Anglican to Catholic

I would not ordinarily use this blog to comment on such matters, but I feel it more appropriate to break from my preachings and take up a discussion.

It is one of the blessings of the Christian faith that we find room in a number of different traditions for a very wide spread of belief. As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is about to start, I think the timing of the ordination in the Roman Catholic Church of three former Anglican bishops very unfortunate. Up to last year in our small group of five denominations we included an Anglo-Catholic priest who played a very supportive role. Sadly, he decided to find pastures new and left the area to serve in another Church in Wales pastorate.

The point is that we all got on together so well and worked at bringing worshippers together. I think it is all too easy to search out and espouse different beliefs and opinions which can lead to disunity. From its very inception the Christian Church was obviously likely to take many paths fanning out from the cross and resurrection. Look back to mediaeval days and you would not recognise the Christian faith we share today. But we did make it to this point where love and care are the building blocks of Christian effort. No longer do we consider the burning of those we term heretics. No longer do we insist on the Bible being restricted to a language not spoken by the local population.

We no longer follow the same traditions as the church we read about in the Epistles of Paul. So there is no case to exclude women from ordination. The two denominations to which I have belonged for 60 years had women ministers all through that period. Many of them have proved very effective Christian leaders. Gay priests in New Testament days would have been put to death. Today we can accept them for what they are and not what we would have them be. In fact, it was my trade union as a local government officer that convinced me to stop marginalising gay people and share our campaigns with them.

The diversity of life helps us enjoy our interaction with one another. It brings variety to dullness and blinkered thinking. We ought to be able to celebrate diversity within our various denominations without marginalising so many people. To the former bishops who have now signed up to Catholicism I say, "Be happy in your new home but stop wearing blinkers and try to find peace through prayer and a determination not to step on the toes of others."

Today we face a great enemy together - INDIFFERENCE. I feel sure that fighting this enemy is the hardest effort brought upon Christians in recent times. Despite the increase lately of those studying various aspects of religion the worshippers each Sunday are diminishing. Our thrust must be commitment to humanity, regardless of which church we attend. I can promise fun when we start to debate our differences but the journey is very worthwhile in that we see and understand why we stand so far apart on some issues.

As we commit to another celebration of unity let us pray that God will support togetherness and difference and use us to achieve great goals for him