17th century were fully aware of its evil. It is also important to remind ourselves that the acquiescence of a silent majority does not render moral judgement redundant. Evil is evil, even when the majority are too fearful to name it as such.
There is, I think, a relationship between MacCulloch's positive silences and the historian's task of 'demanding the constant rupture of silences around abuse'. The Christian mystical tradition places a significant emphasis on unflinching self-awareness, on tearful penitence and on inner transformation. With this in mind, the careful telling of the church's history strikes me as a deeply spiritual task as well as its most essential ethical one.
John McLuckie,
justluckie.typepad.com
But it is the negative story where the question of ethics comes most into focus. Other forms of Christian silence have include the (not always complete and occasionally brutal) repression of heterodox ideas and, most significantly for contemporary Christianity, in the denial and obfuscation surrounding abuse. As well as the sexual abuse of children, MacCulloch reminds the churches of their enormous success in finding arguments to approve of the continuation of slavery and of their undeniable role in the formation and perpetuation of anti-semitic ideologies. The ethical task of the historian is the fearless identification of the causes and practice of such abuses, the analysis of the apparatus used to cover them up and the exercise of careful moral judgement in condemning wrongdoing. On that latter point, it is too easy for historians to excuse past behaviour with the qualification that it was 'reasonable by the standards of the time'. MacCulloch does the church a great service in not letting it use such a lazy way out. He points out that those who discovered some of the earliest recorded clerical abuse of children in the 17th century were fully aware of its evil. It is also important to remind ourselves that the acquiescence of a silent majority does not render moral judgement redundant. Evil is evil, even when the majority are too fearful to name it as such.
There is, I think, a relationship between MacCulloch's positive silences and the historian's task of 'demanding the constant rupture of silences around abuse'. The Christian mystical tradition places a significant emphasis on unflinching self-awareness, on tearful penitence and on inner transformation. With this in mind, the careful telling of the church's history strikes me as a deeply spiritual task as well as its most essential ethical one.
John McLuckie,
justluckie.typepad.com
Michael Fraser, Priest of Daviot and Dunlichity 1673-1726
Strathnairn is one of the most beautiful places in Scotland -- wonderful in summer and magnificent in winter, with its tranquillity cloaking a long history. The cairns and hut circles speak of a people long ago, the church sites of Celtic saints, and the glen itself of Bonnie Prince Charlie's desperate ride from the battlefield of Culloden.
And hidden stories can be found in the lives of those who lived in the glen. That of Michael Fraser, priest of Daviot and Dunlichity for 53 years, reveals a great survivor in troubled times. He was the child of Thomas Fraser and his wife Katherine Gordon, daughter of Sir Robert and Lady Gordon of Embo. He studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and in 1670 was appointed schoolmaster, often in those days a forerunner to ordination, at Thurso in Caithness. He was ordained on February 19th, 1672, and the Bishop of Moray, Murdo Mackenzie, nominated him as priest at Daviot and Dunlichity on October 20th that year.
Michael Fraser's appointment came twelve years after the restoration of both King Charles II and of the Episcopal Church as the Church of Scotland. The latter change had produced little alteration in the worship within parish churches but pressure on Presbyterians gradually increased during these years. Ministers who would not conform to the Episcopal ways were forbidden to exercise their ministry and, indeed, from living within 20 miles of their former parishes. In Strathnairn Alexander Fraser, minister of Daviot and Dunlichity, was deposed for his Presbyterian views, thus creating the vacancy which the bishop wished Michael Fraser to fill.
There was, though, an immediate problem. Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor claimed that the bishop had no authority to appoint anyone to Daviot and Dunlichity as that right belonged to him as patron of the parish. Sir Hugh wanted to appoint the Reverend Donald Macpherson of Cawdor Church instead. Bishop and Presbytery united in favour of Michael Fraser, but Sir Hugh persisted in his claim until the bishop eventually withdrew his own nominee. However, having gained the victory, Sir Hugh himself now nominated Michael Fraser as the new priest, and his long ministry in Strathnairn began on March 4th 1673.
Bishop Mackenzie’s opinion of Michael Fraser soon changed and just after Christmas 1674 he rebuked him for being in Edinburgh and absent from the parish for too long. A few months later the Synod, annoyed by his artistic endeavours, demanded that he "abstain from all limning and painting which hitherto has diverted him from his ministerial duties". Patience had run out by 1678, the year Bishop Mackenzie died (he had resigned in 1677) and Michael Fraser was suspended from office. He was soon back in place but an enormous change was coming to the whole church. In 1688 there was revolution and James VII and II was succeeded by his daughter Mary and her husband William, the Prince of Orange. The Scottish bishops declined to recognise the new monarchs and in consequence, in 1690, the Episcopal Church was once more displaced as the Church of Scotland by a Presbyterian regime.
