Editor’s Note – The following “Solemn Charge & Exhortation” was given at the Convocation of Wycliffe College by their Chaplain. It is an Invitation to Chapel and the worshipping life of their community.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.[1] I welcome you to Founders’ Chapel this academic year—whether you call Wycliffe home or you are simply passing through.
We offer ten services per week, Monday through Friday, Morning and Evening, because daily prayer is a central part of the Christian formation we offer. Call it the “Wycliffe Advantage,” if you like. But the advantage will only be enjoyed by those who follow up on the invitation.[2] Thus I warmly encourage you to establish the weekly or monthly rhythm of attending as often as your schedule will allow, recognizing that some of you are commuting from a long distance. You can also watch our livestream, but if possible we would much rather enjoy your company in person.
Why so many services per week? To give you as many opportunities as we can! But moreover, because we believe it is a beautiful and vital thing for our days and weeks to be punctuated by prayer and praise. Every day we want to hear God’s voice through his Word, as we grow in likeness to his Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.[3] We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are like an ever-flowing stream of living water in which we long to bathe and drink every day.[4] So, there is daily refreshment to be enjoyed here, but also something more.
If we rest in that riverbed as living stones, then slowly and gradually our rough edges will be smoothed off by that gentle stream, and we will be polished and glorified, to be fitted together as a spiritual house by Christ who is at once our cornerstone and heavenly architect.[5]
We also offer these services because we have been privileged to inherit a tradition of the historically rooted and universal Church. At the time of the Reformation, it was decided that two services a day would be more manageable for folks like us who live outside the walls of a monastery, where they had seven services during the day and one at night.[6] Thus was established the twofold office of Morning and Evening Prayer. But this twofold pattern goes back much further than the Reformation.
In the tabernacle that God commanded Moses to set up for his people in the wilderness, every morning and evening they offered an olah, a whole burnt offering, better translated as “an ascension offering.” God said, “It shall be a continual ascension throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak with you there.”[7]
Jesus Christ our great high priest has ascended into heaven, where he ever lives to make intercession for us and for the life of the world.[8] In chapel every morning and evening, we offer ourselves, our souls, and bodies to be a singular living sacrifice in him, our hearts and minds ascending to the Father on the wings of prayer and praise by his Spirit.[9] Jesus promises to meet with you and speak to you here.
We need to meet with the triune God and have him speak to us before we can presume to speak about him. If you are a theology student, you will be doing a lot of speaking and reading and writing about the things of God: in lectures, seminars, and casual conversation. If you are a member of a campus ministry, you too will spend much time talking about God among yourselves and to others. Or perhaps you engage in theological conversations and debates online. No matter where or how you talk about the things of God, with all this comes a significant risk.
One of the most profound reflections on the question “What is theology?” can be found in The First Theological Oration by Gregory of Nazianzus. Gregory lived in the fourth century—well before the Church splintered into the many branches we have today—so he stands as a common ancestor whom all Christians can rightly regard as their own. Much of this sermon reads as a caution against the pitfalls of theological discussion without worship and holiness of life. Gregory writes,
I am one of those who approve the precept that commands us to meditate day and night, to tell of the Lord evening, and morning, and noon, to bless the Lord at all times, or in the words of Moses, “when we lie down, rise up, and walk by the way” and by this mindfulness to be molded to purity. So it is not continual remembrance of God I seek to discourage, but continual discussion of theology. […] Nor am I opposed to instruction in theology, except when this goes to excess. Fullness […] even of honey, for all its goodness, produces vomiting.[10]
One of the great things about Wycliffe College is that you can talk theology here. When I first arrived as a student 15 years ago, I found Wycliffe a kind of oasis, because I came from a family and peer group where such conversations could not easily be had.
Here you will have the joy of talking theology with those who are like-minded in Christ. And though it may not always feel like it, you will also have the privilege of talking with others with whom you disagree, even profoundly, on certain issues.
My point is that unless we are gathering for common worship, mere differences of opinion will widen, and hearts will harden. Moreover, for all of us in higher education, we risk becoming proud and bloated with knowledge. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”[11] Gregory would have us remember both the limits and the ultimate purpose of theological study: to grow to maturity in faith, hope, and love through communion with the One who first loved us.[12]
If you are a Wycliffe student, you will be instructed by world-class faculty (I can say that because I am not one of them). But I know them well enough to know that they all agree that their area of specialty is not just for your head, but for your heart and soul.
When we discuss the deep mysteries of God and his Word, there comes a point that our words must end. We must sit in silence and hear back from God—and give him thanks—and do so together as one body. So, to that end, what does Gregory, the doctor of the church, prescribe for us? Among other things, he lists “hospitality,” “singing psalms,” and “taking up our abode with God through prayer.”[13]
Speaking of psalm-singing, I want to acknowledge that the liturgies offered in this chapel are rooted in the Anglican tradition, which may be new and different for you. Please be assured that you will at no point be pressured into becoming an Anglican as though it were a better way of being Christian. Michael Ramsey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, once said that Anglicanism “is sent not to commend itself as ‘the best type of Christianity,’ but by its very brokenness to point to the universal Church wherein all have died.”
I will also say that within Anglican worship there is a little something for everyone. And we want to learn from you and your tradition! If you are reading this, then I believe that God in his providence has brought you here to us as a gift, so let your light shine before us.[14] If you are not yet a Christian, but drawing near to the light of faith, you are especially welcome. We would be delighted to get to know you and to answer any questions you may have.[15]
Our main weekly service is the Tuesday Eucharist at 4:45 p.m. The entire service is projected on a screen for ease of worship—no book juggling or page flipping required. We do, however, juggle books and flip pages at Morning and Evening Prayer. But fear not! We have a capable and eager team of sacristans to help: Donya, Amani, Ellen, Hollis, and Jeff. “Sacristan” is one of those funny old Anglican words. Better to think of these five as our division of Levites, those who were set apart for service in the temple.[16
Please join us in Founders’ Chapel this year. We would be blessed by your presence; and know that even when you can’t make it, we will pray for you.
[1] Philippians 1:2
[2] Luke 14:16-24
[3] Ephesians 2:11-16; John 1:14
[4] Ezekiel 47:1; Revelation 22:1
[5] 1 Peter 2:4-5; Ephesians 2:20; Hebrews 11:10, 16
[6] Psalm 119:164, 62
[7] Exodus 29:42
[8] Hebrews 7:25; John 6:51
[9] Romans 12:1
[10] Gregory of Nazianzus, “First Theological Oration,” On God & Christ (SVS Press, 2002), 28
[11] 1 Corinthians 8:1
[12] 1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 John 4:19
[13] Gregory of Nazianzus, “First Theological Oration,” 30
[14] Matthew 5:16
[15] John 8:12
[16] 1 Chronicles 26:12-13, 20-28
The Rev. Christopher Dow is Chaplain of Wycliffe College, University of Toronto where he oversees worship life, pastoral care, and field education for the seminary community. Previous appointments include rector of St. Jude's Cathedral, Iqaluit and Dean of the Diocese of the Arctic, and parishes in Toronto and Saskatchewan.
