Ah, a battle between an Archbishop of Canterbury and a king. That seems rather familiar. But the real question is, which island will emerge victorious in this matchup between William Laud and Kamehameha? England or Hawaii? Whoever it is, the winner will advance to face David Oakerhater in the next round.
Yesterday's battle between Thecla and John Keble led to some respectfully passionate debate in the comment section. In fact, we set a record for most comments in a first round pairing with over 300. Impressive! In the end, Thecla prevailed 58% to 42% meaning we'll be hearing more about those ravenous seals in the Saintly Sixteen when she squares off against Brendan the Navigator.
William Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633–1640 and remains among the most controversial figures in the history of Anglicanism. Heralded by many as a martyr and condemned by others as a tyrant and bigot, Laud was among the most visible proponents of a uniquely English brand of anti-Calvinism in the seventeenth-century Church. As such, he was in near constant conflict with English Puritans of his day.
Even before his elevation to the See of Canterbury, Laud was somewhat of a liturgical and ecclesiastical innovator. During his term as dean of Gloucester, he caused great consternation (as so many priests throughout the ages have) by moving furniture. Laud moved the altar table in Gloucester to the east wall — the location typical of most altars before the Reformation. This move brought upon him the ire of his bishop and local Puritans, suspicious of a reintroduction of a Roman Catholic custom.
Laud’s movement of the altar was a liturgical manifestation of his theological persuasion that the Church of England followed in unbroken succession from the pre-Reformation Roman Catholic Church in England, although under the supreme governance of the king and the oversight of bishops. This belief led him to stridently impose liturgical uniformity throughout the church, seeking that all things be done “decently and in good order” in the “beauty of holiness.” His increased emphasis on the celebration of the sacraments was often viewed as contrary to Reformation doctrines of salvation through faith alone. An abortive attempt to impose The Book of Common Prayer on Scotland in 1637 marked the apex of his time as Archbishop of Canterbur y. By 1638 Scottish leaders pledged to resist the new prayer book and uphold Puritan practice by force, and by the end of the year, no bishops remained in Scotland.
Laud was sincere in his beliefs but dangerously out of touch with common persuasions in England of his time. His fierce defense of the Church’s privileges and prerogatives came at the same time as a growing sentiment against the divine right of kings, and his strident rule as Archbishop of Canterbury in favor of liturgical uniformity won him few friends. By 1641 he was impeached and carried away to theTower of London.
He was sentenced to death in 1645. At his execution, he said, “The Lord receive my soul, and have mercy upon me, and bless this kingdom with peace and charity, that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst them.”
Collect for William Laud
Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like your servant William Laud, we may live in your fear, die in your favor, and rest in your peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Kamehameha
On January 11, 1855 Hawaii crowned a new, young monarch — King Kamehameha IV.
With his wife Queen Emma, Kamehameha set forth to transform the Hawaiian islands by offering his people a new way, new healthcare methods, and a new faith — Christianity.
Kamehameha was born on February 9, 1834. As a young man, he toured the United States, Central America, and Europe, and he discovered Christianity — and Anglicanism in particular. He was taken with the liturgy and core beliefs of Anglicanism. In 1860 Kamehameha and Emma petitioned the Church of England to send Anglican missionaries to Hawaii. Three priests arrived on October 11, 1862. Kamehameha initiated one of his greatest contributions to his people — translating The Book of Common Prayer into the native language. He led his people as a practicing, dedicated Anglican and began a building campaign for a cathedral and a school.
A devastating smallpox epidemic in the Islands prompted Kamehameha and Emma to go into the communities and witness firsthand the devastation from leprosy, influenza, and other foreign diseases that were spreading through the native population. They embarked on a fundraising campaign to build a new hospital, and even today, their commitment to the health of their people is evident. Queen’s Hospital is named for Emma.
Kamehameha’s death on November 30, 1863, didn’t stop the work and ministry that was underway. Emma continued her husband’s dedication and charity by establishing more schools and churches and by tending to the sick and poor.
Although Kamehameha died a young man, the impacts of his Christian ideals and dedicated work on Hawaii are still witnessed today. Kamehameha and Emma are honored throughout Hawaii and are depicted in stained glass windows at St. Andrew’s, the church they helped found.
His feast day is celebrated in conjunction with his wife, Queen Emma, on November 28.
