Isaiah 58.6-11; Ephesians 4.1-13; John 12.31-36
Address for WPCU Sunday
A couple of weeks ago I had a chat with someone, who like me, had experiences of Christian Unity in another part of the country, and who had also ended up living in this benefice. A benefice where there are no buildings of other churches left. We are very welcoming to those of other denominations who come to worship with us, but it’s not the same as having other church organisations to work with in the ‘patch’.
So for this address I have decided to offer you two flights of fancy – one in a very different setting from what we see day to day – the other takes us back in time.
Some decades ago we were in rural Northumberland in an area even more remote than this part of Shropshire. I felt called to move to a housing estate area between Newcastle and Tynemouth. An area which would fit between Pulverbatch and here, but with a population of over 40,000. The other major differences with here were; it had no church building (services took place in the Community Centre) and ministry was shared with Methodists in what was called a LEP (Local Ecumenical Project). In time we were joined by the United Reformed Church in building a church which was as widely ecumenical as possible – three denominations worshipped together, we had a architect from the Reformed Jewish tradition, employed Jewish structural engineers, and had it built by a Roman Catholic builder. Each, I believed, recognised and respected for their skills, insights, and traditions. One night the Methodist Local Preacher, who was one of our number remarked: “the Anglicans bring a sense of ceremony, worship and order; the URC brings scholarship and biblical study; and we Methodists bring reforming zeal. Together we meld them together for all the inhabitants of the estates, whether they are of faith, or none.” I shall never forget the day the scaffolding came down to reveal a stone cross facing the estate. A crowd gathered with tears in their eyes, crying for joy they said, “now we are a proper estate”. Symbols, however simple, are important. When dedicated it had the name The Church of the Good Shepherd.
During this time on Tyneside I appreciated the security of having a stipend, while those of other traditions relied on congregational giving. For one of them there was a cost to ecumenical participation. Roland, the Assemblies of God minister joined in all ecumenical matters. Many of his congregation did not and withdrew their tithing towards his pay. And rang him up month to see if God, through poverty, had brought him to his knees. He stuck to his principles and others from various traditions stood by him.
The flight of fancy in time is one which takes us back to the mid-nineteen-eighties. Forty years ago did you take part in the “Not Strangers But Pilgrims” process? The movement which started in small ecumenical groups, moved through denominational structures to national conferences in Scotland Ireland, Wales and England and culminated in the famous Swanwick Conference of September 1987. The over 300 delegates came from over thirty denominations. I will be forever grateful that I was chosen as a delegate from the Church of England to be part of the birth of what has been known since then as Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. The sense of prayerful thoughtfulness in worship and study had to be experienced to be believed. So many wonderful moments which still linger in the memory. If I may be allowed one ‘name drop’ it would be that I acted as scribe/raconteur to the study group chaired by Monseigneur Vincent Nichols (recently retired Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster). At the end of the conference we were each given a shell as a symbol of our collegiate unity.
Churches Together replaced the moribund British Council of Churches and breathed new life into ecumenism, especially in towns and cities like Shrewsbury, Ludlow and Hereford. Churches Together Around Ludlow managed to incorporate all the surrounding villages as well as the all the town denominations. But that has not been possible everywhere. One of our Quaker members made a model representing all the churches which signed up to the covenant. This was displayed every time we came together. Signs, however simple, are important.
Some of us feel the hopes of forty years ago have not all been fulfilled. Although signed the Anglican/Methodist covenant of more than a decade ago has rarely been enacted. However, my successors at the church of the Good Shepherd now act as both Anglican Priest and Methodist minister.
The annual week of prayer for Christian Unity starts today and continues for an octave. The theme is:
“There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the hope of your calling”
as found in the letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 4. If you click on the website of WPCU you will find background material and prayer materials for each day of the week. I commend this material as it reinforces that we pray for unity, that all Christian people should be one, not uniformity. We need to celebrate our diversity in worship and practice.
This year’s service and prayers come to us from the Armenian Apostolic Church, based in Jerusalem, together with their colleagues in the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical churches. The Armenian churches have drawn on the moral authority of their history of displacement, violence and persecution to call for collective Christian action in advocacy for peace for all people. Their prayers and services for the week emphasise that Christianity transcends cultural and national boundaries, uniting believers worldwide in faith and hope. They bring their insights of faith from more than sixteen centuries. The Armenian Church leaders challenge us to embrace the divine calling to unity, not as an abstract concept but as a vital expression of our faith.
The question for us in this part of rural Shropshire is how we put that ideal into practice. There may be four things which we can all do:
1. Pray each day this week, and then each day, for unity and mutual respect among all Christians.
2. Support one another and celebrate our God-given diverse gifts and talents.
3. Continue to extend the right hand of fellowship to those of faith, and those of none.
4. Carrying on with welcoming those of other denominations to our services; and going beyond that to ask those of other traditions to share their insights in our worship.
Amen