Developments
The night before he died, our Lord Jesus prayed for the unity of those who followed him as a sign of the truth of his mission (Jn 17.21,23). This was not to be a superficial unity, but one as deep as exists between the persons of the Trinity themselves. Many Christians experience this unity in the fellowship they find when they meet each other but, if it is to demonstrate Christ’s authenticity to the world, that unity needs to be seen by those outside the fold.
Comment
22nd October 2024
What Rome could teach others about synods
What Rome could teach others about synods
Writing in the Church Times, Rt Rev Dr Martin Warner, Bishop of Chichester, suggests the Church of England could benefit from following the ethos within which the Roman Catholic Church conducts its Synods of Bishops.
Dr Warner suggests the atmosphere of prayerful listening, seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit, provides a superior model for considering important matters than the more legislative procedures of Anglican Synods (and, I would suggest, Protestant governance bodies of most kinds). I think he has a point. Possibly, in this area the RC bishops have grasped what it means to be the people of God seeking a collective way forward rather than representatives of positions fighting their corner. It is equally possible, of course, that the dependence of bishops in that Church on the approval of the Bishop of Rome for the continuance of their ministry might moderate their approach and prevent them being seen rocking the boat too much.
However, whatever the reason, this does set an example of how unity appears and the collective and caring nature which should underlie collective decision taking. There is in secular Western society a loss of the collective consciousness and this seems to be reflected in Western Protestant Christianity by a practical loss of awareness of the Communion of Saints. I notice, looking back on previous comments, I observed that tendency in modern worship songs back in 2016 and sadly that has not improved. Indeed, one such song sung at my current Parish Church seems to imagine each of us will spend eternity in the sole company of our Lord, as if the rest of the Church will not share our experience with us.
When the Charismatic movement first began to enter mainstream Protestant churches in the 1970s onwards, one of its main characteristics was a rediscovery of the collective nature of the Body of Christ. Previously, Evangelicals in particular had viewed the individual Christian as an interchangeable unit embodying the entire mission of Christian witness. Every Christian was expected to help the poor, tell everyone he or she met the full Good News of Christ, pray for everything, attend every Service and meeting with almost no distinction. Unsurprisingly, some shone and were seen as great heroes of the Faith while others were racked with guilt because they lacked the courage to undertake one or another aspect of witness. The Charismatic movement set them free as they understood God gave different gifts to different people for different ministries and between them the Church had all the gifts it needed.
Now that has changed. Charismatic spirituality is now about individualised “name it and claim it” self-indulgence or mystical experiences and dubious theories about the structure of God’s activities, obsessions less with God than with the powers God has defeated, or magical procedures and experiences with little relation to Scripture or Tradition. Something has gone very wrong.
Outside that tradition the obsession with individual needs still tears the body apart. Identity Politics and the emphasis on division, special categories of person, rights rather than Right, rigid and over-analytical interpretations of scripture, and focus on human needs rather than the plans and purpose of God through his world seem to have robbed us of the ability to see ourselves as members in particular of the larger Body moving together to fulfil a grand purpose. We have lost the grand narrative of which we are in this age a chapter and become an isolated short story with only one simple point to make.
We need to change, and if the idea of spending more time in prayer, more time listening, speaking only to explain rather than demand or harangue, can lead to a more collective consensus with an emphasis on God’s purposes rather than our own, that would certainly be an improvement.
Such unity goes far deeper than ecumenism in the Church’s structures, but if it is to accomplish its Christ-intended purpose those structures must reflect it in an ecumenical way, otherwise they will obscure it and prevent the world seeing and believing. I believe it is no coincidence that the eighteenth century Enlightenment (which in setting up the ideal of pluralism also had the effect of marginalising individual convictions and thus religion in general) emerged after the conflicts which followed the Reformation. It is largely because Christians are not seen to agree in public that the world does not accept what we say.
But there is more, for our Lord’s prayer was not just a vague aspiration. Jesus promised us that a prayer in his name will be answered (Jn 16.23). Yet we give the impression in our apparent disunity that his own prayer has been ineffective. In doing so we also imply either that the Father has not sent his Son or that Christ’s words on prayer, among other things, are not to be trusted. So, we deny the very nature of our Lord and his mission on earth. In effect, disunity would deny the very Gospel we otherwise proclaim.
And again, how can we claim with St Paul that Christ’s work on earth, his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and eternal reign have reconciled us to God and given us “the ministry of reconciliation” (II Cor 5.18) if we remain unreconciled to each other, at least at the public level which matters so much for the proclamation of that reconciling Gospel?
The very word ecumenism is controversial to some, who fear its users seek to find agreement by compromising the truth. Unity, they say, must be in the truth. Of course, but from the argument above it should be equally obvious that unity is integral to the truth. Neither can exist without the other. Ecumenism and evangelism belong together. Indeed, ecumenism is a prerequisite for true evangelism because unity is an essential component of the Gospel. Without ecumenism there can be no true evangelism, for without unity there can be no true Gospel.
The problem was encapsulated by my own conversion, because it was two Baptists who challenged me as to whether I knew the Lord. I had been baptised into the Church of England as a baby, and therefore could be claimed as a Christian in name, and was seeking to live as such, but had never understood the need to offer myself to God for a life of service in Christ. Initially I rejected their approaches on the basis they were members of a different church with different beliefs, and it was only when they gave me a booklet to explain their faith which I recognised as an Anglican publication that I realised my mistake. Their faith was one with at least some Anglicans on the issue concerned, but I, blinded by the labels, had not seen that.
Because so much is at stake the task is urgent, but the urgency is not apparent from the response of the Church in general. Progress has been lamentably slow and has often concentrated on what we agree already. Perhaps Church leaders are naturally too polite to raise contentious arguments. Perhaps, they have felt a firm basis of respect based on common belief was needed before such issues could be pursued without causing offence. Perhaps a tentative initial exploration was necessary to establish the key issues, but should it have taken 90 years to get this far? Whatever the reason, the urgency of the task demands more progress, more debate, more involvement by more Christians to produce the ideas which will overcome the obstacles and even define the goals.
That is what this site is for. Please read it, use it, and make it a powerhouse of truth which will build up Christ’s Church.
Ken Petrie
Editor.
