Which Way is the Church going?

As you will see from my profile I am an Anglican Priest and have been for many years.  I have worked in the Church in Ireland, Jamaica, England and the United States.  While in the United States I served as a Clergy Deputy from Hawaii to General Convention, as well as being a member of the Diocesan Council,  President of the Standing Committee and Co-Chair of the Diocesan Bishop Search Committee.  Just for good measure I was appointed by the  Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies to the Commission  on International Peace With Justice Concerns and while on that Commission represented the Episcopal Church on official visits to China, Hong Kong, Cambodia and Haiti.

All of that may read like part of a resumé but I put it down for two reasons.  Firstly because this is my first blog and it will allow those readers - assuming there are any - who may not know me to get some idea of my background.  Secondly to show that the church at all levels has been very much part of my life for many decades and although I am not currently in what is termed "active ministry" and live in Cambodia, the church continues to be very much to the fore in my life.

The Bishop who ordained me Deacon and subsequently priest the following year was the then Bishop of Connor, The Right Reverend Dr. Cyril Elliott - a man for whom I had the greatest admiration.  On the evening before our ordination to the Diaconate, Bishop Elliott told all fifteen of us that we must always remember that the Church "is and always has to be first and foremost about people.  About loving them, caring for them and respecting the dignity of every human being".  Indeed that is part and parcel of our Baptismal Covenant and I have carried those words of Bishop Elliott with me ever since.

The Church - and I am speaking specifically about the Anglican Church, or the Episcopal Church as it is called in the United States - has always been an anchor in people's lives.  Many people were not regular attenders at services every week, but if there was a problem or a marriage, baptism or death, then it was to the Church that the people turned. It was always there and ready to help, advise and console. That was its goal first and foremost - quoting the words and works of Jesus as examples it tried to follow.  This sums up also the ministry of Bishop Elliott who was for ever pastorally concerned for the people of his Diocese as well as for his priests, and this was the type of ministry I tried to conduct myself over the years as did so many others.

Now that I have said all of the above,  I must also say that I am saddened by the fact that the entire Anglican Communion - not just the Episcopal Church - has changed dramatically over the years. It no longer seems to be a Church of love, understanding and compassion. Admittedly much of the dissension and anger in the Communion has arisen due to the decision by the Episcopal Church to ordain and consecrate gay and lesbian people to the priesthood and the episcopate.  But there is more to it.  Double standards and hypocrisy are well to the fore on all levels.  So much is said in public, but in private the opposite is said and done.  Pastoral care is almost a thing of the past and is quickly being replaced by putting churches into certain categories. Numbers are the important thing not people, and if a church happens to be low in numbers - then it has to close.   The quote from the Bible of "When two or three are gathered together in my Name......"  has been conveniently forgotten.  Closing churches rather than planting churches has become the order of the day in so many dioceses.  What a pity, because that immediately gives the non-church goers the impression that the church is only concerned about those places where there are large congregations and lots of money. .... and unfortunately that is sadly true in so many places. It seems the Church authorities also forget the Biblical saying "Healthy people do not need a doctor - sick people do" (New Living Translation). 

So why are the little churches so often regarded as not being worth consideration?  Unfortunately in this day and age of high tech, politics and personal ambitions they are not considered to be of any use because they don't produce large incomes or are unable to work on or get involved in big projects - even though those churches meet the needs spiritual and otherwise of those who attend and are able to pay their own way when it comes to running expenses and assessments. Still, they are considered to be more of a nuisance to the authorities as they have to be serviced.   People concern, tradition, geographical location and the understanding that not everyone is mobile and able to travel longer distances to go to another church are all things of the past unfortunately in today's Church.   Today priests baulk at having to officiate at more than one service on a Sunday.  In my day as a priest - and that may make me sound pre-historic - we were taught that Celebrating and Officiating was our job and we did it.  Very often not just two services a Sunday but multiple churches every week.  That was part of the job we were called to do.  It seems that particular thought has long since gone.  What a pity.

