Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Daily Mail Effect: What Really Happened to the Creed at Sandhurst?

There was a massive hoo-hah a couple of weeks ago based on reports that the chaplain at Sandhurst had banned the Apostles Creed. Since the original story had come from the Daily M*il, normally no great friend of the truth or of the CofE, I was a bit suspicious.

Now this appears on the Army Rumours Service:

The ACA I deal with for my application process was at RMAS last week and said that the chaplain has not banned the creed, he did it this one Sunday to create a universal service and that it was only a 'one off'

I'm not sure what a 'universal service' is, hopefully not a 'universalists service'. The chaplain also seems quite sensible, having (according to the Army page) pulled 'I Vow to Thee My Country' from use in worship. As as someone who omits the Apostles Creed from acts of worship on at least a monthly basis, I'm far more guilty than the Sandhurst chaplain here.

But not as guilty as the Daily Mail (who seem to have dropped the original news item from their website, though if you search for 'Sandhurst' on their site it comes out as the top search result).

Thanks to my source, you know who you are.

6 comments:

  1. Not sure that completely solves things - as I mentioned on Cranmer's site, if he dropped the creed on a Sunday in a parish he would be breaking the law.

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  2. It does mean that the Daily Mail is wrong in both
    a) what it claims has happened and
    b) the interpretation it puts on the events.

    It depends what he did: if he replaced the creed with a simple statement of faith as use, for example, in the baptism service, that would be ok. We do that as a matter of course.

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  3. Sam, shame on you. Technically, "a Creed or authorized Affirmation of Faith may be omitted except at the principal service on Sundays" (CW main volume p27). Write out 100 times, "I must read the rubrics"

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  4. I was under the impression that it _was_ the principal service. I've read the rubrics, I just haven't read the Daily Mail article...

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  5. 'Breaking the law'? Wow, you guys have a lot more law in the C of E than we do in the ACC...

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  6. Reading the Daily Mail, is of course, a sin, and reading the rubrics a virtue by way of the merit accrued through suffering. So I quite understand your comment, Sam

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