St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

At St. Paul’s Parish:

The July issue of St. Paul’s Epistle, our monthly newsletter, is available on line as a .PDF file readable with Abobe Reader by PC users and with Preview by Mac users.

Today’s news in the Episcopal Church – Episcopal Life Online.

About Today’s Commemoration:

Today is a feria on the calendar of the Episcopal Church. Commemorated yesterday in the Church of England were the father and son duo of John and Henry Venn, 19th Century priests who are known as “Evangelical Divines”.

Exciting Holiness – 2007, the Church of England’s book of commemorations, includes the following information about the Venns:

John Venn was born at Clapham in March 1759, where his father, Henry Venn Senior, was a curate. Later that year, Henry took his family to Huddersfield, where he had been appointed vicar, and they remained there until 1771. John was educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and became rector of Little Dunham in Norfolk and eventually of Clapham in 1792. He was one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society in 1797. It was here that he also became a central figure in the group of religious philanthropists known as the Clapham Sect. John was also an active participator in the movement for the abolition of the slave trade.

John’s son, Henry Venn, was born at Clapham in 1796. After his time in Cambridge, he was ordained and held various livings, but in 1846 he devoted himself entirely to the work of the Church Missionary Society. He was secretary for thirty-two years and his organising gifts and sound judgement made him the leading spirit in the counsels of the Society. In his later years, he was recognised as a leader of the evangelical body of the Church of England. John Venn died at Clapham on this day in 1813 and his son Henry died at Mortlake on 13 January 1873.

A prayer for today:

The following prayer for their commemoration is suggested in Exciting Holiness:

Eternal God, you called John and Henry Venn to proclaim your glory in a life of prayer and pastoral zeal: keep the leaders of your Church faithful and bless your people through their ministry, that the Church may grow into the full stature of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.