Voices of the Ages

I ran across this on the Father Jake Stops the World blog, it's pretty good food for thought...-pmc

Voices of the Ages

________________________________

1st Century:
"Certainly Gentiles have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place Gentiles may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far the traditional theology of the church lets us move in that direction."

7th Century:
"Certainly followers of Augustine have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about not only the date of Easter, but the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place followers of Rome may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far the Celtic tradition of the church lets us move in that direction."

12th Century:
"Certainly Anglo-Saxon people have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place Anglo-Saxon people may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far Norman church tradition lets us move in that direction."

16th Century:
"Certainly recusants and dissenters have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place recusants and dissenters may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far the Established Church and Crown lets us move in that direction."

18th Century:
"Certainly colonials have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place colonials may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far Parliament lets us move in that direction."

19th Century:
"Certainly slaves throughout the Empire have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place slaves may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far slave owners let us move in that direction."

1900 - 1960's:
"Certainly African Americans have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place African Americans may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far white American tradition lets us move in that direction."

1970's:
"Certainly women have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place women may hold in offices of the church. The question is how far the traditional patriarchial theology of the church lets us move in that direction."

21st Century:
"Certainly gay and lesbian people have a place in the church as do all the baptized. The debate is currently about the appropriate limits of pastoral care and the place gay and lesbian people may hold in the offices of the church. The question is how far the traditional theology of the church lets us move in that direction." (The Most Reverend and Right Honorable Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, 21 September AD 2007, New Orleans, LA, USA)

Paul Woodrum

CHURCH and Church and church...and...?

The Episcopal Cafe blog quotes an interesting article about the Pope's recent statements about the validity of non Roman Catholic Churches. It seems that he takes a rather hard line about non Roman Catholic churches ... leaving the Eastern Orthodox "wounded" churches, and the Protestant Churches not churches at all... read the article, and the start of some interesting comments here. I know that more people will comment very soon on this topic, and it is not one that is at all a "new" topic, but it does raise for me the difference between the way that "church" is practiced and "done" at the grass-roots level (the local church) as it compares with the church universal. The ways that Christians live out their faith in their own context may look somewhat different than the ways that the Pontiff may discuss his faith and his understanding of faith and practice. I wonder how this document will affect ecumenical work. Will it stymie it? or, will people keep doing the good that they are doing ecumenically no matter what the Pope says?

I need to mull this all over. I took an absolutely great class while in seminary over at Catholic University, taught by a great professor, Rev. Dr. Patrick Granfield. The class was made up of a wide variety of people training for ministry, ELCA, Missouri Synod Lutheran, A.M.E., Episcopal, UCC, Methodist, Roman Catholic. At no time did I feel like "my ministry" or those from other Protestant denominations were "lesser partners" in the mission of the Church. I would hope that this type of thing would be the norm.

Why then does the Pope make this statement, at this time? The answer may be contained in a comment on the Episcopal Cafe site, "Benedict XVI has been pursuing a policy of reconciliation with the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX for short..." ...interesting!


An excerpt...
Apostolic Succession and the Catholic Church

From today's Arizona Republic

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday asserted the spiritual primacy of the Roman Catholic Church.

He did so at the expense of Christian Orthodox churches, which he said are wounded, and Protestant churches, which he said are not really churches at all.

The pope approved a document that says the only path to true salvation is Catholicism. The move was a stark reaffirmation of centuries-old Catholic belief that Protestant churches are lacking because they cannot trace their leadership back to Christ's apostles.

The document says Christian Orthodox churches are true churches but have a "wound" because they do not recognize the power of the pope.

Since I was just ordained to the transitional diaconate 6 days ago, my wife and family are just at the beginning of the adjustment period for learning some of the issues of being a "clergy family" and a "clergy spouse." Luckily, my sponsoring rector and his spouse have been good models for us, as well as several other priests that we know. Also, during seminary my wife made close friends to discuss some of the implications of being a clergy spouse.

I was on the Episcopal Cafe blog and found this entry on "A Priest's Wife Buys Underwear" written by Sara Mcginley, which is just wonderful, insightful and hilarious. I surfed over to her other blog called "Sara Mcginley" and it is also great ...


We are about to move to New York for the summer, where I will be exercising my diaconal ministry mostly serving those in need ... in this case, I will be watching my two young boys (under 5 years old) while my wife pursues a master's degree. After she has supported me in seminary for three years (as well as the discernment process before that!), it is really the least I can do. Do I have some trepidation about being in New York City and have as my charges two energized young boys for 8-9 hours a day? Well, yes I do. I hope to reflect upon this intensive parenting and "incarnational" spiritual practice in this blog, as well as post them in a new blog dedicated to my deacon summer in NYC.

There is a lot to do in NYC and I am excited about the adventure, I'm sure it will be formational for me!