Monday, May 01, 2006

"Anything goes" Anglicanism

A number of members of the Church of England I have met do not believe in God, the Resurrection of the Body, or the afterlife, which begs some very interesting questions -why on Earth do they bother to come to Church at all?

The main draw for many people to Church is the "traditional" ethos - the idea of the Anglican Church appeals to them. I now know a number of members of choirs who are just like that. They have no Christian belief yet enjoy taking part in the Offices and Masses for the love of the music, or the feel of it. There are many High-Church Agnostics out there. The funny thing is that this has such a positive influence on the Worship of the true Christians that come to Church. A Mass sung well transports the humble soul from this realm to the glimpse of the next. If a non-Christian singer joins a choir then surely this is a good thing especially if s/he is a good singer. Similarly this holds true for bellringers, flower ladies, et c.

Others come for friendship, and "to belong" - to take part in what indeed should be a truly embracing Community built on the foundations of love, respect and tolerance.

I have asked "why the Anglican Church?" to be given the response that "Anglicanism allows me to believe what I want to believe." Now this truly worries me. To have non-Christian service within the Offices and Mass of the Church is one thing:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans viii.28

so the Christian words sung by non-Christian voices are valid because the words themselves praise God if the agent of those words does not. However, to be thought that the Church allows heretical and infidel beliefs is highly damaging and highlights the terrible crisis of identity the Anglican Church is in.

That the Church should welcome and embrace those whose faith is different from Christianity is fundamental. It certainly does not render any Sacraments of the Church void and ineffectual, just unfruitful for those for whom it means nothing. It does however matter when the Church starts to bend from intolerance to accommodation of these beliefs such as the rewording of Holy Scripture for Civic Services which I have seen in some churches. To allow a non-Christian to preach or teach poses a significant problem for those whose faith is weak, since these are likely to be led away from the Truth by Heterodox teaching, yet, as is plainly true, each religion or belief has some tiny grain of the Truth, it just does not possess the fullness of Truth that the Catholic Religion possesses. Consequently for the respect of the right of the heterodox to hold heterodoxy, and for the integrity of the faith of the Congregation, the Anglican Church cannot allow preachers to speak who cannot wholeheartedly say that they follow the Catholic Creeds.

The Church of England has been disintegrating from the moment of its schism. Each parish has had its "pope" and we are seeing the consequences of this lack of doctrinal coordination now. The beliefs of each parish differ wildly from those of its neighbours. I would be less worried had I said "the practices of each parish..." but we are literally talking belief. Since the decline in the quality of the theological training of ordinands, the "every-member" ministry has turned into "every-members" individual belief.

So what can be done? Do we have a massive purge and throw out those who serve the Church but are not of the Faith? No, no and no. These folk need to be cherished for who they are, their services gratefully and humbly accepted, and - above all- enjoyed. Perhaps the love that we show them may kindle within them an awareness of the God who loves them even more than the Church does. However, the Church needs to be clear about what it believes down to the level of each parish, for only by such clarity can the Heterodox see that that the Church is not a secular institution clothed in Christian rituals, but means what it says and knows what it is doing to preach the Gospel of Christ to all lands.

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