What does it take to unite the Church of England? Not much it seems – but let’s have a look. We have disagreed about so much since Queen Elizabeth I appointed herself Supreme governor and espoused the great middle way which was supposed to please everyone (and didn’t! But hey, you were only fined for not going to church rather than being burnt at the stake, or worse).
My so called wide church can accommodate a range of beliefs about God, the divinity of his son, the truth of the resurrection and the existence of that mysterious force, the Holy Spirit. Is there a real presence at Communion, is it merely a memorial of the Last Supper, or do the bread and wine in fact turn into the body and blood of Christ? Do we believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, or is it an ancient script that we must understand in context before applying it to our lives?
Discussions range from women, prayers, hymns and marriage
So much for the theology. What about the social and moral stance of my beloved Anglican church? Are women priests a God-given benefit, a practical solution to a lack of men or a diabolical idea dreamed up by a fifth column of feminists within the clergy? There has been debate ever since the first women were ordained at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1994 but happily most of us see women’s ministry as valuable and essential. The appointment of women bishops was another dimension in the ongoing discussion and now, infuriating some but to the delight of others – a woman Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally.
We have also disagreed on the prayer book – should the Book of Common Prayer, Cranmer’s magnificent monument to both faith and literature, have been sidelined by the Alternative Service Book with its utilitarian language and different forms of service? Approaches to worship are also diverse with some preferring the organ, hymns and the liturgy whilst others prefer guitars, worship songs and a more ‘stream of consciousness’ approach.
Maybe, although we disagree on much of the above, the Anglican Communion has just about held together. But the latest dispute which is tearing us apart is the subject of marriage and whether the Church should marry same sex couples or, at the very least, hold a service of blessing. Marriage is barely on the agenda but there has been outrage from some quarters about the use of prayers for the happy couple. In fact, schism is threatened and the Church in Nigeria has already pulled away from the Communion, citing Sarah Mullally’s support for such services.
So can nothing truly unite us from what I consider to be serious differences in actual belief to the more minor ones, in my opinion, on whether to marry or bless gay unions? (I can hear the yells of fury from churches not so far from here).
Christmas is not cancelled
However, just when I had concluded (what I always knew was true) that we Anglicans were as sad and broken as any other institution on God’s earth, I was given hope. Yesterday I received a CofE video on my Instagram – Christmas is not cancelled. It is clear that it is a direct response to Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’s (aka Tommy Robinson amongst other aliases) carol service in Whitehall, with the intention of ‘putting Christ back into Christmas’. Attended by about 1,000 of his familiars, sadly including some so called Christian ministers, it was a MAGA style flag waving rally. There was a counter protest outside St Paul’s Cathedral, pointing out that Jesus was a refugee and definitely not English.
If, as the Bishop of Kirkstall noted, ‘the far right has parked its tanks on the front lawn of the Church of England’, this video is at once a defence, an affirmation of inclusivity and diversity and an open invitation to come and spend Christmas at a church near you. Reflecting our multicultural society, with clips of nativity plays, male and female priests, ordinary people, and archbishops it talks of the hope, love, joy and good news of Christmas.
Can we not as Anglicans and Christians take this message into the New Year and beyond? We really do not need to argue about second order issues such as women archbishops, same sex marriage or forms of worship, at the same time putting people off and becoming more and more irrelevant. We need only to proclaim the inclusive message of Christmas, that Christ is with us and that in the words of the video, “Everyone’s invited”.
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