The Ritual Movement, by James Galloway Cowan 64741 [Subtitle: Three plain sermons preached at St. John the Evangelist's, Hammersmith] [Link: http://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/7/4/64741 ] [Files: 64741-0.txt; 64741-h.htm] For those wishing to know: in the early 1800's Church of England services were very plain, with no special robes, choirs, ceremony etc. That was challanged by the Tractarian movement which amongst other things wanted to see a lot of older ritual restored. When Rev. Cowan (1828-1875) decided to tackle the subject in these 1866 sermons, there were heated debates in the local newspapers, special interest groups at each other's throats etc. Cowan rejected blanket ritual practises but in a surprise move (given he wasn't known as a ritualist) he defended quite a bit of the Ritualist Movement on the basis of the Bible and the established Church of England written practise. In particular he thought the church could do with better decoration and more money being spent on it. Unlike some of his other topical sermons, this is three sermons togethers, each following on from the previous one. All the best, David, Sunny England (now night so cannot see)