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The excerpt printed below comes form the 'Cheltenham Examiner' of the 11th September,1867 and has been sent in by Mr.P. Smith of Cheltenham. We are very grateful to him
RITUALISM AT ALCESTER
Through the failing health of the rector of this parish, the Rev.T.A.Crow, it has lately been deemed necessary to appoint a curate to officiate in his stead. The newly-appointed curate, the Rev.G.E.Adams, officiated for the first time on Sunday the first inst. He conducted the service in the Ritualistic mode. The opinion of the congregation was evident by their leaving the church in large numbers before the sevice was concluded. On Thursday last a meeting was held in the Town Hall "to take into consideration the mode in which the services were conducted in the parish church and to determine what steps should be taken in the matter." The meeting was well attended and the chair was occupied by Mr.William Smallwood, (High Bailif) of the town. The following resolutions were unanimously passed:
1. "That this meeting is decidedly reverse to everything approaching Ritualistic or Puseyite practices, and it deeply deplores their having been, on Sunday last, introduced and adopted during the performance of divine worship at the parish church of Alcester."
2. "That this meeting much regrets that the rector of the parish church knowing, as he did by past experience, the feelings and wishes of his parishioners on the subject, should have been induced to allow their introduction and adoption; and it pledges itself to memorialise the Bishop of the diocese, and to use every other lawful means in its power, if necessary, to prevent a continuance of practices so objectionable to the Protestant parishioners of this town and neighbourhood. A copy of these resolutions was ordered to be sent to the rector. The usual vote of thanks to the chairman was passed
We already know about the Rev.G.E.Adams but had no details, so we are particularly grateful to Mr.Smith. Since receiving the extract, we looked up the 'Stratford Herald' for the 13th September 1867, where the report was in similar terms, suggesting that the reporter was the same in both cases. The 'Herald' report, however, has the added words 'the Ritualistic mode, now so generally disproved of' On another page of the 'Herald was an article from 'The. London Times' on the practices of the 'Ritualists'
The press articles and evident outrage need some explanation. The 'Oxford Movement' started in Oxford around the 1830s. It attempted to emphasise the Catholic nature of the Anglican Church; this it did by a series of 'Tracts' , with the result that the movement was called 'Tractananism' . Kebl e, Pusey and Newman wore among its founders hence the reference to 'Puseyites' . The Oxford Movements attempts to show the importance of the seven sacraments and the obligations of the faithful were also accompanied by the use of traditional catholic ceremonial: it was the latter aspect which apparently upset the Alcester congregation, though by 1867 all manifestations of Tractarinism tended to come under the taunt of
'Ritualism'. The press reports give no indication of the dreadful actions of Rev.G.E.Adams. In the 'Times' article, the following are regarded as symptomatic of Tractarian practices: the prominence of the 'communion table' ; numerous services being provided; the wearing of coloured stoles; the sign of the Cross over the water in Baptism; churches open all day long; encouragement of confession; the inscription to the Holy Trinity before sermons.
That the Oxford Movement had a great effect on the Church of England is very obvious: the things for which it fought now occupy a central place in most cathedrals and parish churches. The Rev. G.E.Adams would feel quite at home today at Alcester church. In 1867, the Alcester area was what we later came to call 'low church'. The Rev. Richard Seymour of Kinwarton, who became a Tractarian after his arrival there, having been a profound evangelical ,talks in his diary of what a hard slog it was in the area propagating such catholic ideas as frequent commumnion, fasting, confession, and other universal christian practices.
The 'Herald' reported on October 4th 1867 that an Alcester deputation visited the Bishop of Worcester and that he advised the curate to resign, which he did. It seems that the Bishop had not been influenced either by the Tracts or the Tractarian clergy.
What a pity that we do not know the 'ritualistic mode' which the curate practised; perhaps he wore a surplice? -- regarded by some as selling ones soul to Rome; perhaps he bowed to the altar? Who knows? Whatever it was, it touched a puritan nerve which Alcester had had since the Civil War and Commonwealth.