'Walking
the Walk’ of Tribal Religion!
I honestly didn’t know whether to
laugh or to cry when I read Chris Sugden’s quote in the article “Row over
Archbishop’s Communion service with gay priests” (21st Sept). It
was not so much that he was reacting to it – that was to be expected – but
that he accused the Archbishop of beginning to ”take us down the road of
tribal religion”. This seemed a little rich coming from Anglican Mainstream
who have been quite openly doing exactly that for some years now.
I remember attending a meeting of
Anglican Mainstream at General Synod in York in 2004 in which a succession of
speakers from parts of Africa and the USA were wheeled out with the clear
message “The time is coming – we are preparing to leave – you will have to
choose – are you with us or against us?”
If this isn’t ‘tribal religion’, I
have to say that I wonder what is.
The Archbishop on the other hand has
been patiently working with all sides in this dispute to keep people talking,
not driving people apart, as he clearly demonstrated this past week in the
United States. He as also been continuing the ‘listening process’ with those
directly affected by the gay issue in the church, and it is that listening
process is taking him - quite rightly - to meet with gay clergy next month.
The problem is, of course, that groups
like Anglican Mainstream and Reform do not want people to talk or listen. Rod
Thomas of Reform says exactly that in this week’s CEN (28th Sept)
in his reaction to the US House of Bishops’ surprise statement. “What we
needed was leadership, and not conversation” was his comment on the
Archbishop’s work in the US.
The real sting of the ‘tribal
religion’ accusation is, of course, that Tribalism is by very nature the
opposite of Communion. But Communion which is not based on conversation – of
talking and listening – of walking together in the Way of Christ – is not
Communion at all.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:29 “For
anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and
drinks judgment on himself” – a verse which evangelicals have always
understood to refer not to the controversial issue of ‘real presence’ but to
recognising the Body of Christ in the fellowship of believers. The Archbishop
will indeed be recognising “the Body of Christ” when he celebrates Communion,
and listens, and talks with gay clergy next month. It is a shame that there
will be those in the wider Body of Christ who will not.
Rev Benny Hazlehurst
Accepting Evangelicals