It made no difference in Strathnairn. Michael Fraser continued blithely on, and even when in 1694 the Presbytery formally declared the parish vacant he took absolutely no notice. And, indeed, the Presbytery took no further action against him for the next 21 years. Only after he played a prominent role in the 1715 Jacobite Rising did the Presbytery attempt another intervention. It declared him to be "an intruder at Daviot and Dunlichity". The priest then offered to resign, but only on condition that a competent person be appointed in his place.
Nothing came of it and so he stayed. Five years later a Presbytery visit to the parish received a hostile reception. Parishioners were quick to defend their priest and stones were thrown. The following year the leading gentlemen of the parish asked the Presbytery's forbearance for the priest, saying that they would concur with the Presbytery’s wishes in the event of his death "which now, in the course of nature, cannot be long". It was actually another four years, in 1726, before Michael Fraser, the great survivor, died -- still, of course, in office.
The Episcopal Church remained strong in Strathnairn and is today is represented by Saint Paul's at Croachy. The church building (the second on the site and the fourth in the glen) dates from 1868. A hall was added in 2002.
Gerald Stranraer-Mull
And hidden stories can be found in the lives of those who lived in the glen. That of Michael Fraser, priest of Daviot and Dunlichity for 53 years, reveals a great survivor in troubled times. He was the child of Thomas Fraser and his wife Katherine Gordon, daughter of Sir Robert and Lady Gordon of Embo. He studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and in 1670 was appointed schoolmaster, often in those days a forerunner to ordination, at Thurso in Caithness. He was ordained on February 19th, 1672, and the Bishop of Moray, Murdo Mackenzie, nominated him as priest at Daviot and Dunlichity on October 20th that year.
 |
| Dunlichity Parish Church in Strathnairn |
Michael Fraser's appointment came twelve years after the restoration of both King Charles II and of the Episcopal Church as the Church of Scotland. The latter change had produced little alteration in the worship within parish churches but pressure on Presbyterians gradually increased during these years. Ministers who would not conform to the Episcopal ways were forbidden to exercise their ministry and, indeed, from living within 20 miles of their former parishes. In Strathnairn Alexander Fraser, minister of Daviot and Dunlichity, was deposed for his Presbyterian views, thus creating the vacancy which the bishop wished Michael Fraser to fill.
There was, though, an immediate problem. Sir Hugh Campbell of Cawdor claimed that the bishop had no authority to appoint anyone to Daviot and Dunlichity as that right belonged to him as patron of the parish. Sir Hugh wanted to appoint the Reverend Donald Macpherson of Cawdor Church instead. Bishop and Presbytery united in favour of Michael Fraser, but Sir Hugh persisted in his claim until the bishop eventually withdrew his own nominee. However, having gained the victory, Sir Hugh himself now nominated Michael Fraser as the new priest, and his long ministry in Strathnairn began on March 4th 1673.
Bishop Mackenzie’s opinion of Michael Fraser soon changed and just after Christmas 1674 he rebuked him for being in Edinburgh and absent from the parish for too long. A few months later the Synod, annoyed by his artistic endeavours, demanded that he "abstain from all limning and painting which hitherto has diverted him from his ministerial duties". Patience had run out by 1678, the year Bishop Mackenzie died (he had resigned in 1677) and Michael Fraser was suspended from office. He was soon back in place but an enormous change was coming to the whole church. In 1688 there was revolution and James VII and II was succeeded by his daughter Mary and her husband William, the Prince of Orange. The Scottish bishops declined to recognise the new monarchs and in consequence, in 1690, the Episcopal Church was once more displaced as the Church of Scotland by a Presbyterian regime.
It made no difference in Strathnairn. Michael Fraser continued blithely on, and even when in 1694 the Presbytery formally declared the parish vacant he took absolutely no notice. And, indeed, the Presbytery took no further action against him for the next 21 years. Only after he played a prominent role in the 1715 Jacobite Rising did the Presbytery attempt another intervention. It declared him to be "an intruder at Daviot and Dunlichity". The priest then offered to resign, but only on condition that a competent person be appointed in his place.
Nothing came of it and so he stayed. Five years later a Presbytery visit to the parish received a hostile reception. Parishioners were quick to defend their priest and stones were thrown. The following year the leading gentlemen of the parish asked the Presbytery's forbearance for the priest, saying that they would concur with the Presbytery’s wishes in the event of his death "which now, in the course of nature, cannot be long". It was actually another four years, in 1726, before Michael Fraser, the great survivor, died -- still, of course, in office.
 |
| Saint Paul’s Church and Hall in Strathnairn |
The Episcopal Church remained strong in Strathnairn and is today is represented by Saint Paul's at Croachy. The church building (the second on the site and the fourth in the glen) dates from 1868. A hall was added in 2002.
Gerald Stranraer-Mull
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