|
||
|
|
Basics
Start Here
Anglicans Believe ...
The Prayer Book
The Bible
News
News Centre
News Archive
Newspapers Online
Official Publications
Resources
Resources A to Z, including
Biblical Study
Book of Common Prayer
Books and Magazines
Exchanges
Events
Liturgy
Music
Religious Orders
Preaching
Theology
Youth
Worldwide Anglicanism
Anglican Communion
In Full Communion
Not in the Communion
Dioceses and Parishes
Africa
Australia
Canada
England
Europe
Ireland
Japan
New Zealand
Scotland
USA
Wales
World
Anglicans Online
Archives
Add a Site to AO
Tell Us What You Think
Link to AO
Staff
Awards and Publicity
Beginnings, AO Today
Our Sponsors
Hallo again to all.
This week we welcome the Diocese of Mount Kilimanjaro, surely one of the most beautiful dioceses on this earth. And a clutch of parishes primarily in England and the States.
The
big news this week in the Anglican world is the visit of the Queen of
England to the Bishop of Rome. She is the Supreme Governor of the Church
of England, and he is the Pope, so their visit could be construed as symbolic
or historic. The News Centre has fairly
extensive coverage of this visit, including commentary on the Queen's
wardrobe. And we devoured the article in Fast Company magazine on California's
Bishop William Swing and the United Religions Initiative; it's linked
in New This Week under 'Worth Noting'.
In May of this year we reported on our visit to Ely Cathedral, at which we were struck by how ineffectual were the attempts of the King's soldiers at destroying the church by destroying its buildings. The Anglican news these last few weeks has noted a great deal of squabbling about buildings. In Canada, for nearly a year the Anglican Church of Canada has been facing the possibility of selling its church buildings to pay court-ordered damages. In the United States there are several disputes over ownership of church buildings when a parish separates from its diocese. In Australia they aren't yet to the point of arguing about buildings, but one could imagine from reading the news reports that they will get there in a few years.
If anything
succeeds in killing the Anglican Communion, surely it won't be through
our church buildings. Oh, buildings are splendid and stained glass is
nice and history is impressive, but the church is not the buildings, it
is the people who sit, sing, pray, mourn, think, laugh, love, and live
in them. 
Our
own church building is comfortable, and many people consider it to be
pretty (it's a bit too stark and modern for our tastes), and we enjoy
sitting in the same pew every week. But should it be taken away from us,
we can always find another building. There is only one God, and only one
Son of God, and only one Bible (albeit in hundreds of translations), but
there are all manner of buildings. This doesn't mean that we think people
should meekly allow the opposition to take or keep a church building when
there is a squabble. Buildings are good, and it is quite an expensive
nuisance to buy or build another one. But never confuse the loss of a
building with the loss of faith or loss of a relationship with Christ.
See you next week. (God willing, your church will still be there, and you will be in it, but if not, we know we'll find you somewhere.)
 |
 |
|
| Cynthia
McFarland cmcf@anglicansonline.org |
Brian Reid reid@anglicansonline.org |
Last
updated: 22 October 2000
URL: http://anglicansonline.org/