THE P
RTAL
Edward King
by Keith Robinson
March 2012 Page 7
Anglican Luminary
Edward King was born on 29 December 1829 into the very heart of the English church establishment , second son of the Archdeacon of Rochester , and grandson of a bishop of Rochester . After graduating from Oriel College Oxford , he was ordained in 1854 . Four years later he became Chaplain and Lecturer at Cuddesdon Theological College , and he served as Principal from 1863 to 1874 . In that year he was appointed Regius Professor of Pastoral Theology , and a Canon of Christ Church .
St Stephen ’ s House
King found himself a sort of second generation member of the Oxford Movement , and maintained close friendships with several members of it , especially Edward Pusey and Hugh Parry Liddon . He was the principal founding member of the new Anglo-Catholic theological college , St Stephen ’ s House , in 1876 .
In a masterly stroke , King was appointed to the Bishopric of Lincoln in 1885 . He immediately abandoned the rambling old palace of Riseholme , three miles north of the city , and moved into a smaller house in Lincoln itself . There he showed himself to be an outstandingly gracious and spiritual pastor to all his people , clergy , and rich and poor alike .
However , there was still a good deal of opposition to the ideals of the catholic movement in the Church of England , ( that characteristic turns out not to be a feature of our own times only !) and several organisations were set up to frustrate its purposes . It was through the auspices of one of these , the “ Church Association ”, that four men of his own diocese were able to bring a case against him for “ ritual ” improprieties .
accusations
There was considerable uncertainty as to who had the right to hear the case . The Archbishop of Canterbury , Edward White Benson , was not at all sure that he had , but upon being told that he was indeed the competent authority he proceeded to hear it .
of the Privy Council , but it substantially concurred with the Archbishop ’ s judgment .
The case referred to just two occasions when the Bishop had celebrated the Eucharist in churches of his own diocese . The accusations may astonish us , but are surely worth recording .
astonishing accusations
There were eight points in all : mixing water with wine in the chalice ; admin istering the mixed chalice to the communicants ; the use of ceremonial ablutions ; adopting the eastward position at the Holy Table ( a vast amount of research convinced the Archbishop that the rubrics were deliberately ambiguous on this point ); so standing that the “ manual acts ” were not visible to the communicants ; allowing two candles to be alight on a shelf behind the Holy Table ; permitting the hymn “ Agnus Dei ” to be sung ; and “ making the sign of the cross in the air with his hand ”!
Poor Bishop King !
Yet the Lincoln Judgement is famously remembered as a landmark in the history of the Anglican catholic movement . Those who allowed themselves to see beyond such ritual excesses , found a holy and humble pastor , willing to go to great personal lengths to bring his people nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ , and the very fine bronze figure of him , which stands today to his memory in his cathedral church at Lincoln , is an eloquent testimony to his work and witness .
Because the Archbishop found mostly in King ’ s favour , the complainants appealed to a Judicial Committee
Edward King died on the 8th of March in 1910 .