TRINITY ePISTLE — Week of Sunday, July 9, 2023

I originally planned on sending a video this week, but I’m writing instead because I’m still recovering from Covid and it would take a lot to make myself look presentable! Remember that in my last video, we learned about the development of “Celtic” practices of Christian life in early Britain that were sometimes at odds with how things were done in Rome. Some of those differences were small, like the way monks cut their hair. Some were critically important for political and financial reasons. In the early British church, the real power brokers in the church were the abbots of monasteries rather than bishops. But one seemingly small difference in practice would rearrange how Christianity in Britain worked.

In the court of Northumbria, King Oswiu had been taught by Irish monks and followed their method for calculating the date of Easter. But Queen Eanflaed, his wife, was taught to calculate Easter according to the Roman method. When one half of a couple is celebrating Easter and the other is still fasting for Holy Week, it’s bound to create some tensions. In 664, a council was summoned to the great monastery of Whitby to settle the question once and for all: how do we know when it’s Easter?

LEARN MORE ABOUT EASTER AND THE SYNOD OF WHITBY AT ENGLISH-HERITAGE.ORG

Whitby functioned as a “double monastery”, where a community of monks and a community of nuns shared the same church but lived in separate quarters. Because they were generally governed by an abbess, these double monasteries were the home of powerful women leaders, and St. Hilda of Whitby was no exception.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ST. HILDA OF WHITBY AT ENGLISH-HERITAGE.ORG

The debate at the Synod of Whitby centered on a question that is still relevant for Christian life: Where does the church’s authority come from? Who decides, and on what basis, when differences of practice or belief come up? The supporters of the Irish method of calculation argued that “we’ve always done it this way,” a refrain you can hear in church arguments even today! But the supporters of the Roman method appealed to the authority given to Peter in Scripture: “You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it and to you I give the keys to the kingdom of heaven.” King Oswiu found that logic convincing, and as a result Christian practice in Britain was brought into alignment with more universal practice.

I encourage you to check out the links and learn more about St Hilda, one of the truly fascinating women of Christian history. This episode of Time Team, one of my favorite TV shows, focuses on the archaeological search for St. Hilda’s monastery.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

P.S., please remember that on Monday, July 10, at 7pm, we will begin our reading group on Seek and You Will Find: Discovering a Practice of Prayer by Rhonda Mawhood Lee (Get the book here). The group will meet online each week, and on the 10th Dr. Lee will join us via Zoom to discuss the book and answer your questions.

Join the Zoom here: ZOOM.US/J/2859819016 [By phone: 1 646 558 8656 Meeting ID: 285 981 9016 Password: 1979]

The Most Important Meeting You’ve Never Heard Of: The Synod of Whitby, 664

Pickup Choirs

Lower Voices

Higher Voices

Kids’ Voices

Book Group: On Prayer

Lambeth Conference Bible Study: 1 Peter

By participant request… the First Peter Bible Study is now ‘soul-ly’ on-line Wednesdays! 😊 (there will be no in-person meeting)

Trinity at Trenton Thunder

Canoeing the Canal