Category: Ecclesiology

Seven Things the Council of Bishops Executive Committee Got Wrong

Seven Things the Council of Bishops Executive Committee Got Wrong

A more hopeful outlook on this matter can be found here. Read it. I want the author to be right. I fear the ones in whom he trusts are not as charitable as he is.

Most of us have a practice within our personal and professional relationships to always allow for the most charitable interpretation of an individual’s words and actions. When there is any doubt as to their intent—assume the best. Someone turns in a report with erroneous information. Is it a lie? Is it incompetence? Did they believe it to be true, but relied on a faulty source? Is it a transposition error that they aren’t even aware of? With no evidence to support any of these theories it is best to approach the situation with the most charitable of interpretations. However, if the individual has a long and uninterrupted history of presenting faulty information which always results in their personal gain, then it is reasonable to presume that the most charitable interpretation is the one most likely to be wrong. Continue reading “Seven Things the Council of Bishops Executive Committee Got Wrong” →

Ad Orientem: Uniting Words With Action

Ad Orientem: Uniting Words With Action

When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,  O Lord, have mercy if you please

The irony of this wonderfully composed Eucharistic hymn is that the pastor leading it has no intention of doing either (falling on their knees or facing liturgical east). An equally great irony is that it was introduced into our hymnal the same year that our Book of Worship instructed us to stop doing these things. Perhaps, if the words were changed to fit our actions, “As I stand on my feet to praise the ones with whom I eat,” then it would add more import to the next clause: “O Lord, have mercy…” Continue reading “Ad Orientem: Uniting Words With Action” →

Schism, or Church Growth?

Schism, or Church Growth?

 

In Acts 15 we hear of the church in Antioch being accused by representatives of the church in Judea of getting so much wrong that they could not be saved. “Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them.” The Greek is considerably stronger. It works out to something like, “standing together and seeking to understand each other…they did not!” These people did not want to be around each other and had no desire to come to an agreement. They were in each other’s face. Yet, the beauty in it, the holiness of the moment is how they chose to proceed: “Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.” Continue reading “Schism, or Church Growth?” →