A different way of being church and catholic following Christ in a sacramental life!

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.