Collect for Kamehameha
O Sovereign God, who raised up Kamehameha and Emma to be rulers in Hawaii, and inspired and enabled them to be diligent in good works for the welfare of their people and the good of your Church: Receive our thanks for their witness to the Gospel; and grant that we, with them, may attain to the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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266 comments on “William Laud vs. Kamehameha”
Archbishop Laud was about to arrest my 10th or 11th great-grandfather, an Anglican priest but a dissenter, so Peter Bulkeley fled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 to save his skin. Very satisfying to vote for King Kamehameha and uphold the family honor.
Although I love high church, I can't do Laud. His anti-Calvanist tunnel vision led to cruelty (cropping ears and facial branding) and death. Gotta go with Kamehameha: he looked after his people. When he couldn't get funding for health care from his Legislature, he raised the money privately and publicly. Yup, gotta be Kamehameha.
When presented with this choice today in chapel, the Middle Schoolers of St. Paul's Episcopal Day School, Kansas City, MO, voted overwhelmingly in favor of Kamehameha. They were particularly swayed by the king's travel for his people and his establishment of schools and hospitals on their behalf. William Laud, it was pointed out to me, didn't really travel very far at all!
As a graduate of the University of Hawaii, Manoa, I have to vote for Kam IV. As much as enjoy the rituals of the church and the Book of Common Prayer, he was a bully in his imposition of them. Didn't deserve beheading though.
This was a no-brainer for me. How can one not vote for a man who wants to better his people. Besides, I loved James Michner's book "Hawaii." I voted for Kamehameha.
Someone mentioned that a vote for Kamehameha was a "sentimental" one. I disagree. He and Emma were Christians by choice and followed in Christ's path to a remarkable degree. They practiced a compassionate Christianity. In my view, Laud practiced the familiar hierarchical way, believing in his rightness and focusing on "doing church right", which to me has never been very important. I'm glad to vote for the King.
i don't think feeling sorry for someone is worthy of a vote. Kahmehameha it is!
Rulers who cared about their people vs. moving furniture. This wasn't hard to choose. the king of course.
While I admire Bishop Loud, Kamehameha made a huge impact on Hawaii, and I went to Google and found The Cathedral of St. Andrew:
http://www.thecathedralofstandrew.org/
This convinced me that I should vote for Kamehameha.
Bring on the saintly luau! Kamehameha.
Several who voted for the Archbishop noted they did so because he was "High Church." Let me note that the Church in Hawaiʻi was established by King Kamehameha IV with the assistance of Edward Bouverie Pusey (who help arrange for the Sisters of the Society of the Holy Trinity to come to the Islands to teach) and Bishop Samuel Wilberforce of Oxford. The first name of the Church in these Islands was "The Reformed Catholic Church in the Kingdom of Hawaii." Those with a High Church or Anglo-Catholic inclination can vote for the King in good conscience. You see the King's attitude in the following excerpt from his preface to his translation of the 1662 BCP into Hawaiian:
“THIS BOOK is a Book of Prayer, sanctioned by the Church of Christ as an assistant to devotion. Thus has the Church done from the earliest days, and what this book contains has reference to worship only. Its purpose is to teach men the way to pray truly to God; to point out all the rites sanctioned by His Church; the way in which those rites and the sacramental offices are to be observed and performed; to explain the fasts and holydays ordained by the Church, and to teach the priests of God their own particular functions and those things which they have together with the congregation to perform in the sight of God; to make one voice of prayer and supplication common to all, and so to establish the method and the words even of adoration that men need not only then worship in common when they worship in one congregation…. In this Book of Prayer we see all that she prescribes: we see what she rules and enforces; what her offices, her creeds, her system, her support in life, her promises in death; what things we ought to do and what to leave undone; which things being constantly before our eyes and dutifully followed, we may humbly hope to be indeed her children, and be strengthened to fulfil all the commandments of our blessed Lord, the One Head of the One Church, which now we gladly behold and gratefully acknowledge. This our Church is an off-shoot of that branch of the One true Church, established in Great Britain and called the Anglican Catholic Church, which is itself a branch of the One Apostolic and Holy Catholic Church founded for evermore by our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be all praise, power, glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
KAMEHAMEHA IV
HONOLULU,
June, 1863.
