Here's a line from his speech: We remain stubbornly unreconciled, appear complacent about division, and often also appear all to ready to divide again. We have got used to disunity. We think it’s normal when in fact, it is a disgrace, an affront to Christ and all he came to give us.
Well, maybe looking over the fence and commenting on another
denomination’s synod may be considered bad form, but I have to say Stephen Cottrell’s
words touched me, especially the idea that disunity may even now be considered
the norm.
The context of the Archbishop’s message was not so much ecumenical disunity but
the strife that is tearing the Anglican Church apart at the moment, cantering especially
around issues of sexuality. The same
critique could be made of many Churches, including The Baptist Union which is struggling
hard to find a way forward.
The next few years may see various denominations splitting over this
issue. Perhaps we will not be able to all
sign up to one view on sexuality. The
challenge will then be about how we respect our different interpretations of
scripture. If it’s not too confusing a
thing to say, I pray for a unity even within our disunity; for there is still
so very much that holds us together.
We’ll see, we haven’t reached the end of the road quite yet, but hard and
difficult decisions are before every denomination.
A
hymn, by the United Reformed Church minister, John Campbell has an opening line
which reads like a wonderful prayer:
A body made
of many parts,
diverse, yet
all together,
where each is
valued, each required,
and all are
one forever.
May it be so.
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