Staying together
Father Tobias of In a Godward Direction has written an excellent piece at Episcopal Life, emphasising how central it is to Anglican identity that we stay together not because we are the same but despite the fact that we’re different.
To listen to some folks these days, one would think that consensus was the cornerstone of Anglican identity. On the contrary, in the past the genius of Anglicanism has been the ability to stay together in the same church even with serious disagreements on core matters of faith. The classical Anglican settlement emerged, after all, in response to strong theological differences about the Eucharist itself…The question [now] should not be, “How do we split?” — but, “How do we stay together?” — for better, for worse.
I raise that matrimonial language with due seriousness. Whenever dissension threatens a relationship, there is a temptation to take the easy way out and end it…What if we removed ecclesiastical divorce from the table, even as an option? What if we were to agree on one thing: that we have to stay together even if we disagree about other things? What kind of accommodations might we work out?
He also writes:
An additional thought came to mind early this morning, in relation to the civil rights movement…To put it bluntly, I am willing to stay on the back of the bus. I am willing to accept the reality that my ministrations as a priest would not be acceptable in parts of the Anglican Communion, even in parts of the Episcopal Church. As long as I get where I need to go, the back of the bus works for me…The problem at present is that I get the feeling that some in the front of the bus don’t want me on the bus at all. They’d rather I walk. What I ask of them is a willingness to let me stay on the bus. I am not asking them to leave; I am only asking them to let me stay. Because I believe the bus is going where we all want to go.
pax et bonum
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Hammertime () (URL)
2:22pm on 02 June 2006