Ministry Team Letters July – December 2008
Dear Friends,
As I write this – and perhaps as you read it, if you do so by August 3rd – the Lambeth Conference is taking place in Canterbury. As you probably know, this conference takes place once every ten years, and all bishops in the Anglican Communion are invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury to attend. More than 800 are there this time. The conference has been in the news on and off over the past couple of weeks, often for dispiriting reasons. There are deep and possibly unbridgeable rifts in the communion, which is composed of all those churches which regard themselves as being “in communion with the See of Canterbury”, or in other words in the same tradition of reformed catholicism as the Church of England. (It is worth remembering that the Church of England only exists within the borders of England itself. All other churches in the same tradition, including those in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, have their own national or regional leadership and look to the Archbishop of Canterbury as a symbolic head only.)
The divisions are ostensibly over how the church should treat homosexual people, and over the leadership of women in the church, but at their root they are to do with how we understand God. We all agree that God is love, but how is that love expressed in the church? Does God rejoice in faithful sexual love between people of the same sex, as He undoubtedly rejoices in similar relationships between men and women, or does He not? Does the Spirit of God call and anoint women to lead His church, or does He not? There are those who are passionately convinced that they know the answer to these two questions very clearly, and it is very hard to see how a passionate ‘yes’ and a passionate ‘no’ could remain united in the same church. Just so you know where I stand, my answer to the first question would be ‘yes, I think so, but it has taken me quite a while to come to this point of view, and I am aware of doubts and prejudices still within me’, and to the second, ‘yes, surely He does.’ But I am passionately convinced of this: that division in the church is a grave sin, and that all must be willing to compromise to avoid it, and also that there are voices crying out to us in despair that we are willing to throw away our unity on these matters while much of the world struggles simply to live.
When Bishop Gabriel from Japan visited us last week, we went together to Ely Cathedral. He was very struck by the Lady Chapel, in which every single statue has had the face deliberately chiselled off it by religious fanatics at the Reformation. He said this to me: ‘You can see the story of our church in this chapel, can’t you? Doesn’t it show how wrong it is to be an extremist?’ I agree. There is enough unyielding absolutism in the world – can we not offer a gentler way, even at some cost to ourselves? That sounds more Christ-like to me.
With Love,
David
Dear Friends,
By the time you read this, our new curate Mary Jepp will have been with us officially for just a few days. It is such a joy to welcome Mary and her family to the family of St Mary’s, and a great privilege to be able to work with her as she begins her ordained ministry. I know we are all going to enjoy Mary’s company and benefit greatly from her many gifts. I am also very confident that St Mary’s and the wider Godmanchester community will take her and her family to their hearts and give her all the encouragement and support she needs. This will obviously be a new experience for Mary – and it should not be forgotten that it is a new experience for all her family, not least for her husband Mike, who never expected when he married her to end up as what he calls ‘a vicar’s wife’. It is also a new experience for me. I am fairly sure that we have been lucky enough to ‘get’ Mary not so much because of anything I can offer as because this parish is used to receiving curates and can give them a warm welcome and show them a vibrant slice of Church of England parish life ‘in the round’. So I hope no-one will mind too much if I remind you what a curate is, and is not.
The main thing to remember is that Mary is here to continue her training in ministry, not as an ‘extra pair of hands’ for me. All newly-ordained ministers must spend a few years as a curate before taking on the responsibility for a parish, or moving on to some other kind of ministry. Mary, in common with all beginning their ordained ministry, is first made a deacon, not a priest. A deacon is a member of the clergy, addressed formally as Reverend and wearing a dog collar, but is not able to celebrate Holy Communion, pronounce blessings or absolutions, or (normally) conduct weddings. He or she can lead any other kind of service, preach, take funerals and baptisms, and do all the other things that might be expected of any member of the clergy. Almost without exception, a deacon is ordained priest after a year. Mary will probably be with us for three full years. Sometime in her fourth year, we will have to release Mary to her next appointment, whatever that might be.
Mary comes to us with a great deal of experience, as a Christian, a teacher, and a Reader, besides all that has gone before in her life to bring her to this point. She is not starting with a blank slate, by any means, but it is an overwhelming and life-changing experience to receive ordination, and she will need the support and love of us all to help her become the minister God has called her to be. Mary, God bless you and Mike, Robin and Toby. We are delighted you are here, and look forward eagerly to sharing with you in the life of God in Godmanchester.
With Love,
David