In addition to what I have said above, there is also a lot of anger in the Church and undeniably much of this is due to the Episcopal Church's decisions on the gay issue.  But there is also a tremendous amount of hypocrisy on the subject.  Several Bishops in the Episcopal Church who voted for full inclusion and the blessing of same-sex unions at the General Convention last July, did so because it was "the popular" thing to do, but yet they still refuse to allow such blessings in their Diocese.  To me that has the tone of hypocrisy in it.  They should have voted "no" and stayed true to their convictions.

The consecration of the Reverend Mary Glasspool as Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles has escalated the dissension within the Communion.   I have no problems with her being a lesbian - that is her business - or a priest or even a bishop, but I do have a HUGE problem with the way the Episcopal Church and indeed the Anglican Communion Office as a whole handled the matter. Knowing that the very fact of her election would cause problems in the wider Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church threw an untold amount of fuel into the fire by making it the biggest consecration for decades with multiple processions, bands,  choirs and American Indians doing a dance thing to remove evil spirits from the place. In addition it was reported that there were more bishops present than at any other consecration except the installation of the Presiding Bishop. Not only does all that ballyhoo play into the hands of the homophobics, but Mary Glasspool herself in her address harped on the fact that she is the first lesbian bishop, as did also the Bishop of Los Angeles in his sermon and as did the Presiding Bishop when she spoke. Was it really necessary to keep on mentioning it? 

All that so angered me, because in the first place it made it sound as if they were consecrating Mary Glasspool just to thumb their noses at the world, and secondly all the ballyhoo of bands, processions, drums, dances and numerous bishops made it look as if the other consecrations for both male and female candidates that take place throughout the year in a normal and quiet fashion are much less important. Even if they had to announce she is lesbian in a committed relationship, they should just have had a normal consecration like any other diocese and leave it at that.  It would not have fuelled so much nonsense. To me the fact that she is a woman capable and competent to be a Bishop is the important thing.  Not the fact that she is lesbian.  So lets just concentrate on her ability and talents and stop shouting about her sexuality.

But the fight goes on.   The Archbishop of Canterbury throws more fuel on the fire in his Pentecostal pastoral letter, suggesting the withdrawal of those members of the Episcopal Church who sit on various commissions in the Anglican Communion. The Archbishop's suggestion has been followed by letters sent by the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, General Secretary of the Anglican Communion to those Commission members telling them that they have had their membership of the respective Commissions terminated.

There is a lot of double standards, positioning and hypocrisy here again.  The terminations came about because the Archbishop said the Episcopal Church did not obey the "request" for a moratorium on the subject of decisions concerning sexuality.   But it was just a "request" and not an order, simply because the Anglican Communion Office as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury cannot legislate for the Episcopal Church.  The Secretary General also wrote to the Archbishop of the Southern Cone (South America) more or less threatening the same treament because they violated the segment of the Anglican Covenant "requesting" that there should be a stop to Episcopal visitations for dissenting churches from outside provinces.  However a double standard occurs here also because no letter was sent to the Ugandan and Rwandan Archbishops who continually interfere in the affairs of the Episcopal Church.  Are the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General afraid of hurting the feelings of the African Bishops?

Both the Archbishop and the General Secretary have said they hope for a resolution but if you kick someone out, how can you talk with them and get a resolution? Now the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church has fired back her own salvo so we have to wait for the next round! 

How long must this go on?  When will the church become the church that cares once more and is not a battle ground of angry people many of them just anxious to promote their own agenda?  We are fast getting into a situation where it will be the Church of Hate and Anger rather than the Church of Love and Peace.  It is time for us - for everyone - to stop and think.

An old friend of mine who is a Buddhist monk, many years ago told me that three things were necessary for living a harmonious life.  First - love yourself and be at peace with yourself, because if not then no one will be able to be at peace with you.  Second - understand the next person because if you understand the other person's position and where he/she is coming from, then you can have a relationship that is good even though you may disagree on many things.  Third - listen to the Divine Being.  Whether you call him/her/it the Holy Spirit, God, Divine Being is immaterial. A name is just a name, but you have to take time out to understand where one must go and what one must do and what one must say, and not just follow your own ambition.  At this time, unfortunately I don't think the Church is doing any of those three things.