Thurs, July 27, 2023
William Reed Huntington
The Rev. anne williamson
John 17:20–26
Looking up to heaven, Jesus said, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Today’s gospel takes us back to the upper room on the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. The disciples are gathered, Jesus has washed their feet and in John’s Gospel we have Jesus offering to the disciples his final words, known as the Farewell Discourse, Chapters 14-17. Our reading today is at the end of the Discourse, and Jesus is praying…for himself, for his disciples and for us! Jesus is praying that his followers will be one and that prayer for unity exemplifies the life’s work of William Reed Huntington, 1838-1909 who we commemorate today.
William Huntington was the sixth rector of Grace Church in New York City, a leader in the Episcopal Church and influential in the Anglican Communion. He was an early proponent of women’s ministry, championing the return of the ancient order of deaconesses and achieving canonical authorization for that new order as well as setting up a theological training course for women.
Huntington had a ministry of reconciliation and was instrumental in holding The Episcopal Church together in a time of great strife and tension in the late 19th century, during a schism that lead to the formation of the Reformed Episcopal Church. It has been said that “Christian unity was Huntington’s great passion throughout his ministry.” (Holy Women, Holy Men). He wrote a book in 1870, The Church Idea, which outlined his vision of the essence of Christian unity. The concepts of unity in The Church Ideaformed the basis for what ultimately became The “Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral” which was adopted by the Anglican Communion in 1888. This historical document can be found on pages 876–878 of the Book of Common Prayer.
William Reed Huntington was one of ‘these’ that Jesus speaks of, one of the people who would shine the light of Christ in his generation and seek the unity of all believers. In addition to his spirit of generosity and passion for ecumenism, he was also a scholar and participated in the 1892 revision of the prayer book. This prayer attributed to Huntington is found in prayers for Holy Week, and Fridays in the Morning Prayer service:
A Collect for Fridays
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
William Reed Huntington was a person of faith and a person of prayer, dedicated to walking in the way of the cross. How might God be calling us to do the same?
Blessings on your day. Anne