I have been listening to Archbishop
Rowan's speech to Methodist Conference this afternoon, he has contrasted Peterine and Pauline Apostleship, noting the incidences of confrontation and compromise within their ministries. Making no suggestion that the Anglican Church is one and the Methodist Church the other, rather noting that strands of each run through both...
His speech has been inspiring and challenging and you can listen to it here.
He suggested that the compromise/ confrontation "thing" runs through both churches and that we must recognise that at every level. The Methodist Newscast on the web-site reports:
"Dr Williams also answered a question as to whether a Covenant
relationship between Anglicans and Methodists was exclusive. “A covenant
ought to be a friendship written down,” he said. “It doesn’t mean there
are no other friendships. If it becomes us against them; a little
friendship against the world, well, God help us really.”
I find this statement really encouraging because it is open and inclusive, and it challenges us to the core to address the question of who we are...
Let me explain by responding to a question also posed by Archbishop Rowan, he asks "what is the life we are prepared to lay down for this?"
So what is the life that I am prepared to lie down for the sake of the gospel? In all honesty I am not ready to answer this question, but I am challenged by it as a Methodist Minister. For as a Methodist Minister I trained on an Ecumenical Course, and I would not have had that any other way. Through this course I encountered a broad church, denominational labels were sometimes easy to forget, and at others very important. We disagreed, we faced both confrontation and compromise, and sometimes that was painful for all of us. Through this course I was also accepted (mostly) as a Senior Student, there was much grace there!
BUT.. the pain was worth it! The pain was in both the confrontation and in the compromise, and we grew and were transformed through both. This is important to acknowledge, I grew through relationships and dialogue with folk who were challenged by my presence as both a Methodist and as a woman.
I compromised in worship, in theology and in practice, as did my sisters and brothers from the Anglican and URC Churches...
Sometimes we cringed...BUT we talked often late into the night and it was worth it!
Today in response to the Archbishop's speech Steven Lindridge, the Fresh Expressions Missioner said: " We must listen to the Spirit, we must hear what God is doing and go and join in", he said we must both "be and do the gospel..." To do this I believe we must embrace and not run from confrontation. For through confrontation we will grow, through confrontation we will be transformed if we dare to embrace it with grace and humility.
Peter Philip's (Sec to the faith and order committee) quoted 2 Kings 10:15
"After he (Jehu) left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Recab, who was on his
way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, "Are you in accord with me,
as I am with you?" "I am," Jehonadab answered. "If so," said Jehu,
"give me your hand." So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot."
He notes the "bloody" nature of the two hands that are being offered to one another and asks whether we often take this offer of reconciliation out of context.. do we he asks opt for radical pragmatism or polarisation? Neither work, and so Pete goes on to say that we need to walk on together in the mess...
"What is going" on asks Pete "when ecumenism today asks us to go back to conformity?"
He suggests that: "the mess is the preferable place to be and that perhaps compromise and confrontation must be borne all the way through..."
I must say yes... the mess IS where we should be, yes it is difficult, yes it is painful and yes it is confusing... BUT we must live there together.
We can have dialogue, constructive, deep meaningful, transformational dialogue......
I have experienced such dialogue, and am richer for it... maybe we should send all ministers to train on ecumenical courses! Archbishop Rowan says:
The cost and the risk that we are being invited to take in the middle term is how we can develop some form of overlapping life...
But he says that we must be careful that we don't short-circuit ourselves on the way forward...
I believe that we must be prepared to life in the complexities and the mess, and that WILL CALL FOR humility and grace!
Post denominational approaches anyone? Messy? YES. I join our President in her prayers....
"Let us agree to promise to pray for the Archbishop Rowan, that whatever mess we are in we will pray for the Anglican Synod ...."
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