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©2000
The Society of Archbishop Justus, Ltd
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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.)
Last
updated: 22 October 2000
URL: http://anglicansonline.org/
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