4 responses to “tae see oorsels as ithers see us”
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My children just don’t understand it. Nor do they understand why I stay.
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I suspect that the children of very many Christians in the UK these days don’t understand and don’t stay. We can see that laid out for us in page after page of diocesan and provincial statistics.
And still we are expected to cheer on Archbishops who propose amendements which would institutionalise treating women as having less authority than men and also Bishops who tell us that banning gay people from leadership roles is good.
In both these cases we are supposed to believe that these actions keep the church together. Meanwhile the children leave bewildered.
Hear what the Spirit says to the children.
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What surprises me is that it’s the same term “evangelical” that went from connoting “student-ish” in the 90s to “happy” (reserving outright clappy for those of charismatic designation) to “evangelicals come in Open form too!” now to “traditionalist” in matters of Backwards Beyond Belief(TM).
Now I’m used to the arguments being “our tradition, restated more-so and louder” versus “put the Bible in context” – at least one party talking theologically.
For a fresh thought, is the CoE (in particular, but also the AC in general) a bit preoccupied with not losing any *one* bum-on-its-3-legged-seat? There is a tension in the dynamic that could be resolved well by a large-scale rotation in membership – redefine the denominational lines by issues not history – that leads to a slimy weasely position of “I sort of want to go but don’t have the honesty to get on with it so I’ll sit around being a thorn in the canonical flesh and blame the church for trying to push me out”.Social evolution is too slow; that is where injustice lies.
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I often ask me why I stay, and I’m in my late fifties. In the end, it is because I feel cheated without other people to worship with, and, well, to be a kind of thorn in the canonical flesh for the conservatives!!
Previous Posts
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Coming Out, Coming In, Coming Home
There’s a new online magazine launched today. It is called Mosaic Scotland, it looks gorgeous and it has an article from me in the first issue. It is classy, sassy and has articles by lots of people I know. This is what I wrote for it: There are not that many months that go by…
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The Cumbrae Revels
Here’s some pics from last Saturday. I was on the island of Greater Cumbrae at the Cathedral of the Isles to see its two new canons installed. They are the Dean of that diocese – the Very Rev Andrew Swift and the Provost of St John’s Cathedral, Oban the Very Rev Nicola McNelly. Here they…
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Sunday’s Sermon
Many people were kind enough to say encouraging things on Sunday after I preached this. Sadly I’ve got some problems with the video and don’t know whether I can make that appear later. In the mean time, here’s the text: And the eyes of everyone were upon him. In the name of God, Creator, Saviour…
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The Silliest Thing I’ve Read about Scottish Independence
We are, of course, currently living through the run up to a vote to determine whether Scotland will remain within the United Kingdom or breakaway to form a new country. I’ve just read the silliest and most foolish thing that I’ve ever read about Independence, published this morning in the Huffington Post. Love America and…
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