The event was marked for me by several different perceptions.
My wife had been teaching at a Catholic school for 18 years and had never been allowed to take communion on any of the occasions when mass was held. And yet she regularly attended the children?s first holy communions.
The priest, on this occasion, was a former Anglican priest who had “gone to Rome” over the ordination of women. He took the theme that Jesus needs us to be ambassadors for him on this earth and he used the “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam” song to demonstrate that theme by adapting it to “Jesus wants me for a monstrance”. I actually found the imagery strong and useful but recognised it only after he had explained what a monstrance was. Excuse my ignorance.
What struck me was the faithful way that my wife transcended the differences and yet the very language of difference created barriers between our two persuasions.
How our Lord must weep at the way we treat each other whilst both professing that we are promoting the Kingdom.
It is time to stop looking for ways to divide our church and seek ways of reconciliation. It is time to break the barriers between denominations rather than dance around each other endlessly.
During the July study groups on “Life in Christ” many comments were made about the fact that it had taken 15 years to get to this point and that life in the churches had moved on considerably. The issues then were not the issues now. Almost a whole generation has grown up and evolved in the timeframe.
Christ calls us to be one and we defy him by slicing and dicing our communities of faith with barriers of words. We have our differences – but we can?t agree on what unites us. How many of our differences are based on a blinkered view of what is important.
Our Synod will renew itself next year at a time when the prospect of schism, over the authority of the episcopacy and the sexual orientation of our clergy, is at its height. We need people to stand who have a clear understanding of the really important things in our situation.
What is most important to me is that God loves me as I am and offers me a place in his kingdom in return for my acceptance of his commandment to love others. We genuinely need to be able to convey his love by shining out in this world as his ambassadors.
The Beatles were a phenomenon. They have recently been relaunched through digital remastering and Simon Cowell was prompted to say that he didn?t believe that The Beatles would have been successful in the X-Factor. My view is that the apostles would probably have failed to be selected for Theological Training. Thank God!
Tim Hind : Chair OSG
