I was struck yesterday whilst taking the midweek Eucharist that we were in effect our own mini Lambeth Conference. After the service, gathered around one table, we were from Nigeria, Scotland, Sri Lanka, England, Wales and we had strong connections with Canada and the US.
It is even more real on a Sunday when we would have folk from South Africa, Zimbabwe and the far east to add into the mix.
The bonds of affection over a cup of tea after a service are real. They are more real to me much of the time than the official Instruments of Communion which include the official Lambeth Conference which is now underway. We are an Anglican Communion congregation not simply by the fact that we are a member of one of the Churches of the Communion. We are the Communion, as we gather.
Yes, yes, yes! In any language you like. It makes it even more incomprehensible that some of those attending Lambeth have said that they will not share communion with certain other people attending Lambeth. God help us all.
That was me, by the way. Sorry
For many of us who feel some isolation in our physical location, come the bonds of affection as we participate in the various blog communities around the inter-tubes. Sometimes these bonds are lived out by folks who have opportunity to seek one another out face to face in real time.
Members of the community that gathers around the Mad Priest gathered in NTC from surrounding states (provinces?). One came from as far away as Louisiana.
There is also a great sense of loss at this moment as the community which gathered around Father Jake has dissipated with the closing of Jake’s Place. Some have tried to pull together the pieces of shattered community with new blogs, but it is not the same for most.
So as some perhaps prepare an afternoon tea, I raise my morning cup of homegrown arabica, ¡Salud!
Hi Kelvin, from hot and sunny Canterbury, how true you are, we have just attend worship led by our ecumenical guests, we all shared the Creed and a real sense of together.
The morning eucharists have been filled with people and prayer and the retreat in the Cathedral was a powerful way to start. Please keep talking that end, we are all talking down here.
Thanks for all the comments.
David – thanks for your remarks. I’m very much aware that though people often blame the internet for trouble in the church, its power to bring folk together from far flung places is a power for good.
Mark – good to hear from you. Sounds as though things have begun well.
Thanks be to God! I read stories like this and I am filled with so much hope for the future. I’m grateful that St Mary’s is a place of radical hospitality.