I believe...

This is more or less a copy of a comment I have made on my google+ profile after being accused of “following rome” by one commenter and being so close to Rome “spotting the difference is not easy”. I find it disappointing that I even have to comment on such things. I am an Anglican after all, and I have time and again shown on this blog where I have disagreements with Roman doctrine and belief, but alas it seems that some have missed my articles. Anyway here is the comment edited for inclusion on this blog:

“ I'm not following the Roman Catholic Church, nor am I particularly "High". In my Eucharistic theology yes I will admit I do have a High view, though not Anglo Catholic. I reject the Roman Catholic understanding of transubstantiation, and I affirm a view which is can be argued was held by the English Reformers, including Cranmer. It is a view that affirms the real presence, as attested by Christianity for over 2000 years and proved by a plain reading of Scripture, while affirming that one self sufficient sacrifice of Christ at Calvary.

 Yet in my morning/evening and general worship I have a very low view. I hold that only the Book of Common Prayer should be used in Anglican Worship, and I do not support the use of Roman Missals in Anglican worship. I support new expressions of worship, where they add to the service and worship of the people, and coming from a Presbyterian background I hold Scripture in high esteem and believe that it should be expounded and studied not only in Church on the Lord’s day but every single day of the week. 

Here in Northern Ireland, we have one "high" church and it most certainly isn't mine. While I could be accuse of High leanings I certainly am not a Ritualist. In my Church we have no candles... none. We have no vestments, except a preaching scarf and gown. We have no servers. We do not mix the water and the wine. Our communion table is wooden and movable, it has no covering except a linen table cloth. We have no incense. We have no confessional. We are as plain as a Presbyterian meeting house and rightfully so.

My patrimony is a via media between the two traditions within Protestantism. I admire many of the puritans, and the covenanters of Scotland will always hold a special place within my heart, but in recent times I have come to admire those on the High Church wing. From Laud and the Caroline Divines to Baxter and Cranmer I have a respect for them all and I seek to learn what I can from each. Of course they contradict each other, as humans have a tendency to do, so I study the Scriptures and I find whom I agree with based on their level of agreement with the Scriptures.

Now ladies and gents, I feel I must make something clear... just because I don't consign 1500 years of Christianity to the bin doesn't mean I'm a Roman Catholic. It is madness to presume that only we can know the mind of God, and that all those who came before where bumbling fools stumbling in the darkness of ignorance. Just as it is madness to assume that someone finding knowledge, comfort or encouragement in, the stories and writings of Christian men and women of God from days gone by, is automatically, ipso facto, a Roman Catholic.

Scripture comes first. It contains everything necessary for salvation and it is the sole basis of our faith and understanding, nothing compares to it. Tradition is a bit like the commentary on a DVD, it’s not the movie, and it certainly doesn’t compare, yet it gives you a good guide and lets you know what the story is about and helps explain something you might have missed.  

My faith is strong enough that I can actually base it on Christ. I don’t have to build it on the foundation of ignorance or sectarianism; that is to say that my faith is not simply based on an opposition of Roman Catholicism. While others might say “Rome believes A, therefore I believe B” I choose to say “I believe C and here’s why”. Now that means that there will be times when I disagree with Rome.

Indeed I disagree with Rome on transubstantiation, Papal authority, Papal Infallibility, their understanding of salvation, of sin and of Purgatory. The list of disagreements does truly go on and on.

 Yet because my faith is founded on honest appraisal, carried out daily in light of God’s Word, and with the lenses of tradition and reason, I can say that my faith is strong enough to admit that I agree with Rome on many, many points. I share with the Roman Church the Lord’s prayer, the Creeds, some of the ecumenical councils, some of the Saints and countless other points.

I can speak in awe of Rome, and I can speak in condemnation of it.

I can speak in awe of Canterbury, and I can speak in condemnation of it.

I can speak in awe of Billy Graham, or Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland, and I can speak in condemnation of them.

I can do so because I am not blinded by sectarianism. I can accept that many different denominations and ecclesial communities share many aspects of the Christian faith as I know it.

Yet I also believe that they are all in need of reform, and that includes not only Rome and Canterbury but also the Baptists and Methodists and even your little church groups and Bible study clubs.

 I am not naive enough to believe that Anglicanism is the be all and end all of Christianity. Nor can I accept that Christ’s church only includes Rome and its domain. However I don’t believe that Christ’s church only exists in a self appointed pastor’s back garage or in an American mega-church.

