ZAC HICKS LEAVING THE ADVENT
The Rev. Craig Smalley, interim dean of the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Advent, in Birmingham AL, released a letter this afternoon, via Advent Communications, announcing the departure of the Rev. Zac Hicks from the Advent. Hicks's last day will be Sunday, 15 August 2021. The parish will hold a reception for Hicks and his family on that day. Find the letter here .
The letter did not provide any details on how this decision came about.
Hicks, a clergyman in an evangelical Presbyterian denomination, was hired several years ago as canon in charge of worship at the Advent. He did not gain Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church. For one, he led the "praise band" (the hootenanny band) which will remain for the time being as part of the 9:15 a.m. service, along with organ and choir.
One will recall that, upon the departure of the Rev. Andrew Pearson as dean, on May 16, Hicks produced a half-hour video denouncing Rite I in the Book of Common Prayer as "anti-Christ." He called for the continuation of Pearson's "Our Liturgy" in the Advent's Sunday morning worship services. The vestry refused Hicks and concluded the Covenant with Bishop Glenda Curry. The Covenant included provisions returning only prayer book worship to the cathedral services. Pearson's liturgy is to be phased out. Hicks's shocking video was soon deleted, but, at least as of recently, could still be found on the Internet.
Hicks's future remains unclear although Smalley indicated Hicks, his wife Abby, and their four children would remain in Birmingham for now. One can only wonder what the relationship between Hicks and Andrew Pearson will be as Pearson is busily building a new congregation in the Birmingham area.
I expect the departure of Pearson and Hicks will affect the Advent in two significant ways. In one, a certain but unknown number of Advent parishioners who were fondly attached to the two will leave the parish to follow Pearson in his new church. Although one cannot tell at this point how many people will quit the Advent, so far there does not seem to be a stampede out.
Perhaps most importantly, the theological tenor of the Advent is likely to move back toward the mainstream of the Episcopal Church. Pearson and Hicks had led the parish to the far evangelical edge, arguably beyond the edge, of Episcopalianism/Anglicanism in their zeal to move to more Protestant religion.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in the liturgy of the Holy Communion/Eucharist. Far evangelicals, and many Protestants, consider this service just a symbolic remembrance. However, in traditional Episcopal/Anglican religion, the Eucharist is much more than a remebrance. It is a transformative event. When the priest consecrates the bread and wine, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ becomes part of the elements. Communicants receive the Real Presence as they receive the bread and wine. All consecrated bread and wine must be consumed or held in reserve. What is held in reserve is placed in the Ambry (wall box) and the Sanctuary Lamp over it is lit to signal the Real Presence. I expect at the Advent we will see a return to the more mainstream norms common in the Episcopal/Anglican churches. If so, this will be the most consequential outcome of the personnel shakeup going on now.
