Showing items filed under “The Rt. Rev. George Sumner”

Communion Matters XXV: The Lambeth Conference - Origins

At the end of this month, bishops from (most of the) Anglican world will gather at Canterbury Cathedral, by the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the Lambeth Conference. It is the occasion for conflictual new stories, pageantry, and pandemic anxiety. In this blog post I want to set the event in a deeper context, both historically and theologically.

Since the beginning, Christians have gathered to take council, and especially when there has been conflict over some teaching or practice, the precedent being the Council in Jerusalem over the inclusion of the Gentiles on an equal footing (Acts 15).  The Creed we say at the Eucharist is the product of a council in Nicaea in the 4th Century, the unification of the English Church, Celtic and Roman, a product of a council in Whitby (at the urging of abbess Hilda) in the late 7th Century, the crisis of multiple popes in the late middle ages leading to a series of councils. Even the Reformers, often seen as the cause of the end of the conciliar impulse, hopes for a worldwide council to settle their disagreements with Rome.  In modern times, the Second Vatican Council in many of our memories led to a Roman Mass in English.  Gathering in council, while sporadic, has taken place throughout Christian history.

The second key background concept is that of primacy, of ancient sees of particular prominence and leadership. In England that was first of all the see of Canterbury, of Augustine himself, sent by Pope Gregory to evangelize the Saxons. Continued to be a focus on unity, through the Reformation period with Thomas Cranmer, the author of our prayer book, himself.  Primacy is meant to be a reminder of the apostolic source of the faith, its continuity, and its gathered unity.  (There are the same purposes for any episcopate, only intensified in these venerable instances).  One can easily see how societies with a strong sense of honoring their forebears, of a tradition of wisdom, and of continuity, would immediately see the value of primacy.  It is no accident that the Archbishop of Canterbury summons the bishops into conclave.

But what of our own Anglican history?  The emergence of a worldwide fellowship of Churches is simultaneous with the beginnings of a gathering of all bishops in communion with Canterbury. The presenting issues were directly related to younger churches and their ties to the Church of England itself. What if a bishop in south Africa taught something deemed to be beyond the pale, in this case having to do with polygamy (the Colenso case), and what if as a result there were contesting claims to be the Anglican Church there? A struggle ensued about whether there could be an actual synod with decision-making power (the Anglo Catholics were for it, the evangelicals against). A compromise was reached, in which counsel and consensus would be sought, though each national church would retain its autonomy. The Conference would depend on bishops listening to, and be persuaded by, one another. Over the years, the prevailing views of issues like polygamy or divorce was influenced. But the theological intent without compelling power has been knit into the Anglican way ever since. It is easy to see the importance and the difficulty coming out of this history for our own day.

+GRS

     

Posted by The Rt. Rev. George Sumner with

Communion Matters XXV: El Sermon de la Fiesta Multi-Cultural

     ¿Como esta nuestro mundo? Parece estar estable, firme, e inmóvil. Pero nosotros sabemos que la realidad es muy diferente. Los planetas pasan rápidamente por de espacio como una bala. El sol quemaría los planetas si se acercaran demasiado. El universo es caos, al igual que uno mismo. ¿Qué lo cambia? Un centro, un punto medio de todo.  Entonces, todos los planetas circulan en relación de un punto del centro. Hacia este punto todos se organizan. El orden no es ausencia de movimiento ya energía violenta. El orden es poner todo en su camino particular.  Cada criatura solo puede crecer con relación del punto original. Con un sistema en lugar de caos, muchísimos planetas se mueven sin colisión, sin desastre, sin confusión.

      Hoy tenemos nuestra celebración anual de todas las culturas representadas por nuestros miembros y nuestros vecinos. Y hoy escuchamos una lectura del evangelio de Lucas sobre muchos demonios habitando el joven, algo doloroso le lo termina lanzando entre los sepulcros. Una multitud diferenciada, con caminos particulares, enriquece la vida común, y una multitud caótica, sin orden, destruye la vida saludable.  ¡Que increíble contraste!  Y la diferencia que decide por un lado a otro - Jesucristo, en punto central del mundo, y de tu vida, clarificando en su presencia, confundiendo en su ausencia. Miremos con más cuidadosamente.

      Comencemos con el evangelio. Recordamos la historia de la Torre de Babel. Era un centro falso que intentaba asumir el lugar de Dios. Esto es idolatría. Es decir, poner un otro en el trono de Dios.  Confusión y caos se siguieron.  Guerra de tribus, racismo y violencia como el principio de las relaciones de seres humanos entraron la historia. Similarmente, pero aquí en una vida individual en lugar de una sociedad, los demonios se pelean a dentro del alma del poseido. Vuelve su ira a el mismo. Aun así, los demonios reconocen a Jesús y demandan su salida porque el quere destruir su reino de la destruccion.  Jesús lanzo los demonios en los cerdos, en la tradición de los judíos, sucios ritualmente. Jesús necesito un cambio drástico y temporal  para establecer la paz. Cuando la vida del joven encontró su punto de referencia, encontrando la alabanza y el orden en Jesús, todos otros en su alrededor encontraron sus lugares proprios también.

    Pero la multitud es posible ser bendita por el hecho de la redención del Espíritu Santo, el cual puede cambiar todo. Recordamos que esta temporada es de Pentecostés, la fiesta del Nacimiento de la Iglesia, el revés de Babel. Ahora todas creaturas pueden volverse como planetas en su órbita alrededor del sol.  Finalmente, la profecía de Isaías se ha cumplido - las naciones van a fluir a Sion, el templo de Dios, su hijo Jesucristo.  Por medio de esto, todas las naciones van a ordenarse. Van a ser una riqueza múltiple en lugar de un odio múltiple.  Pentecostés es como una promesa del reino de Dios mismo, el banquete de las personas provenientes del norte, sur, este, y oeste, hacia una promesa de la vista final de Revelación, las tribus se reuniéndose en su himno grande del Padre. 

    Este es mi punto - viva la fiesta multicultural ¡La comunión santa es una fiesta multicultural también! Y el señor se sienta en media de nosotros, para ordenar y salvarnos. Y el otro tipo de multitud, de caos, de destruirse, ¡adios! Amen.

    

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Complete the Race (II Timothy 4:17)

At the end of our vacation we find ourselves in Chicago for its Marathon weekend (the fastest, I have read this morning, perhaps because it is cool and relatively level). Marathons offer many good things. You can see world-class athletes from places like Ethiopia and Kenya. There is a feel of fiesta with signs by family members, getups by some for-fun runners, and food for sale.

But as I looked out my hotel window at 7:30 a.m., I watched the race of competitors who have lost legs or their use. Wheeling vehicles by arm for 26 miles means serious fitness and determination.

Those competitors were to me, this morning, a symbol of the Church too. For each is wounded. The larger family cheers them on. Each by grace has risen up to run the race. Ahead is the goal, the prize, the welcome home. We find the companionship of Jesus the Lord, there, and along the route too.

Amen.

GRS

 

   

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