tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post8788480617288690255..comments2024-02-13T11:11:28.246+00:00Comments on Bishop Alan’s Blog: UnityBishop Alan Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13879516755776951638noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-87360787928898313192012-04-06T22:03:24.211+01:002012-04-06T22:03:24.211+01:00Thank you for this. It has always seemed to me tha...Thank you for this. It has always seemed to me that in the great prayer for unity in John's gospel the crucial phrase is "as you and I are one". A unity here that is totally transparent ....and that is a grace from God. The unity of Christians is, I believe, a gift given to the church when it/we are trying to follow the way of Christ - which may well be a way of brokenness - and when we are true to ourselves and recognise the integrity of the other - including when we differ. (NB this is nothing like the oxymoron of a church of "2 integrities") This uinty is not a means to an end ; it is a gift, and to confuse the gift that is given by God with the end we are searching for, seems to be dangerous. If we put Christ and Christ's love first in our dealings with each other then we shall be a long way down a road to unity (because we won't be bothering about structures, but relationships). if we aim for unity first then everything else gets lost and sacrificed (sic) for this spurious goal<br /><br />How can anyone put broken bread back together? We can't ourselves - but if we recognise outselves and others as Christ's broken body then we can be held together by Christ. Surely, this is the new covenant for the "forgiveness of sins"<br />A joyous Easter everyone!Rosalindnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-32439835866357336472012-04-06T22:01:36.686+01:002012-04-06T22:01:36.686+01:00Thank you Bishop Alan,
This has been staring us i...Thank you Bishop Alan,<br /><br />This has been staring us in the face for the past 10 or 20 years. We need to be broken to start again.<br /><br />I think that the Institutional Church is broken in different ways, some of which are redeemable, some of which are not.<br /><br />The parts that are redeemable are those that are really working at grass roots, parochial level, those working at the coal face.<br /><br />The bits that are not redeemable, are things like the House of Bishops, The Diocesan Structure, General Synod and the Civil Service employed in places like Lambeth Palace and Church House. <br /><br />If we want to re-imagine Ministry, we need to re-imagine what Church is for, what Jesus calls us to be and not what we have created over centuries of tradition and sometimes uncomfortable agreements, which is what the Anglican Covenant would have been.<br /><br />While we are at it, we need to re-imagine the Anglican Communion back to what I believe it was intended to be - a network of churches, working together to spread the Good news, not to centralise and control. Mission at its essence would be a good start.UKViewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18114944341930758335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-60459677734077702222012-04-06T21:09:42.717+01:002012-04-06T21:09:42.717+01:00For various reasons I have been engaging with how ...For various reasons I have been engaging with how to pray in the world of the covenant and with the legislation about women bishops in the wings. And this Holy Week came to mind "Lord, break us more, that we may be more united". I am not sure it is wholly orthodox, but in the face of the cross, the idea that brokenness is to be wholly despised (Isaiah 53 anyone) - or that a broken body is a wholly abandoned body - dissolves theologically. Only a broken body can carry the hope of resurrection.Mark Bennetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7132206171945839649.post-56370429216168219242012-04-06T19:56:31.585+01:002012-04-06T19:56:31.585+01:00Much needed for a Good Friday that falls in a seas...Much needed for a Good Friday that falls in a season thick with the church's self-deception. The phrase "God accepts all his children so it is foolish to play off one against another" should be on the lips of anyone willing to pit brother against brother for just about any expediency when the Gospel is a fundamentally inconvenient calling.<br /><br />Rev. Torey Lightcap, USA (Iowa)The Rev. Torey Lightcaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11575889913001493762noreply@blogger.com