Bishop's Oratory, Orlando | March 20, 2014
Channel: Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida
Date: 2014-03-21

THOMAS KEN
BISHOP AND NON-JUROR (21 MAR 1711)

Readings:

Psalm 145:8-13
Deuteronomy 26:16-19 
Philippians 4:4-9  
Luke 6:17-23

Thomas Ken in the course of his lifetime was both rewarded and punished for his firm adherence to principle. He was born in 1637 and reared by his half-sister Anne and her husband the well-known angler Izaak Walton. He became a clergyman and served for a year at the Hague as chaplain to Mary, Princess of England and Queen of Holland, niece of King Charles II of England and wife of the Dutch King William of Orange. During this year he publicly rebuked King William for his treatment of his wife the said Mary, which may be why he was chaplain there for only a year. Upon his return to England, he was made Royal Chaplain to King Charles.