He then began by saying that the "problem of increased and growing diversity in the Anglican Communion has been an issue for many years" and added that by the 1990s leaders in the communion began to name "the diversity of opinions in the communion and diversity in general as a problem and sought some mechanisms to address it."
Can someone actually become a priest in England without reading the Acts of the Apostles? Has he even heard of Paul? Diversity is the problem? OK, I think we have it here. This guy and I presume his boss think the communion should be monochromatic, presumably clone of England circa 1800 is the color of choice.
If I think it is becoming clear that the communion is not going to survive. If these people are that far from the freedom Paul writes about, the diversity Peter came to value or the variety of views that has typified the communion for over 100 years, then it really is over.
So here is what we need to discuss now -- where does the Episcopal community go from here? I suggest several things. First we should re-direct funding from the communion directly to other churches. Second we should seek direct ecumenical conversations with Sweden and the European Old Catholics. No we should not withdraw from the communion, we should simply act on the knowledge that it is irrelevant.
FWIW
jimB
3 comments:
It is indeed irrelevant.
I hope we can agree that there was also too much diversity at times during the Acts--wrong teaching leading people astray, etc. Neither traditional nor progressive ideas are always right. People on the outside see TEC as focusing on MDG's or their Baptismal covenant that is different than everyone else's, or not correcting priests with wild new interpretations, etc. "Anglican/Episcopal" are "brand" words that imply cohesion in the group and many outside TEC think that it's gone beyond what's acceptable in the brand. People don't care so much about what the Old Catholics, etc. do about gay priests because they don't share the brand even if there's a signed agreement.
Much has been made about the Pentecost letter that "started" the latest affair and how the multitude of tongues proved the diversity that TEC is trying to have, but some, including me, have a problem with that because the "Pentecost" message the church gives today has little or no uniformity. Was Peter telling the Egyptians Jesus really rose, while Thomas was telling the Persians that it didn't matter if He really rose, while Matthew told the Romans that God loved everyone and only having one way to God was putting Him in "a very small box",while the other fishermen were telling the locals that Jesus wanted to end poverty, save the Sea of Galillee from pollution and overfishing and bring Heaven on Earth?
What's the main message of the Anglican Communion? What's the main message of TEC? When the church can't agree on the message, maybe it's time to break up. Even in Acts, the Apostles and other preachers sometimes went their own ways. They admitted it and moved on. I'm not sure staying in the Communion but pretending it didn't exist would be quite the same thing.
"What's the main message of the Anglican Communion?" Unity is Lord
"What's the main message of TEC?" Jesus is Lord.
As near as I can tell.
Yes, certainly there are some boundaries. One cannot for instance preach polytheism, racial hatred or Islam and be a Christian. The problem is that the wall builder theology that has taken hold in (it appears) England and some other places does not seek the limits of diversity but to limit diversity.
Or so I think.
FWIW
jimB
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