Letters from
15 to 22 August 2004
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'Beset by a form
of Spiritual Alzheimer's?'
'The biggest
enemy of our church is not the threat of torture, but the promise of
golf and brunch. We wouldn't be at all surprised if that were also
true for most of us.'
Hmmm. What you
say may be true of the Church in the West / North / developed world
/ industrialised world (use whichever you want); but 'for most of us'?
The reality is otherwise in many parts of Africa and Asia, where the
majority of Christians, indeed Anglicans, are to be found. There, the
threat of persecution and attack is a horrific fact of life.
We Westerners
may fear our Church sinking into irrelevance (I write as Westerner,
but living and working in a part of the world where to be a practicing
Christian can have serious, even life-threatening, consequences).
Ours, of course,
is a Church that, socio-politically, has been around a long time and
to many now seems worn down by cares and concerns that are not of immediate
concern in parts of the world where the Church is younger and more
dynamic.
We Westerners
like to think that age has brought our branch of the Church wisdom
and experience, and we tend to be somewhat patronising towards Christians
in Africa, Asia and elsewhere with their, to us uncomfortable, certainties.
'They are young; they don't understand the problems we face; they are
too rigid; the faith has moved on,' we say. Yes, youth is often impetuous,
idealistic, and intolerant of the tolerance that comes with age, of
the notion that there are few perfect answers. It sees that as hypocrisy,
when it isn't. On the other hand, could it be that we ageing Western
Christians are also beset by some spiritual form of Alzheimer's? Spiritual
Alzheimer's. There's a thought -- except that if we've got it, we wouldn't
know. That's the trouble with Alzheimer's.
Personally,
I happily admit I don't know the answer. All answers to matters spiritual
seem only to pose yet more questions. So all I have is questions if
I delve deeply into such matters ... but questions sustained and eased
by faith. Which is perhaps why I remain an Anglican and in in communion
with those on both sides of the current divide, both of whom sometimes
seem to be as intolerant as the other.
Michel Cousins,
somewhere in the Arabian peninsula, where there is no golf and brunch lasts
all day.
Michael Cousins
Middle East
When in UK, St Mungo's, Alexandria, Dunbartonshire
m.s.cousins@dial.pipex.com
19 August 2004
The most
of us in our letter was meant to refer to 'most of us reading Anglicans
Online', not most of the Christians in the world. We apologise for
the lack of clarity.
No via media
here
TRY
INTERFERING WITH GOLF and brunch and you'll find
out just what persecution in the Church really is!
In one small
mission church I served some time ago, people were offended when (their
words) I insisted that children be allowed in church, and I invited
disreputable people to church (they were referring to a homeless couple,
some workers in the local Mexican restaurant, and a lesbian couple
who ran a coffee shop in town.) They also objected to the parish hall
being used as an after-school study hall one day a week, as they wanted
it reserved for 'teas and receptions'; If only I had thought to have
brunches and arrange golf matches, the congregation might have evolved.
(Not sure into what!)
In no way do
I wish to diminish the reality of persecutions Christians suffer every
day, all over the world. But my goodness, we certainly are bad about
persecuting one another.
The Reverend
Peggy Blanchard
St Barnabas Episcopal, Jefferson City
Kingston, Tennessee, USA
revpeg@hotmail.com
17 August 2004
'Our greatest
worry'
OUR GREATEST
WORRY is
fundamentalism. Our parish has hosted a refugee congregation of Christian
Iraqis for over a year now. They tell of the mad fundamentalist Muslims
in Iraq, how Saddam had given the Christians a measure of safety, and
how that has all gone now.
Sadly, we also
see now on the streets of New Zealand, children organised in black
shirts to protest at the behest of the Destiny Church, taught to hate...
Gillian Lander
St John's Anglican Church, Northcote
Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
17 August 2004
Loving only certain
kinds of neighbours
I JUST LOOKED
AT the South
Carolina news story about a separate Christian state. To
me that would be a rerun of Puritan England or New England, both
of which were pretty intolerant.
Also I
suppose they would reintroduce slavery and a few other nasty concepts
that have long been eliminated in other places. Women would be back
in the home and as for gay couples, they would be either a dead or
be fleeing out of South Carolina.
Now such a separate
state is of course an idea -- but such an idea is grossly non-Christian.
Do I love my neighbour ONLY when he attends the same church as I? I
hope not.
Paul Willson
Anglican Church of Canada
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
21 August 2004
A worldwide church
no longer possible?
GO BISHOP
BRUNO! Your action
to inhibit the breakaway Los Angles clergy represents the
belief of the majority of Episcopal parishes and dioceses. I am quite
tired of the African church, which apparently has many archbishops,
bishops and 'members' -- but very few priests administering parishes
-- taking control of the Anglican Communion.
As a child I
remember giving money in my Easter mite box to help these third-world
countries and to establish the Anglican church in that area. I find
the attitude of these bishops beyond Anglican belief. If you do not
agree with them, they want you thrown out of the communion. Not to
mention their willingness to invade any diocese that happens to be
unhappy with its bishop.
I now believe
it is time for the Episcopal Church to stand alone and not be impeded
by these African and Asian countries, which will take a few more
generations to enter the modern world. We live in a country
where we elect our bishops and parish rectors. Separation of church
and state is the rock this country is founded upon. The Anglican Communion
has always held together because of our ability to respect each other's
opinions, even if we did not agree with them. It is a sad day for our
communion.
I no longer
believe that a 'Worldwide Church' is possible.
Carl D. Bell
Los Altos, California, USA
22 August 2004
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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