It is odd for Ordinangst to be called to a Church that is, if the media is to be believed, tearing itself apart as people leave the CofE in droves to join the Ordinariat. While it is clear to a man of as little brain as Ordinangst that not very many are going really. Given the rate that attendance numbers are plummeting anyway, what’s a couple of hundred here and there? The Ordinariate is a statistical insignificance to a much deeper and more worrying problem.
What grieves Ordinangst is that our soon-to-be-Roman-Catholic brethren are making such a song and dance about leaving. Where’s the grace in putting on press conferences to announce your decision to leave a Church that is, for all its manifold imperfections is still, at its heart, a community that is trying to express Jesus’ love to the outside world? Ordinangst has never seen much evidence of Jesus getting flouncy and huffy (OK the money-lenders incident was a tad theatrical I grant you). Can’t we just wish each other well, give ‘em a good send off and, er, move on to the real task in hand which is to bring more people into the Church – both to replace those lost in the Ordinariat and then some. We have to get over this paralysis that is stopping the Church from looking outwards with a message of hope and salvation, and we have to do it fast if we are going to have a church left. Selfishly, Ordinangst would quite like a job at the end of all this.
But what grieves Ordinangst also is the fact that these people are clearly so hurt by the way they have been treated in recent years. Talk to an Anglo-Catholic (and Ordinangst has done a bit of this recently) and you will hear stories of feeling trampled on and ridden rough-shod over by the newly empowered evangelical cavalry. Why has the Universal Church has not had the width (or is it the grace) to accommodate everybody? Did all sides of the debate really approach these issues in a spirit of love? Ordinangst wonders if it has all got a little bit vicious. Jesus may not have been flouncy but he wasn’t harsh either.
I hope that the publicity around those leaving for the Ordinariate is not meant to be a slight on the Church they are leaving. I would rather like to hope that where they are seeking publicity it is to offer encouragement to those struggling with the decision whether to stay or go, that they might take comfort in knowing that the OrdinarIate will be a signifcant body of people with a long term future in the Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this comment Richard. I would rather hope so too. I think we should embrace people's decision to leave - it can't be an easy choice to make - particulaly for those who are ordained. Worth pointing out perhaps that there was always an "open door" to leave the Anglican Church and join the Church of Rome. Many people have done this in the past with little ceremony - one or two of them very dear to me.
ReplyDeletePS. Here's a link to the wonderful @ruthiegledhill on youtube who videoed the press conference. It's been a while since I watched it - would be interested to hear whether you think they have achieved what you would like them to....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJcArGjy8lI&feature=more_related