Now, I’m not trying to rubbish anyone’s faith, or Church. This blog was never meant to be a lofty tome of dogmatics. It was meant to be almost like a sacrament for me, the Sacrament of Blogging if you will, which would serve as an outward expression of my inner knowledge and experiences.

I guess I wanted this blog to be a way to teach and be taught about Christianity, especially from an Anglican perspective and I do have a sincere and real love for God, and I want to serve Him and please Him in all I do. I want to learn about Him, His Word and His Church and I enjoy reading about how His Holy Spirit has been at work in the lives of Christian men and women throughout the centuries.

My faith is founded on Christ, supported with Scripture, and backed up by tradition and with reason and I am not afraid to say so, and I do not believe that by constantly reforming my faith in light of God’s Word and the Church’s teaching I am somehow guilty of Romanism. On the contrary, I believe that I am living out the true meaning of the Reformers cry “Semper Reformanda”, and following in the footsteps of the greatest protestant reformers, and men of God.

I unashamedly “believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholick Church; the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins;The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting.

I am proud to believe in all those things, and I mean “believe” not merely recite, and I will stand in Christian Love and Unity, beside all those people out there, regardless of their personal failings or the failings of their Churches, who can stand and boldly say the same.

So if I’m too Roman Catholic for the Protestants, and too Protestant for the Roman Catholics then fine... I’d rather be faithful to Christ than to any man, and I’ll continue to follow and serve Him, in the ways I believe he is leading me.

So may God guide me in His ways, and may I be brave enough to follow Him regardless of others criticisms!

- A Wandering Pilgrim.

William Laud

Today we commemorate the former Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud , the main religious advisor to King Charles the Martyr, who though not a Saint, was martyred for reforming the Church with its catholic tradition in mind and for opposing the Puritans.

Laud didn’t oppose the Puritans because he opposed true Christianity, but rather because he believed that the true Christian faith of England was a succession of the early church of Saint Alban and Edward the Confessor, a successor to the mediaeval church of Thomas Becket and Hugh of Lincoln and indeed a successor to the church of Henry VIII... he believed that rather than destroying our heritage and past as though it never happened,  in the mistaken belief that such tradition somehow diminishes Scripture, we should cherish it and learn from it as a complement to Scriptural truth.  

In a time of open rebellion he boldly declared the unity of Church and State, and urged the people to recognise the King as the Supreme Governor of the Church in England. He called the people to repentance and reminded those in Holy Orders (Deacon, Priest and Bishop) of their Godly duties, and he reminded people of the centrality of the Eucharist in the Christian’s life. It was this emphasis on the Eucharist, which would prove to cause men to conspire against Laud, because he asserted that the service should be treated with reverence and respect. By moving the table back to the east wall in churches and by setting up altar rails and by supporting the wearing of the surplice the Puritans felt he was too close to Rome and someone to be opposed.

Though in serving those prominent within Puritan circles with harsh sentences for non-conformity Laud did not do so on the basis of social standing, rather his role was to safeguard the church and he did so regardless of the status or wealth of the defendant and he only did so only after feeling that all reasoning with such men was useless and legal action was the last resort. The idea of an Archbishop judging those who break the law of the church in legal courts may seem strange, but such things were indicative of the times in which he lived.

Realising the Parliament had been usurped by a dictator in the form of Cromwell, Laud campaigned to have the Church separated from the puritan politics of the long parliament which sought to tear down the Church and remake Christianity in their own image.  

For defending the rights of the ordinary lay man in spite of the rich landowners and parliamentarians, and for being an honest and devout Anglican, who stood in defence of the historic Christian faith and the King of England, Laud was condemned by Cromwell and his cohorts in 1640, and foretelling the fate of the Supreme Governor of the Church of England King Charles I, was martyred on this day (January) in 1645

 His final words delivered upon the scaffold, prayerfully directed to the God in whom he loved, trusted and devoted his life to, were:  “The Lord receive my soul, and have mercy upon me, and bless this kingdom with peace and charity, that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst them.”

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, that, like thy servant William Laud, we may live in thy fear, die in thy favor, and rest in thy peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Why Men Hate Going To Church!

Why do more women attend church than men?

