bath & wells: from the bishop
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS DIOCESAN SYNOD APRIL 19 2008.
Most mornings I wake up to the dulcet or strident tones , depending upon how you look at it, of either James Naughtie or John Humphreys. I am usually a Radio 4 person. From time to time, however, when the litany of death, tragedy ,gloom and doom get too much, I set the programme to Radio 3. This is always slightly risky because most editors seem to owe huge debts to an endless stream of screechy violin players scraping incessantly away at the most tuneless of tunes. By that stage only Wogan on Radio 2. will do – his unending inanities, mindless babbling and infectious giggles finally make it worth getting up.
Death and mindlessness seem to pre-occupy much of contemporary life. it seems to me that we are increasingly living in a society and a church that has forgotten how to think. We are increasingly passive as a society, accepting much that is imposed without protest, or without regard for justice and truth. In the church, to quote Thomas Merton, ‘we are not as honest as we think, and our doctrine is not as pure as we hope it is’, and yet we have a ministry and mission to this society, to offer the hope of salvation, a relationship with a living God, and a vision of a world transformed by love and grace.
In July we shall welcome a group of bishops and their spouses attending the Lambeth Conference, to Wells for the weekend. I trust that our welcome will be warm and our hospitality generous. The Lambeth Conference this year aims to prepare bishops for mission. It is an ambitious theme in the light of the controversy surrounding the conference. It is regrettable that many bishops will not be there, but will be holding an alternative Lambeth Conference in Jordan and Jerusalem. Many predict if not the break up of the Anglican Communion, then certainly an irrevocable fracturing. Not, we might suppose the most propitious basis for mission.
In his introduction to the Windsor Report, Archbishop Robin Eames wrote that ‘a process of dissent is not new to the Communion but it has never before been expressed with such force nor in ways which have been so accessible to international scrutiny.’ For most people the crisis appears to have been shaped by the debate on homosexuality. Undoubtedly issues of sexuality have played a part, but for many the issue is one of power, of a rejection of all that associates with colonialism, both that of the English, and more contemporarily of American hegemony.
Whatever the reason, what is at stake for many people is the threat, or perceived threat to the purity of the church. This is not new. There have always been those who have wanted some superior authority to punish those who are perceived as having deviant theological outlooks. To date the Anglican Communion has resisted setting up tribunals to try alleged deviant behaviour.
Thoughtful Anglicans understand why. After all within our church we maintain communion, even intimate communion with people from other traditions, and with views radically different from our own. The Church of England allows for the re-marriage of divorced persons, but equally respects those who in conscience cannot perform such ceremonies.
Also, we did not break off relationships with the Episcopal Church of the USA over the ordination of women because they reached that point sometime before we did. Nor have we done so because they ordain women bishops, and we do not. Yet.
We might observe too that many Evangelicals find the adoration of Mary and the worship of the saints offensive among certain Anglo Catholics. Equally, Anglo Catholics disdain some of the ecstatic expressions of charismatic Anglicans , but they maintain communion despite the differences.
Once we get into the need for legislation, or tribunals, monitoring or punishments, we lose the meaning of ‘communion.’ Over the years what has kept the Communion together is not institutional structures but mutual consultation, respect for differences, and commitment by church leaders to pray for and support each other. As the Anglican theologian Carlos Calvani has observed, ‘At best institutions maintain bilateral agreements while it is convenient for both of them. People stay in communion.’ And I believe that the greatest rite for such a communion is the meeting of men and women bishops at the Lambeth Conference.
It is my hope and prayer that the Lambeth Conference will forge a new vision for mission. It will not do so without controversy. Why? Simply, because the church never has from its foundation to the present day been without controversy. There has never been a theology of the New Testament, but rather ‘theologies.’ A couple of weeks ago in Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, I was reminded of the struggle in John’s gospel communities as they fought to accept a compromise by submitting to hierarchical authority of bishops, priests and deacons. Yet at the same time they sought to preserve a very particular interpretation of Christ, that in many ways differs from the synoptics.
We might note too that the charismatic, quasi socialist communities of Acts were eventually subsumed into structures. Some would argue that the voice of women, initially given precedence by the witness of the Magdalene at the tomb, was gradually silenced. We may wish to idealise the church, but if we are faithful to biblical witness, we have to admit that it never existed. What did exist, and what exists today are communities of weak, sinful people, deeply in need of grace, and who, when they recognise the true reality find it possible to receive forgiveness for themselves, and embrace others within the same spirit of grace that they themselves received.
