Please not the following is my personal opinion as one congregant and member of the Anglican Church of Canada. I do not pretend to speak for others.
Vision 2019
Where is your church now and where do you want the Anglican Church to be in 2019?
I am new to the Anglican Church, having been Received into the church in 2003. Yet, I have deep roots of Anglican heritage. I was attracted to the Anglican Church by the fact we discuss the controversial issues and debate about what God wants for us. Even in my Great Grandmother’s day, there was controversy over whether we should be the Anglican Church of Canada or the Church of England in Canada. Since then, there have been (and continues to be) debates on issues such as form of prayer, the role of women and our response to the Lesbian, Gay Male, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) community. This discussion and debate is good as when the debate ends, we know why we believe what we believe. Unfortunately, it is also very messy– certainly messier than having following declarations handed down by church hierarchy.
I was also attracted to the Anglican Church because it reaches out to and includes people. Recently, the church has included women in ordained ministry. Anglicans were among the first to seek reconciliation with First Nations in Canada and non-European peoples around the world. Furthermore, the church has been willing to at least listen to its LGBT children. Again this is messy. It would be much neater if we did not have to deal with some of the issues of inclusiveness, outreach and reconciliation.
So, the answer to the first part of the question, where the church is now, is that the church is in one wonderful Godly mess, sorting out serious issues and trying to find answers that are very hard to find. In this regard, we are reaching (and teaching), baptizing and nurturing new believers, responding to human need, transforming unjust structures of society and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of Christ. This enables us to meet the final mark of mission, safeguarding the integrity of God’s creation to renew the life of the planet God has given us as home– although we are not sure how we will fulfill that function yet.
So, where should we be in the year 2019? That is not so easy to answer.
Quite frankly, we have only one choice if we are to continue to bring all people unto Christ. We must be an inclusive church. Our doors must be open and welcoming, letting God work through His Holy Spirit in all His people.
How do we become inclusive? How do we balance different needs of peoples within our community? How can we be open to people from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds? How do we serve families in our parish communities? How do we continue the process of reconciliation with peoples whom the church has offended and oppressed? How do we ensure youth and young adults will feel our church– and our forms of worship– are relevant to them? How do we make sure that LGBT Christians are welcome in our churches and parishes?
Quite frankly, these are not issues of “either/or”, but rather, “both/and”. We must grow in understanding — finding ways that different needs will be accommodated and respected. Like it or not, this means coming to some understanding and making compromises on many of the controversial issues– and yet without compromising what God asks of us.
We must engage in a dialogue of listening to each other, even when we disagree. This requires respect. We must also learn to understand the deep meanings of God’s word to us in the Bible in the context of both Biblical and present times, taking the Bible seriously, not so literally or so lightly that it becomes little more than ancient Pagan mythology.
There is a great deal of work to do, but the good news is that it will continue to be messy. It involves trusting local congregations, parishes and dioceses a greater degree of autonomy to serve the unique needs of their people. Begin by emphasizing service– service to God (including, but not limited to worship and obedience) and service to His people.
In worship, continue the historical process of change represented by both the Book of Common Prayer and the Book of Alternative Services in order to ensure worship is a living process, not dead ritual. In First Nations parishes, this may mean including burning of Sweet grass as part of the service. In parishes with large numbers of African people, this may mean including traditional African music, drumming and dance. In parishes with many young people, perhaps more emphasis must be on music liturgy and use of modern music and other art forms.
To obey God, we must understand His word and commandments in both Biblical and modern contexts, realizing scientific and cultural understandings have changed dramatically. This affects our response to people within our churches, including LGBT people.
To serve people, we must enhance ministries of service. Maybe we can look to the example of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who saw her work among the impoverished of Calcutta as service to Christ Himself, living among us in the disguise of the poor and rejected.
Once we have a general vision of where our church must go in 2019, 2029, 2039 and beyond, dioceses and parishes must construct visions for the people in their immediate communities. This will determine their outreaches, ministries and services. For example, it makes little sense for northern parishes to consider blessing same-sex unions when they really need to focus on the needs of First Nations people, many with histories of bad experiences with religion. On the other hand, some parishes in large cities must consider their outreach and service to the LGBT community or immigrant communities.
One hint: We must look for solutions on issues from different perspectives than we have considered so far. In the matter of blessing same-sex marriages, for example, focus on support communities can give to such marriages after any blessing service. A rural parish without resources to help same-sex couples live faithful, monogamous and committed relationships (including providing marriage preparation and crisis counselling services) has no business blessing those unions. On the other hand, where there is a larger LGBT community, blessing same-sex marriages (legal marriages, not just a decision to live together), may be the key to encourage Lesbians and Gay men in our church to live their lives, including their sexuality, in faithful, committed, Holy and Godly service to Him, the community and each other. Only local congregations, parishes and dioceses can make final decisions on their ministries on issues like this.
Let us never forget that God calls all His people to Holiness. How are we helping all our brothers and sisters to respond to that call? If we answer that question, then and only then do have a vision for 2019.