That’s the simple question this book seeks to answer and I think David Murrow has done a pretty good job. As a church attending male, I am statistically a rare breed, for you see there is a gender gap within our churches which grows day by day. Women seem to be in the majority almost everywhere; be it select vestries or kirks, in our study groups, choirs, prayer groups and even our outreach teams... so what is going on?

Well in this little book first published in 2005, but now revised and updated (with more up to date statistics) for 2011 David Morrow expresses succinctly, and often with a nice touch of humour, the fears, boredom and dissatisfaction many men feel within modern Christianity. He writes practically about what many of us have felt for a long time; that the church, with all its lovey dovey worship songs, bright colours, “group sharing times” and feminine ideals, is fast becoming a cold house for men.

That’s not to say that us men want darkened rooms, with songs about death interspersed with long periods of silence and a Scriptural message on how to go to war.

Rather Murrow’s book calls to the church to re-address the balance, and to take a good hard look at itself. Where we speak of “relationships” should we really speak of “cooperation”? Should we forget the chatty door to door evangelism in favour of the logistical practical needs evangelism? Is our conception of God becoming  too feminine?

  

Could it be that the language of the average church is just too “womanly” for men?

I can almost hear the chuckles coming from all the girls out there, scoffing at the idea of men feeling emasculated in church, but ladies I too must admit that I have felt many of the fears, and anxieties expressed in this book. In fact reading other’s reviews of the book I can see quite a big difference opening up to this book, with men generally praising it for its honesty and ability to address our common problems with the current state of the church, and women generally saying that it’s a good book but ultimately the problem is with men, rather than the church.

Personally speaking I think this book is great for anyone who seriously wants to learn about what had put men off Christianity, and for anyone who wants to lay the groundwork before starting to revitalise men’s ministry and attract them back in the church. It shows that men do have gifts and talents that are truly needed within the church, even if Murrow often presents “real” men as muscle bound, beer drinking, “i’m gonna punch you face” types... which means that the rest of us men who attend church at present are “feminine” and “girly”, which I found quite rude but well I got over it pretty quickly.

For Murrow it’s about giving men the opportunity to live their faith in the local church, rather than expecting them to leave it at the door... and before anyone asks I assure you it’s not anti-feminist or anything like that, nor is it a book for Mr. Macho (though he certainly gets high praise) out there, but rather an easy to read, and humorous assessment of what is a worrying trend within our churches and what’s causing it... which makes this a book as much for the men out there as it is for the ladies. 

**********************

This book was kindly given to me for free by the publisher "Thomas Nelson" in return for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed are indeed my own. 

Munchin!

Today is one of those days when the Church of Ireland pauses to remember one of those “among the cloud of Irish witnesses”. Unlike other parts of the Anglican community we don’t seem to have that many on our Calendar of Saints and many of those considered by other Christians as Saints are only referred to as “servants”. These “servants” while not viewed as Saints are however viewed as witnesses to God in Ireland and are deserving of our remembrance.

To be blunt the remembrance of Saint’s lives, never mind those of our Church’s witnesses, seems to be the exception rather than the norm amongst most parishes, but I cannot understand why. This is the land of “Saints and Scholars” and the power of God evidenced in the lives of the God’s Saints and witnesses can provide a great comfort and indeed encouragement to Christian men and women today.

Take the “little monk” Munchin who lived in the 7^th Century, and who we remember this day. Known as “the wise”, Munchin devoted his time to studying the Word of God, as well as prayerful reflection upon Christ, and though little is known of him it is believed that he founded the city of Limerick on land granted to him by an ancient king.

It is true that we know little of him, but when it comes to the Saints and witnesses it’s all about what we can learn...

From Munchin we learn the lesson of devotion to God. We learn that wisdom comes from the diligent study of His Word which is able to make us wise unto Salvation. We learn that prayer is a great way to bring us closer to God and we learn that we should always look to serve the needs of others by giving what we have for the benefit of all (like Munchin did with his land).

So today  in the words of Bishop George Simms “We pray for the bishop, clergy and people of the diocese of Limerick, giving thanks for the tradition of prayer and study begun by Munchin, the "little monk", in a golden period of Irish Christianity and Celtic monastic life.”

Source of all wisdom,
you so inspired your servant Munchin 
that he became affectionately known as 'The Wise': 
Renew in your church the tradition of prayer and study, 
that we may for ever honour you with heart, soul and mind; 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.