Brothers and sisters, Greetings! I am a simple Christian. That is all. Love Anglicanism and its culture & history. This "Cross & Crook" means Christ is Saviour (Cross) and Lord (Shepherd's Crook). Also there is a pun, as maybe English calls criminals "crooks" at times? During the holy Passion of our Lord upon a cross, it was a thief or "crook" who had faith and love for Christ in his heart. We are all there right now. No matter how selfish our sins, the Lord waits for us upon His redeeming Cross. God loves us all. May His peace be multiplied to all your hearts.
Hello and a very warm welcome to you! Esepcially since you decided to turn your name into a pun, you're already fantastic in my books! I can see you are already a lively contributor, I'm intrigued though, where did your interest in Anglicanism begin?
Welcome aboard, Cross & Crook! It's always good to see a fellow Reformed joining the forums. Do you live in the Netherlands?
My brother Alcibiades, Pun is the ultimate form of humour... some say it is the lowest, but their minds are in the gutter... About that interest: it is from many things. The Anglo-Dutch alliance of 1585 provided the assistance that kept the infant Netherlands "above water". The geuzen could have only held to Den Briel for so long without the first Earl of Leicester. He was not the best commander, but the show of good faith helped and made the Spanish think twice about continuing the wars. We were friends in cultural ways before the English Civil War. There are Divines called Cosin and others who accepted Huguenot and Dutch church orders. They were not so happy with these after the Roundhead wars, though. For about 50 years we were not together. Though our alliance grew cold in the Gouden Eeuw because of the Anglo-Dutch wars, it was renewed against the tyrant Louis in the later years of the 17th century. We were friends in the Spanish, Austrian successions and Seven Years'. Our music is a big link to England. Originally the Reformed use a cappella music, such as: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkeIf6EyhtA ...which is like Anglican early music, or often your funeral musics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sthH9pBy0ZQ but also a tradition of organs in the south, toward the Flemish people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20OhU53mQAs which has qualities of Lutheran chorales as well as Anglican hymns and anthems. More similarities rest between Christians than we tend to think...? Controversies overtake foundations.
The Lord is Master and Shepherd at all times. Praise God. I do not reveal my location, except that I am no longer Under the Law, but In Christ. Wherever we are, in faith and the Baptism, we are in Christ. National borders hold little meaning for the Kingdom in this way: not Een, but Het - not A, but The Kingdom. To say "Zeeland" or "Bruges" or "Washington" is not needful. Here we are... together.
Welcome! I did attend a Dutch Reformed service once in The Hague, on Christmas Day. Two English ladies said they were going to church so we shared a taxi with them. They asked the driver for "the nearest Catholic church". When we said we were Protestant, they retorted rudely, "well, that's no use to us", so we got out of the taxi and asked a policeman where to go. "Because it was Christmas Day", he took us in a police car to a Dutch Reformed Church. The congregation wondered what was up! There was a very pleasant minister. I could just follow her sermon. Next to us was a rather tearful lady who sang beautifully. When she reached one high note, the light bulb above us broke. It was very Calvinist, of course, more foreign to us, but more welcoming, than the RCs. Perhaps we should have gone to our sister Church, the Old Catholic Church, with whom we are in full communion.
Well, where we are can make a difference, can't it. It's my age, I know, but the words "Dutch Reformed Church" evoke immediate memories in me of the apartheid era, when the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa took a very different line from the Anglicans. I gather they have repented that now; and at the time I don't think they were supported by their co-religionists in the Netherlands (am I right about that?). Are the South African and Netherlands churches close nowadays?
I wouldn't be so sure they all have repented; I have heard horrible things about the white South Africans, and I must say, the ones I work with...pleasant enough in their way, but there are some topics I will not sit in the room to listen to them discuss. Interestingly, an Australian cleric was telling me that the Sydney Diocese apparently supports something called 'the Church of England in South Africa', purporting to stand up for Reformed doctrine, they split over the issue of baptismal regeneration with the Anglican church now recognized by Canterbury there. Itwas pro-apartheid and now...well...it's unclear where they stand on the issue, but I suspect the worst, somehow.
This is from memory so I may be wrong but, yes, I don't think CESA were as brave as some of the mainstream Anglican people were – people like Tutu or Huddleston. But I don't think they allowed themselves to be pressured into segregating their congregations. The Dutch Reformed, of course, effectively gave the whole evil business their blessing.