Letters
from 22 August to 28 August 2005
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all letters to the editor everywhere, these letters are
the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans Online.
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Which one of you was cut?
Who had the surgery? Our prayers for the one enduring pain.
Today's Proper 16 Year A readings inspired Dean Peter Elliott of
New Westminster who was visiting St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle, to speak of things to cherish and maintain, and other things
that need to undergo re-interpretation and change for health and growth, as you mentioned in today's Anglicans Online letter.
The Reverend Timothy Makoto Nakayama
St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle - Diocese of Olympia
Seattle, Washington, USA
frtim@yahoo.com
22 August 2005
(Ed: We prefer not to identify ourselves individually, using the
'editorial we'. But thank you for your prayers.)
Time for surgery? Who would be the surgeon?
Wow, reading your August 21st commentary I had the sensation of
breathing out after having held my breath for a very long time. These are the thoughts that I, and I suspect many others, have
been afraid to think. More division within the body of Christ seems wrong, and yet...
I have not settled my own mind on these matters. I have recently
been rereading John Westerhoff's Living the Faith Community, where he spends time trying to discern the meaning of the church's
authority, and from whence it springs. He speaks of it deriving from the community itself, but within the wider communion there
seems increasing disagreement on who that community is, whether the national churches individually or the communion in its
entirety.
Perhaps it is time for selective surgery, but who will be the surgeon?
And is the peace to be found amongst those who agree truly a measure of the health of Christ's body? Thank you for having the
courage to name this lurking fear, and I hope that before we cut we all prayerfully consider what will be lost.
Jon White
St Michael and All Angels
Portland, Oregon, USA
22 August 2005
(Ed: one week after ankle surgery we are very aware of the downside,
the pain and disability. The recovery and ability to walk again is just a dream of faith. But faith we have, and though the
surgeon was but a mortal, God directs the healing. We are grateful to the makers of the Polar
Care 500, who have made
the wait for healing more bearable.)
Alas, poor church, I knew it well
You write this week (August
21) of "our beloved Anglican Church" and
the anguish you feel at its present condition can be felt through your words.
And it is so! In Australia—and perhaps especially in Tasmania—the
Anglican Church has copped a right old belting in recent years, much of it justifiable in the light of some pretty terrible
and humiliating revelations about clergy abuse of young people.
But "all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God" and Christ
must be made known to the abusers as much as we should try to show the abused that this is not the way of Christ!
The Diocese of Tasmania has, under the leadership of its Bishop,
John Harrower, made frank admissions about these matters and offered financial compensation where that has been sought. The
damage has been severe.
But, "our beloved Anglican Church" is under another threat. The
Church catholic and apostolic is being urged to throw off many of its traditions—in ceremony, in music, in the mighty
expressions of worship found most fully expressed in the Book of Common Prayer. And even in "A Prayer Book for Australia". If
only the ministry-teams would do it right! Instead, preachers are telling those in their congregations to chuck all this in
and go where the music is rated by its decibel level and people shout and stamp their feet and the car parks are full!
And if we resist we are apathetic, blind and disobedient. The
fact that we are there, in church, worshipping, praying, contributing alms and oblations doesn't appear to be enough, isn't
even noticed!
Trevor G Cowell
Christ Church, Illawarra
Perth, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA
25 August 2005
How can I find a church whose policies I agree with?
I am considering attending an Anglican/Episcopal church here in
Illinois. I do not agree with the American branches that ordained the homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson, and I am wondering
if there is any way I can find which churches in America have remained traditional, and do not support homosexual ordination?
Justin Buol
Baptist
Deerfield, Illinois, USA
26 August 2005
(Ed: We recommend that you telephone the church office and ask them.
If the church has a website, you can usually find the telephone number there; otherwise, look in your telephone directory.)
Earlier
letters
We launched
our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All of our
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