The Vicar of Bray On a Cruise Ship?

Years ago I first read the following satirical English verse about a minister who adjusts his faith to political demands. Symon Symonds, the vicar of the English village of Bray, served under Henry VIII, Edward VI, Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth. During those years he was twice a Catholic and twice a Protestant.

In good King Charles’ golden days, when loyalty no harm meant,
A zealous high churchman was I, and so I gained preferment.
To teach my flock, I never missed
Kings are by God appointed
And damned be he who dare resist or touch the Lord’s anointed.

When royal James usurped the throne, and popery came in fashion,
The penal laws I hooted down, and read the Declaration.
The Church of Rome, I found, did fit
Full well my constitution
And I had been a Jesuit, but for the Revolution.

When William was our King declared, to ease the nation’s grievance,
With this new wind about I steered, and swore to him allegiance.
Old principles I did revoke
Set conscience at a distance,
Passive obedience was a joke, a jest was non-resistance.

When Royal Anne became our queen, the Church of England’s glory,
Another face of things was seen, and I became a Tory.
Occasional conformists base
I blamed their moderation;
And thought the Church in danger was from such prevarication.

When George in pudding time came o’er, and moderate men looked big, sir
My principles I changed once more, and I became a Whig, sir.
And thus preferment I procured
From our new Faith’s Defender,
And almost every day abjured the Pope and the Pretender. 

The illustrious house of Hanover and Protestant succession
To these I do allegiance swear—while they can hold possession.
For in my faith and loyalty
I never more will falter,
And George my lawful king shall be—until the times do alter.

Chorus

And this be law, I shall maintain
Until my dying day, sir
That whatsoever king may reign,
Still I’ll be the Vicar of Bray, sir.

    Asked about his switches, the Vicar said: “If I changed my religion, I am sure I kept true to my principle, which is to live and die the Vicar of Bray.”

     Recently the wife of a former student called. She was crying. The short version of her story is this: Invited to be part of the first group to receive a new degree in “Women’s Ministries” at one of our SBC seminaries, Penny was preparing for ministry.

     Last summer the couple was invited to be Chaplains aboard a cruise ship—“a time of ministry I shall never forget.” When Penny returned to seminary studies, her women’s ministry professor talked to her privately.

     The gist of the conversation was this: “To be a Chaplain on a Cruise Ship is like being a Pastor—that is for men only. You must never do that again! In addition, you could not have picked a worse time for our seminary (the SBC BFM 2000 statement was imminent, with her husband’s name attached ). Therefore, you must not discuss this matter, in class or outside, with anyone.”

     Feeling sad, rejected, lonely, and confused, Penny sought counsel. She discovered how recent SBC decisions about women were being applied. Determined to do God’s will, regardless of the personal cost, Penny decided to share her story (“Woman Overboard,” Mutuality, Fall, 2001) and to pursue her call to ministry wherever that call leads.

     Although you won’t meet the Vicar of Bray on your Cruise Ship, you might just see Chaplain Penny with a Bible in hand and a love for ministry in her heart.      JET

Updated Wednesday, January 05, 2005