The Churches and Rites of Passage: Volume 59: (Studies in Church History)

Studies in Church History 59 addresses the historical development of life events to which the churches have responded with specific rites and ceremonies. The volume contributes to current discussion in life cycle history and the ongoing debate about 'rites of passage,' both ecclesiastical and secular. The major life cycle events, such as birth, marriage and death, are considered; so too are the churching or 'purification' of women after childbirth, confirmation and first communion, and ordination, as well as less widespread rites of passage, such as royal anointing and the renunciation of wealth. The twenty-two papers span Christian history and include contributions from Frances Knight, Thomas O'Loughlin, Elisabeth van Houts and Alexandra Walsham. Taken together, the articles offer clear evidence of the continuing potency of ecclesiastical rites of passage, as well as of their ability to be refashioned for the needs of successive generations of believers.

Table of Contents:
Preface; List of Contributors; List of Abbreviations; List of Illustrations; Introduction Frances Knight; 1. 'Rites of Passage' and the Writing of Church History: Reflections upon our Craft in the Aftermath of van Gennep Thomas O'Loughlin; 2. The Origins of Royal Anointing (President's Prize) Conor O'Brien; 3. Orthodoxy and Authority: Rites of Passage in the Vita Wilfridi and the Vitae Cuthberti Calum Platts; 4. The Renunciation of Wealth as a Rite of the 'poor' and 'perfect': Bede and his Successors Zachary Guiliano; 5. Making Christians in the Umayyad Levant: Anastasius of Sinai and Christian Rites of Maintenance Benjamin Hansen; 6. The Blessing of the Wedding Bedchamber in North-Western Europe, c.950–c.1200 Elisabeth van Houts; 7. Recording Liturgical and Sacramental Rites of Passage in Pre-Reformation English Parishes R. N. Swanson; 8. Coming of Age in Faith: The Rite of Confirmation after the English Reformation Alexandra Walsham; 9. 'The Child's blood should lye at his Door': Local Divisions over Baptismal Rites during the English Civil War and the Interregnum Fiona McCall; 10. Wedding Sermons in Early Modern England Ralph Houlbrooke; 11. Clerical Old Age and the Forming of Rites of Passage in Early Modern Scotland Chris R. Langley; 12. The Impact of Legislative Reform on Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1836–52, with particular reference to London W. M. Jacob; 13. The 1836 Marriage Act and the Early Nineteenth-Century Unitarian Campaign to change English Marriage Law David L. Wykes; 14. Rites and Wrongs: Anglican Ceremonies after Legal Weddings, 1837–57 Rebecca Probert; 15. SPCK Tracts and Rites of Passage in the Long Nineteenth Century (Presidential Address) Frances Knight; 16. 'Does God mind?': Reshaping Chinese Christian Rites of Passage, c.1877–1940 (Kennedy Prize) Tim Yung; 17. 'First' or 'Solemn Communion' Images in France, 1885–2021 Françoise Deconinck-Brossard; 18. The Sick Call and the Drama of Extreme Unction in Irish Folklore Salvador Ryan; 19. From Necrology to Eulogy? A Preacher memorializes his Father-in-Law Clyde Binfield; 20. 'To our earthly view Dietrich is dead': George Bell's Eulogy for Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dan D. Cruickshank; 21. E. L. Mascall and the Anglican Opposition to the Ordination of Women as Priests, 1954–78 Peter Webster; 22. Negotiating Dissonance between the Religious, the Civil and the Legal in Anglican Same-Sex Weddings Rémy Bethmont.