There is a tension between tradition which says the bishop
is called to teach, to govern and to sanctify in the Roman model and in the
free catholic movement where all the bishop really is a function just to
ordain.
There is a tension between innovation which would give the
bishop no more authority then anyone else in the church to having a bishop who
rules with absolute authority and no decision is accountable to anyone.
As one who has been in Independent movement for the last
twenty two years, I have seen it all and this movement tends to embrace the
worse elements of a roman clerical class.
The bishops are not to be blame for this reality alone. Laity and potential clergy give into by
limiting their understanding of what a bishop can and should do from the very
denominations that they have left behind for reasons beyond just theology.
The process leads to a focus on ordination and not mission
and ministry. No one should be ordained
who does not have or really begun the process of an authorized, active and accountable
ministry in which laity are a key part of the ministry.
So how does a bishop have authority. One they should be
elected by clergy and people who are committed to mission and ministry in deed
and word. Secondly, they lead from the
altar. The Eucharistic Community is where they take leadership embracing the
ministry of presbyters, deacons and laity in the liturgy. This model then moves
to expression in the life of the church governing and ministering. If Christ is the head of the church, the
Bishop is sacramental expression of ministry that forms for all in the waters
of baptism. It is chiefly the eucharist
that shows the catholicity of the church and prepares clergy and laity to be
leaders in the body of Christ.
So it really isn’t about Bishops, it’s baptized people who
are called to ordained and non-ordained ministry and community in Christ that
is our focus.
So as we think about being a church where all the baptized
are welcome to the table, how do we do church differently? The Synodal model embrace
with a right understanding that it not simply democratic, but that it’s
authority comes as a result of our sacramental ministry. We make decisions on
how we enable people to do ministry, not on how do leave people out of ministry.
A call to ministry involves more than academics, but that we form people to
live out their baptismal calling for ordained and non-ordained ministry. For clergy and laity formation is the key to
training for mission. The World Council
of Churches’ document on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry offers a theological
rationale for embracing a sacramental lifestyle. We also understand that if a
community is not present, there is no ministry. While one’s ministry is formed
on the altar, you must leave the altar to engage with God’s people in the
community. I’m not sure that just focusing on ex-catholics should be a priority
as much as seeking those who are unchurched and dechurched to introduce or
reintroduced them to life in Christian Community. Too often in this movement we
want to use a build and watch them come church, when it might be a get your
vision in prayer and the sacraments and then go out and invite people to be in
community. The reason, I love John Wesley so much, he was not content with the
established way of church, but going to people where they were and organizing
them into societies who sought spiritual and social holiness through the means
of grace.
We are free to let each local community function in their
local context, while embracing a common mission and ministry through the
sacraments, creeds and ministry in the community. These communities are called
to an authorized, active and accountable ministry, not just the prebyster or
deacon.
For us local congregations are where the mission and
ministry of the wider church is activated.
At the beginning of a new movement, fellowship or denomination this
where our primary focus must engage and we must form leadership from our
congregations or communities.
To be ecumenical means that we must not expect all Christians
to accept our catholicity, but we must welcome the gifts they bring to us from
outside of tradition that affirms tradition and invite new ways of looking at
serving the community. We have gained an ecumenical consensus that Sunday
worship is one that embraces the word and the table. Go take a look at the
Presbyterian Book of Common Worship, United Methodist Book of Worship and the
Lutheran Book of Worship, we are all on the same path that starts at the font
of baptism and finds that at the Table of the Lord, nourished by the Word, we
all have a ministry to fufill in this “present age”
One last topic, is has been said to me on more than one occasion,
we don’t want to be a “gay church” I understand the sentiment, but if that is
who God has called to be in mission with us , because they have been on the
margins of church and society than let it be. What I know is that not only will
LGBT people be drawn to our work, but our straight allies, women and people of
color. No one complains that most
churches are Euro-centric and expects everyone to embrace that model.
I remain committed to having a Christ-centered, radicially
inclusive, racially, diverse, spirit-filled fellowship that honors our
tradition and ancient, but is not afraid to engage innovation and the future.
I remain committed to created an truly ecumenical Catholicism
while embracing the lessons learned from our reformed Protestant friends. I
remain committed to a message that embrace liberation from oppression while
saying that we believe liberation from sin, both social and individual sin.
I believe that we are first to “seek the kingdom of God and
allow the other things to be added.”
We are called to be a different church, have catholicity
that is different from what we have inherited. We are an ancient-future church,
we do not fear tradition and innovation and we are not ruled by it alone. We
are not a bishop-centered movement, but a sacramental movement inviting people to follow Jesus Christ.
