Letters
received during the week of 30 November 2003
'Which
carols ought to get a look?'
I'M
AN ANGLICAN PRIEST WORKING at the moment in the Lutheran
church in Sweden. Every year I
have the responsibility of planning a
Christmas service for local English speakers. Setting hymns
(carols) for this service is a nightmare. It's obviously impossible
to
give everyone the
chance to sing their favourite carol every year. But I'd appreciate
your advice on the question of which carols 'ought' to get
a look in every couple of years or so.
The
British are easy to cater for — I come from England and
have a pretty good idea of which carols are expected and well
known.
But English speakers in town come from as
far afield as New Zealand, Hong Kong and Canada (not to mention
the USA and Australia). Are there other carols that I should
be picking? (We've used 'Joy to the World' a lot, 'Go, tell it
on the mountain', and 'I wonder as I wander'.... what else is
out there?)
I
really enjoyed the top-twenty
hymns — that's what inspired me
to turn
to you for help with my annual carol dilemma.
Thanks,
Graham
Jarvis
St Mikael (Church of Sweden)
Örebro, SWEDEN
graham.jarvis@svenskakyrkan.se
1 December 2003
Drawing
lines
I
AM WRITING TO EXPRESS my
dismay with the Sydney Synod with regard to the matter
of Freemasonry. A lot of Masonic members are also members
of the Church
of England, not only as parishoners but as deacons and
readers.
How
is it that the Synod can just dismiss these people from our
Church? My husband and sons as well as brother-in-laws are
also in the Lodge. From what I can understand they are law-abiding
and Christian men, as are members from other denominations.
To be a Mason, you have to believe in a Supreme Being, which
in most Australians' case, is God.
Owing
to the pettiness that is going on in the Church, I doubt if
I or my family will be attending services.
Yours
faithfully,
Alison
Gimbert
BOMBALA. N.S.W. AUSTRALIA
pajgimbert@snowy.net.au
1 December 2003
Must
we choose between schism and heresy?
I
ALWAYS APPRECIATE THE ESSAYS of
Bishop Whalon and agreed with much of his essay regarding the
'Blight of Parallel Jurisdictions.'
His clarification was helpful. I believe the notion of parallel
jurisdictions
has some serious theological and practical problems. I pray the
Church finds some other way to resolve the current crisis. But
the essay did beg some questions.
Are
there not at least two causes of schism, both rooted in pride?
One, as the bishop suggests, is the refusal to live humbly with
difference – with 'those others.' The other
is the willful impatience to reform or change what some perceive
is in need reforming or changing before there is a sufficient
consensus. I am by no means alone in observing that the “vileness” of
the schismatic spirit is present in both sides of our recent
unhappy divisions. Either side could theoretically claim that
its actions are prompted by a desire to defend what it perceives
to be the essence of the faith and therefore worth whatever cost.
Or each could beseech the other not to take precipitous measures
over things that are not of the essence. But for one schismatic
spirit to say to another, 'You should not act schismatically
in response to our schismatic actions' would be disingenuous.
I
agree with the seriousness with which the Bishop Whalon regards
schism. It is in its own way a sort of heresy and a grievous
one. Still, it would not be unAnglican to wonder if schism is
really the most grievous, let alone only heresy. No less an Anglican
than Archbishop William Temple thought otherwise. In his book,
The Church Looks Forward, he wrote, '... while schism
is undoubtedly a sinful state, being contrary to the declared
purpose of God, yet schism is within the Church, the Body of
Christ, and does not effect separation from it as do apostasy
and infidelity,' (p. 13). Pace Bishop Whalon, schism is
not the only way we fail to honor Christ nor is it the only 'blight
upon our preaching and teaching, pollution of the waters of Baptism
and stain on all our sacraments.' Apostasy and infidelity
(heresy) separate us from the Body of Christ, if not materially,
spiritually. They compromise our witness to unbelievers as surely
as heresy.
Is
schism really worse than heresy? Do we really have to choose
between them? I am not convinced that all suggestions that there
are more faithful options for homosexual Christians than the
Church has traditionally allowed are indefensible or necessarily
rise to the level of heresy. Or, even if it is heresy, that further
schism is the most faithful response. With Bishop Whalon, I am
not convinced that parallel jurisdictions will faithfully resolve
our troubles. I am convinced, however, that the bishop's choice
between schism and heresy is a false choice. Schism and heresy
are parallel blights no matter what the jurisdiction. Unless
we are able to recognize and name both and resist them both I
suspect we are likely to end up being little more than a quaint
sect of High-Church Unitarians?
The
Very Reverend Matthew Gunter
St. Barnabas, Glen Ellyn
Glen Ellyn, Illinois, UNITED STATES
MattGunter@aol.com
7 December 2003
Evensong
on a website near you
As
an elderly Englishman, I have good memories of the traditional
liturgy of Matins & Evensong. Whilst I can easily reconstruct
these in writing from various sites, I have had no success in
tracking down audio versions on the internet or anywhere else.
Can you help please ?
Thanks.
John
Greenup
Albany, WEST AUSTRALIA
jgreenup@rainbowis.com.au
7 December 2003
We
referred Mr Greenup to the BBC's live broadcast of Choral Evensong
every Wednesday at 1600
GMT:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/choral.shtml.
Hmm.
Well. We ask our readers for help.
I
AM WONDERING IF THERE ARE any
straight (non gay) Anglican males anywhere in the world?
Where
does a creative, active, attracive, smart, compassionate, spiritual
woman find a like-minded
male? Help!!!
(It's
fine to publish this note but please don't use my name! Thanks.)
Name
withheld
UNITED STATES
7 December 2003
We generally
don't publish letters without a name, but in this instance we understood
the request for anonymity. If readers in the States have thoughts
about this interesting issue, please let us know and we'll forward
your comments to the correspondent.
Earlier
letters
We launched our
'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All of our letters are
in our archives.
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