YAMMERING
What can the Anglican world expect from Justin Welby, the next Archbishop of Canterbury? Four words: more of the same:
My own experience of reconciliation goes back many years, but I have to say that the issues faced by Episcopalians and Anglicans working in any part of the Communion on the issues within the Communion are really difficult. Reconciliation within churches is one of the toughest areas because the issue of faith goes so deep into people’s minds and souls. I think I would have two thoughts to offer at this stage to Episcopalians, and I have to say that from the Church of England we are not in a position of being holier than thou or being in a position to judge, and I am very aware of our own frailty.
First, we all need to remember that reconciliation at some point is an obligation, and will be inevitable once we are in heaven. Since all Christians are stuck with each other for eternity it is not a bad idea to learn to love each other before we get to the point of death.
Secondly, reconciliation is not an event but a long process; like all processes it has to have a starting point. That might be as little as a cup of coffee with someone with whom you immensely disagree with a mutual understanding that you will talk about things you can agree on, or things of faith that are common rather than focusing on what you disagree on. The biggest enemies of reconciliation are indifference and hurry.
We need to get to the point that we have arrived at in the past (because this is a cyclical problem that we have experienced before, especially in the late 1920s and in the 1930s) where there is a change of heart and a general recognition that being paid vast multiples of other people’s pay is not acceptable in a society that wishes to be happy and secure. Ethics is both caught and taught and the Church needs to set a very clear example. That will be especially important in the way that Church money is invested and the way Church leaders behave in terms of their own power and position and use of hierarchy.
And there we are. It’s abundantly clear that the Church of England in particular and the Anglican world in general have learned absolutely nothing at all over the last few decades. If Welby thinks that endlessly prattling on about “reconciliation” without ever taking a genuine stand, if he thinks that dropping an occasional leftist bumper sticker constitutes “challenging” the culture, Justin Welby has, at best, only postponed Anglicanism’s death for a few more years.
Welby’s also done something else. He’s pretty much guaranteed that no one anywhere is going to mourn Anglicanism’s loss. For my part, I no longer care one way or the other what happens to the Anglican tradition. I don’t love it any more but I certainly don’t hate it. I no longer have an opinion about it at all. “Official” Anglicanism no longer accomplishes anything meaningful; it simply exists and right now, that’s all it does.
But I guess that’s sad. Because that’s something you should never ever think about the Christian tradition into which you were baptized.
My own experience of reconciliation goes back many years, but I have to say that the issues faced by Episcopalians and Anglicans working in any part of the Communion on the issues within the Communion are really difficult. Reconciliation within churches is one of the toughest areas because the issue of faith goes so deep into people’s minds and souls. I think I would have two thoughts to offer at this stage to Episcopalians, and I have to say that from the Church of England we are not in a position of being holier than thou or being in a position to judge, and I am very aware of our own frailty.
First, we all need to remember that reconciliation at some point is an obligation, and will be inevitable once we are in heaven. Since all Christians are stuck with each other for eternity it is not a bad idea to learn to love each other before we get to the point of death.
Secondly, reconciliation is not an event but a long process; like all processes it has to have a starting point. That might be as little as a cup of coffee with someone with whom you immensely disagree with a mutual understanding that you will talk about things you can agree on, or things of faith that are common rather than focusing on what you disagree on. The biggest enemies of reconciliation are indifference and hurry.
We need to get to the point that we have arrived at in the past (because this is a cyclical problem that we have experienced before, especially in the late 1920s and in the 1930s) where there is a change of heart and a general recognition that being paid vast multiples of other people’s pay is not acceptable in a society that wishes to be happy and secure. Ethics is both caught and taught and the Church needs to set a very clear example. That will be especially important in the way that Church money is invested and the way Church leaders behave in terms of their own power and position and use of hierarchy.
And there we are. It’s abundantly clear that the Church of England in particular and the Anglican world in general have learned absolutely nothing at all over the last few decades. If Welby thinks that endlessly prattling on about “reconciliation” without ever taking a genuine stand, if he thinks that dropping an occasional leftist bumper sticker constitutes “challenging” the culture, Justin Welby has, at best, only postponed Anglicanism’s death for a few more years.
Welby’s also done something else. He’s pretty much guaranteed that no one anywhere is going to mourn Anglicanism’s loss. For my part, I no longer care one way or the other what happens to the Anglican tradition. I don’t love it any more but I certainly don’t hate it. I no longer have an opinion about it at all. “Official” Anglicanism no longer accomplishes anything meaningful; it simply exists and right now, that’s all it does.
But I guess that’s sad. Because that’s something you should never ever think about the Christian tradition into which you were baptized.
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