Mother Church?

Rochester Cathedral Nave

There is the story of a mother nursing her growing baby.  He bit her on the nipple, so she whacked him on the head, so he bit her on the nipple, so she whacked him on the head.  What was missing on both sides was respect born of love.

When you criticize the Church remember the plaint of the Psalmist, “Your servants love her very rubble, and are moved to pity even for her dust” (Psalm 102:14, BCP).

But what is the Church?  The Church is the Body of Christ.  It is the Church within the church.  We make a mistake in not understanding that The Episcopal Church and every other denomination is by nature a “communion” of sinners.  Therein lies a problem.  Unity within the church is not based on kneeling at the altar rail together; we actually invite to that altar rail all who are baptised and believe that Christ is truly present in the sacrament.  But be aware that there is a movement to make baptism unnecessary for membership.

Unity within the Church is not based on kneeling at the altar rail.  It is based on three things:  “Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Saviour? Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love?  Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?” (BCP).  The answer is very personal, “I do.”  

Unity within the Church is based on what Jefferts Schori has called a Western Heresy.  If she believes what she has said in a mood of irritation, her declaration leaves her outside of the Church even while she remains the titular head a branch of the Church.  That is a tragedy both for the Church and for her, which is one reason why all Episcopal Churches should pray for her at the altar rail every Sunday. Have compassion on her.  For her to surrender to the only true God, she, like all of us, will have to surrender every pretension.  That is a very painful challenge.  Our God is a consuming fire!  

The Apostasy of Division

There is a great misunderstanding being promoted by conservatives who have left The Episcopal Church, a misunderstanding that is the other side of the revisionist heresy, that forcing a change establishes new truth. On neither side is this theologically, or biblically, thought through.

In part the mistake of the revisionists is that you can’t drive out the impurity by expelling conservatives from your midst; you will, in your own way, become the new conservatives, a new cast of fundamentalist liberals. That is already clearly happening and in some dioceses those with conservative views are not tolerated.

The great misunderstanding of some of the conservatives who have left The Episcopal Church is that you can’t come out from amongst them and be clean; you take your sins with you. If they have left a diocese with a godly bishop there is no excuse for their actions.

Trapped in the middle is the greater part of what used to be The Episcopal Church. Some have been driven out with the conservatives who have left seeking purity; some have stayed to struggle in the midst of a church which is increasingly in danger of becoming apostate. All are wounded and grieved by the actions and attitudes of rigid militants on either side.

Both sides of the coin are reacting emotionally rather than rationally, establishing on either side what they feel as the foundation on which to build a new purified church.

The hope for health for the Church is in those of us who are trapped in the middle. It is not enough for us to wait passively; waiting passively will only contribute to the current decline in the Church. Those of us in trapped in the middle must find our voice and let our views be known.

Not only that, but what we say must be based on a sound biblical theology that is informed by the tradition and history of the Church. This voice must reflect not only a love of the truth, but a love of Him who alone is the way, the truth, and the life.