Seeds Scattered and Sown:
Studies in the History of Canadian Anglicanism
Edited by Norman Knowles
Toronto, ABC Publishing, 2008, $34.95.
There has been a dearth of solid and sound books on the history of the Canadian Anglican way in the last 30-40 years. There have been ideological tellings of the tale and piecemeal pamphlets, but rare has been the book that takes the national drama and unfolds it well.
The publication of Seeds Scattered and Sown: Studies in the History of Canadian Anglicanism ends such a dire drought and brings fresh rain to the parched and cracked soil. Norman Knowles should be offered many an accolade for beginning the process of retelling the Canadian Anglican tale from its beginnings to the present time.
Seeds Scattered and Sown is divided into three sections: 1) Foundations: Colonial Anglicanism, 2) Building a National Church, 1867-1945, and 3) Canadian Anglicanism since 1945.
The former Archbishop of Canada, Michael Peers, penned a foreword, and the appendix in the book fills in the details, for those interested, of all the Primates, Metropolitans, and Diocesan Bishops of the Anglican Church in Canada. There is no doubt that much hard historic work has been done on this book, and the fruit is abundant.
Each of the Sections has three articles within it, written by different authors, that walk the attentive reader to greater depths in the time period being covered. The journey from "Foundations" to "Building a National Church" to the many challenges that have confronted the Anglican Church of Canada since 1945 are honestly faced and not flinched from in the slightest. This makes the tome a fine and fit read.
Section 3, I fear, is somewhat marred by a lack of significant balance. There is no doubt that the voices of both "Aboriginal Peoples" and "Women in Canadian Anglicanism" do need to be heard, but to upstage these special groups while downplaying the grander and fuller Anglican tale makes for a misread of history.
William Crockett, in Section III, was left to describe the rest of the large mountain of Canadian Anglicanism, and, as such, much was missed. Needless to say, the history of the Canadian Anglican way since World War II is a large book in itself. In short, Section III needs fuller treatment. It is a motherlode for some budding historian.
Three of the most important Anglican public intellectuals in Canada in the 20th century (Frederick Scott, Stephen Leacock and George Grant) are touched on but never engaged in much depth and detail in this book, also.
It is the Red Toryism of such intellectuals/activists that, if heard, could break the logjam of our present divisions and malaise within the Anglican Church of Canada.
In sum, Seeds Scattered and Sown is a much needed book on Canadian Anglicanism, but it is but a primer. There is a desperate need to scatter and sow many more seeds if the historic forest of the Anglican way is to be fully seen and understood.