Tuesday, August 12, 2014 - Charles Inglis, First Anglican Bishop in Canada

Tuesday, August 12, 2014 (Consecration of Charles Inglis, First Anglican Bishop in Canada, 1787)

Ezekiel 2:8 - 3:4

In 1987, I was serving as the Rector of Trinity Church in Saint John, New Brunswick. Archbishop Harold Nutter of the Diocese of Fredericton tasked me with representing him on the planning Committee for the Bicentennial celebrations surrounding the anniversary of the consecration of Charles Inglis as the first Anglican Bishop in Canada.

The Canadian House of Bishops and other representatives of the General Synod committed their time to the celebration. When the opening notes of the first hymn sounded the large arena, thousands of people stood up to sing, “ Lift High the Cross”. I lifted up the Archbishop’s Cross and joined the procession. I have never heard that hymn without thinking of that moment and the joy of that celebration.

Years later, I was able to visit Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in London. It was in the Palace Chapel that Charles Inglis was consecrated as a Bishop. This significant moment in the life of the church is also commemorated, I believe, in one of the stained glass windows in St. James Cathedral, Toronto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Inglis_(bishop)#mediaviewer/File:Charles_Inglis_by_Robert_Field.jpg

As this day has been set aside to mark this significant moment in the life of the

Anglican Church in Canada, it becomes important for us to reflect on how the words of Holy Scripture help us to not only reflect on moments of history, but also how those words shape our own witness and ministry in the 21^st century.

“But you, mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house…" (Ezekiel 2:8)

Inglis was a person who was convinced that his ministry was to be given over to the proclamation of a message of loyalty. His perception was that loyalty to God was also expressed by being loyal to the Crown. While other persons of faith held very different views, he was compelled by his convictions to face whatever challenges and dangers lay ahead of him.

In our own day and age, individuals who publically identify themselves as Christians may be specifically targeted for persecution. This reality is borne out in the media reports of individuals and communities who are being sought out and who become the focus of violence.

The life, work, witness and ministry of Charles Inglis  is only a part of our history as a church community. Yet his story of being a faithful witness in the midst of a time of persecution is as real in our world today as it was for him more than two hundred years ago.

- The Reverend Canon Christopher Pratt