Speaking afterwards Richard Charters, The Bishop of London, said: We live in a Post Denominational Age. Establishment and Dissent don't seem to matter any more.
It got me wondering 'Do I really feel Baptist anymore?', especially as I now have the privilege of serving in an ecumenical context at Amersham Free Church where none of us generally know if we are Baptist or URC - however the accent of our many Scottish friends at AFC usually indicates their Presbyterian past!
All of this came into focus for me this week as we spent half term in Italy visiting the beautiful city of Florence dominated by its awe inspiring Roman Catholic Cathedral and numerous churches.
It was outside the Cathedral that I succumbed and had my caricature portrait done - we'll hang it on the wall of the littlest room in the house! The artist was an engaging chatterbox telling me the city receives twenty million tourists a year (half from China) and inevitably he asked me my occupation. I told him I was a 'priest' but not a Roman Catholic one. 'Ahhhh - you are Protestant', he replied, 'You are protesting'!!
Well, am I? Is that how I define my faith - a protesting Protestant?!
Florence is lovely in so many ways and our week there has been terrific and during our stay we were able to attend worship in three of the city's ancient churches. Yet to be truthful this wasn't always the uplifting experience I hoped for. I am probably too wedded to an English version of 'Gothic' architecture to really appreciate its Continental cousin and as the only Italian words I speak are Spaghetti and Lasagna the services were basically incomprehensible to me! In truth I do wonder if faith can get a little lost in old buildings, liturgies and ideas of authority.
So as I sit here in the airport waiting to come home I've come to the conclusion that I do somewhat protest against theological concepts that see God as more powerful than loving and at church traditions that support the status quo by clinging on to priestly and ecclesiastical 'power'.
In their place I don't long for either a post or new denomination era but for the experience of walking alongside fellow Seekers after Truth who sense that love is the deepest, strongest, most comforting and challenging aspect of God we can ever explore or experience. And that God is bigger than any of our constructs so there really is no such thing as 'orthodox' faith or 'infallible' truth. We grasp. We look into the mirror dimly. We delight in mystery and are wary of the delusion of dogma. We seek to walk humbly before God and in companionship with fellow pilgrims.
In short I've come away from this beautiful place (with a fine portrait in my suitcase!!!!) even more convinced that I'm not in the business of 'guarding' truth but 'exploring' it.
Yours, protestingly!!
Ian
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