On the Feast of the Oxford Martyrs

My Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

This past June I had the opportunity to visit England. One of the highlights of my trip was our day journey to Oxford. While in Oxford I had the chance to visit Saint Michael at the North Gate church. This church is special because the tower contains a relic from one of the most monumental events of the English Reformation. At the top of the tower sits an old black wooden door with a small placard that explains that the three bishops — Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury — were imprisoned behind it. Shortly after their imprisonment they would be tried as heretics and burned at the stake.

It is recorded that as their death drew near, Latimer turned to Ridley and said, "Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." Indeed, these words were a prophetic message of things to come, and today that small flame is responsible for the third largest Christian group in the world, numbering over 85 million Anglicans worldwide. And like the mothers and fathers of the English Reformation, we too should be emboldened to spread our Anglican faith to all that we meet.

In the Anglican Diocese of Erie we have churches all over the spectrum of Anglicanism — from low church to high church, from Evangelical to Anglo-Catholic — but one thing is absolutely certain: we are a diocese that embraces the teachings of the English Reformation. We have been gifted great tools of our faith in the Book of Common Prayer, the Thirty-Nine Articles, and the Book of Homilies, and in embracing our reformed heritage contained in these great documents, we are able to live into our mission in the Anglican Diocese of Erie of *Living the Gospel, Anchored in Christ, Reaching the World, and Serving with Compassion*.

Because of our foundation as Reformed Christians — who did not leave the Roman Church, but instead reformed it into what we know as Anglicanism — we are able to live in the fullness of the Church as Christ intended, and in doing so we maintain our identity in both the protestant and catholic stream of the Church. Holding true to this and embracing the *via media* has set our missionary diocese on a path of growth, and by working together I know that we are going to accomplish great things and continue to keep the flame of the English Reformation alive.

*Almighty God, you gave your servants Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer boldness to confess the Name of our Saviour Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

I remain your humble servant in Christ, ✠ Brent