“Welcome to the Church of England... cake or death?”

September 27, 2020 4:22 AM

In which a photograph for ordinations deep in the heart of Somerset at Wells Cathedral, which is explained, sparks off a Twitter thread of some derivation and (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) analogy and metaphor. Just out of view, and the post title.
posted by Wordshore (27 comments total)

The "out of view" link is strange since those are Anglican (and thus Protestant) priests, right?
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 4:58 AM on September 27, 2020 [1 favorite]

The "out of view" link is strange since those are Anglican (and thus Protestant) priests, right?

In the spirit of the twitter thread and meme, rather than ecclesiastical accuracy, it's fine.
posted by Wordshore at 5:03 AM on September 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

Ahem. That would be an ecclesiastical matter. *cough
posted by RandomInconsistencies at 5:32 AM on September 27, 2020 [6 favorites]

Ah, I was hoping "The Bishop" would be in there. That made my day (and made me miss Terry Jones).
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:39 AM on September 27, 2020 [6 favorites]

The "out of view" link is strange since those are Anglican (and thus Protestant) priests, right?

I’m sure there are others here who can speak to this with greater knowledge than I but I always understood it depends on what view you take. Some would say that Protestantism is a catch-all for any western church that is neither Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, and therefore Anglicans are Protestants. Others would say that it is catholic and reformed and effectively splits the difference due to its history (it was not founded due to theological disputes with the Catholic Church), some of its unique features such as the Book of Common Prayer (in which it refers to itself as catholic), and so on. Some of this depends on whether you’re talking about High Church or Low Church Anglicanism, with the former being closer to Catholic than to other Protestant denominations and the latter being fairly mainstream Protestant.
posted by slkinsey at 6:19 AM on September 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

No mention of The Bishop and The Warlord?
posted by Fuchsoid at 6:23 AM on September 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

The "out of view" link is strange since those are Anglican (and thus Protestant) priests, right?

Do Calvinists in your area not move like that?
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:55 AM on September 27, 2020 [3 favorites]

Responding to the dancing Protestants was this tweet:

They are Protestants. Also Catholics. The Church of England occupies a theological superposition.

Which is...pretty accurate. The CofE was a compromise church, created by Catholic and Calvinist bishops and overseen by a Queen who didn't have a choice (under Catholic rules, she was illegitimate), but who most suspect was basically Catholic in her religious inclinations.
posted by jb at 6:57 AM on September 27, 2020

The "out of view" link is strange since those are Anglican (and thus Protestant) priests, right?

When you're a priest
You're a priest all the way
From your first baptism
To your last call to pray

When you're a priest
If the spit hits the fan
You got bishops around
And an apostasy ban
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:59 AM on September 27, 2020 [15 favorites]

In addition to their theological superposition, at the end of the service, Anglicans give you cake (and/or cookies). That's way better than denominations like Free Methodists who don't feed you anything.

Of course, that's not as good as some synagogues - at a good synagogue, you'll get a whole meal after a service. So that makes Judaism a more satisfying religion.

(I rate religions/denominations based on the food provided.)
posted by jb at 7:03 AM on September 27, 2020 [6 favorites]

Do Calvinists in your area not move like that?

Remember, no touching. Because touching can lead to sex, and sex can lead to dancing.
posted by hearthpig at 7:09 AM on September 27, 2020 [12 favorites]

Indeed, In These Times it is important to leave room for at least two of the three Persons of the Trinity.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:20 AM on September 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

The Eddie Izzard reference is... *chef's kiss*
posted by PhineasGage at 8:49 AM on September 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

They look to me as if they're waiting for their music video director's cue before snapping into a really impressive dance sequence.
posted by Paul Slade at 9:26 AM on September 27, 2020 [5 favorites]

(I rate religions/denominations based on the food provided.)

You are going to love Sikhism. You don't even have to go to a service to attend the meal.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:28 AM on September 27, 2020 [15 favorites]

in which it refers to itself as catholic

Small-c catholic just means "universal," not "subordinate to or related to the Roman church."
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 10:26 AM on September 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

(The Eddie Izzard sketch from which "Cake or Death" is derived, I believe)
posted by rongorongo at 10:30 AM on September 27, 2020 [4 favorites]

Last year I asked a Canadian Anglican if they were Protestant and they were *shocked* at the question because Anglicans are *definitely Catholic* (just not Roman Catholic).
posted by heatherlogan at 12:01 PM on September 27, 2020

Anglicans are Catholics according to the branch theory.
posted by Fukiyama at 12:26 PM on September 27, 2020

Dara Ó Briain expands on the differences between Catholics and Protestants (mild feckin' swearing).

As a part-time Druid, born Protestant but sent to Catholic schools, I was recently taken to mass by a Catholic. Apart from all the kneeling it was okay, actually; a very skimmed-down service because covid; everyone wore masks except the pope-vicar-dude; no hymns (the relative lack of singing is the one part of Catholic practice that I am good for). Alas, unlike my CoE church back in Leicestershire, there was no baking to nibble on afterwards. Next time I'm packing good ol' Lardy Cake.
posted by Wordshore at 1:44 PM on September 27, 2020 [5 favorites]

The CofE cake is also traditionally accompanied by tea from an urn, weak instant coffee, or watered-down orange squash.
posted by Fuchsoid at 5:19 PM on September 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

A lot of Anglicans (and some Methodists) get VERY OFFENDED if you refer to them as Protestants, because that was the Lutheran and Calvinist schism from the Catholic Church and they are a TOTALLY DIFFERENT SCHISM.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:08 PM on September 27, 2020 [5 favorites]

Do Calvinists in your area not move like that?

It's easier if you think of 'theological superposition' as moving diagonally across ecclesia.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:20 PM on September 27, 2020 [2 favorites]

All the English dioceses compete every year to get their ordination photograph on the front cover of the Church Times. In past years this has led to increasingly ridiculous photo-ops, with dabbing deacons showing up alongside priests leaping, baring their knees and even wearing L-plates.

My personal favourite is this 2018 photo from the Diocese of Liverpool where the Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie (he of the classic archbishops-as-crisps twitter thread) stands with feet firmly on the ground, glaring at the camera, while all around him his fellow-priests leap into the air, gurning like idiots.
posted by verstegan at 12:58 AM on September 28, 2020 [3 favorites]

@PDSturman: Just imagining the cheese rolling crowd tumbling over the Gloucestershire border towards them. STRIKE!!
posted by Wordshore at 4:50 AM on September 28, 2020 [2 favorites]

I misguidedly clicked on some links and now Twitter thinks I'm some sort of rabidly conservative Catholic despite not actually having a position on the Papal succession or, indeed, a clear grasp on the difference between a monstrance and a paten.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:31 AM on September 28, 2020 [2 favorites]

This is either an OK Go video, or a Katherine Kurtz "Deryni" novel.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:44 PM on September 28, 2020