I can't believe that Laud even made the bracket - he sounds like a nasty customer.
....although I am sorry he lost his head......
Kamehameha and his honey Emma both exemplify for me what true Christian values are when lived out, no matter what your state in life. The Anglican pre-occupation with
liturgy, (has its place) should be far down the scale from spreading the Faith and serving the people of God.
Early missionaries to Hawaii developed a "Temperance Map" with the land of Self-Denial separated by the Sea of Intermperance and the Great Gulf of Wretchedness which led to the Sea of Anguish and the opposite shore of Ruin and the Land of Inebriation.
In praise of a furniture mover and stalwart of the good fight with RC's and friends of Calvin.
Here's to the old world.
Doesn't the Papal Bull make this all mute?
I think you mean "moot."
As a tenth great-grandson of William Brewster, who escaped England in 1620 because of the likes of Laud and his ilk to come to the new world, there is no way I would vote for William Laud. While I don't condone execution for the likes of William Laud, his actions and views were decidedly divisive and cut off large numbers of people from the church. King Kamehameha is much more likeable in my view!
Tough choice, since they both made their theological bones rejecting Calvinism. Even though your great-great-great and mine were buds, Phil Kober, I kinda like the Anglican liturgy the way it is today.
After reading more about KAMEHAMEHA in several different sources I was not so favorably impressed. Voted for Laud.
Kamehameha truly served the people of Hawaii. As a young man, before he became king, he spent weeks caring for Hawaiians who were dying from measles (!) brought to Hawaii by westerners. They were dying because they lacked the inherited immunity of the westerners. As King, he went door to door in the business community of Hawaii soliciting donations to build the Queen's Hospital, a major health center to this day.
It seems that (so far) when a saint of indigenous Western Hemisphere origins has appeared, they've won, and substantially so. Guess that will end if/when Kamehameha goes up against Oakerhater in the next round. Anyway, it strikes me that people are responding to these lesser-known, beautiful stories pretty strongly.
William Laud, of course. I'm thankful he saved the rituals that form the "outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace".
I'm afraid that I think Kamehameha did the wrong thing for his people. They were better off believing in God their way.
After reading about today's saints twice, "liturgical uniformity throughout the church" and "increased emphasis on the celebration of the sacraments" swayed my vote to Laud. There is comfort in being "at home" when visiting other Episcopal churches because of our liturgy and the celebration of the sacraments - particularly the Eucharist.
It was not easy being Archbishop of Canterbury, before or after the Reformation. Thomas a Becket, Simon of Sudbury, and William Laud all died for their beliefs.
The king was truly a saint, but Laud preserved the Church in dire times, so Laud got my vote, despite Star Chamber and the atrocities he condoned. Those calling for the United States to be declared a Christian nation should learn more about Laud and the Puritans. We do well to remember why our Founding Fathers separated Church and State.
I truly enjoy this Lent Madness. Today's candidates for me was an easier choice than the past five days because while both spread the Gospel message Kamehameha & his wife brought a new faith to the people of their nation in a way that was filled with compassion, kindness & love. Even through the difficult times his nation kept their faith. I feel they reached an abundance of people through heartfelt delivery.
What is it with Hawaiians and health care? Almost like they think God wants people to take care of their bodies as well as their souls.
Don't forget he gave these brothers and sisters of ours a peaceful and easy rhythm(with apologies to the Eagles).
To have had such a lasting impact in what became a brief life-time is truly inspiring. I think Kamehameha saw "the light" early on and acted on it - as did Emma.
If it wasn't for William Laud and his sacred martyrdom, Episcopalians today would not be composing collects for saints. We would be planning Tent Revivals and receiving a memorial testimony for Jesus once a month. Few have done more for Anglicanism.
Amen.
I hope I am not voting for a loser this time. I managed to get with the majority only once so far.
Of course, this doesn't mean I am wrong...
Being able to "worship in the beauty of holiness" is one of the keys reasons I am and remain decidedly Episcopalian. Kill-joy Puritans would never appeal to this ex-Catholic. My vote is for Wm. Laud.
There are no losers in Lent Madness. The more we learn about these Saints the better we are knowing them.
You are right. It's great to be learning about, learning from, and gaining inspiration from all 32.
Gnoshing on pineapple and voting for King Kamehameha today! Mahalo!