Earlier this week Archdeacon Andy showed a video on grace to a meeting with our Rural Deans. It was powerful, with images from some pretty brutal films, including Schindler's List. Throughout it a song played by U2 with lyrics by Bono:
Grace:
She takes the blame;
removes the stain;
finds beauty in ugly things;
finds goodness in everything.
As I watched and listened I found it almost too much; too moving, but also almost unbelievable. For grace, like forgiveness, remains one of the hardest things to receive and practice. How I wished for the magic wand!
I do not want to prejudge the outcome of the Lambeth Conference; nor indeed the alternative Lambeth of those who consider themselves to be orthodox. All I know, to quote Calvani once more ‘ is that what is important is not that we all have the same ideas, but rather that ‘there are other sheep that do not belong to this fold’, and that is up to Jesus to lead them to pasture. This is a matter of understanding that, despite our differences, we are ‘one flock’ and we have ‘one pastor.’
What is the future of the Anglican Communion? I don’t know. I do know that many people in this diocese and around the world travel miles to experience what they want in a church, because they cannot find it in their own parish. They make a communion, because the church is made up of people. Maybe the Communion will split, groups and dioceses will form around agreed vision. I hope not, but paradoxically, that is what communion is.
Some will want to maintain communion by creating instruments for monitoring, coercion and repression. I think this is a bad alternative, for as Calvani observes, ‘it would be a mere disguise of a communion based on bombs ready to explode.’
The task of the Lambeth Conference is to re-think concepts of tradition, authority and inclusiveness. As we talk together we need to ask ourselves: what do I mean by this? Am I saying what I mean? Have I understood what this implies? Have I some notion of the consequences of what I am saying? (Incidentally, these are not bad questions for all of us who preach and teach. Maybe by asking them we would radically change our thinking and reflection.)
I believe that much contemporary scholarship on the gospels has opened up for us an understanding of the nature and shape of the society in which Jesus practiced his ministry. It shaped the way in which he presented good news; it opened up areas of conflict with both secular and spiritual authorities. The imagination Jesus showed however, led the gospel writers to observe his message as ‘good news to the poor, liberty to captives, sight to the blind.’
It led St.Mark famously to observe: ‘The common people heard him gladly.’
This technical phrase included the outsiders, the off scourings of society, the discriminated against, the weak, poor, the grunts, soldiers who were not officers, and so on. Only when we can regain passion for such as Jesus gave his life, can we be true practitioners of good news, of gospel.
In conclusion, I want to offer a few brief remarks about ourselves.
The Dean is far from well and is currently in hospital undergoing exploration. The result is that for a significant period of time he will be off work.
Bishop Peter and I had a particularly interesting and enjoyable Lent visiting in the Archdeaconry of Bath. We found it humbling and refreshing.
The recent Church Statistics figures have indicated a seven percent increase in congregations in the diocese. However the numbers are crunched this is good news. Almost daily too, come stories, anecdotes of people who have been stirred into action by the Changing Lives DVD. People touched by the extraordinary stories of ordinary people, opening their eyes to their neighbours in new and imaginative ways. Grace indeed.
Last week I had the privilege of leading a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Many images remain of course, but perhaps for me it was standing on the Mount of Olives looking over Jerusalem at night. Two men came up to a small group of us. They were from Manchester. Their eyes were alight. They too were on pilgrimage. Where have you been I asked, ‘To Mecca, Medina and now Jerusalem’, they replied, ‘Sadly we arrived too late for evening prayers at the Dome of the Rock.’ They were Muslims. Their pilgrimage, like ours for us, had transformed them, energised, given them life. As one said, ‘Some strength to go back to work on Wednesday and face the mounds of paper.’
Dialogues between Muslims and Christians are not new but I have recently been encouraged by a recent initiative for an Evangelical Christian-Muslim Dialogue held in Tripoli, Libya. For three days discussions were held, on ‘Salvation, and Atonement in Christianity and Islam.’ ‘Religious Freedom and Persecution: Our Mutual Responsibilities.’ Rich Cizik, the vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals of America, observed, ‘ Reconciliation means building a common vision about our world: this cannot be done apart from a process of dialogue.’
That is an appropriate and prophetic word to conclude with: for the Anglican Communion, for the diocese, for each of us, but above all for the world that God loves.
+Peter
Bath and Wells
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