"Christianity With an Anglican Accent"
Embryo Parson Posted on Friday, October 17, 2014 at 03:46PM That's how an Anglican priest I know describes the outreach efforts of the Anglican organization in which he is involved.
When I left the Orthodox Church, I did so with the intent to never again be an ecclesiastical ideologue. Orthodox theologian Bradley Nassif apparently feels the same way, as he castigates Orthodoxy for its ideological and parochial bent:
Outside of Orthodoxy, have you noticed how the healthiest Christian communities around today are the ones who preach Christ, not their own denomination? They speak of Jesus, not their "Baptist," "Methodist" or "Pentecostal" identities. Yet, all we seem to hear from our pulpits is "Orthodoxy, Orthodoxy, Orthodoxy!" We are obsessed with self-definition through negation. It is a sick religious addiction. We often shore up our identity as Orthodox by constantly contrasting ourselves with Evangelicals or Catholics. I wish we would talk more about Christian faith, and less about "Orthodoxy."
Amen, amen, amen. I think Anglicanism tends to suffer from the same pathology. And that's why I welcome the idea of us Anglicans not being about an "ism", but about Christianity -- and the Gospel -- with a mere "Anglican accent." It should not be about us: our Eeeeeeenglishness; our devotion to the Book of Common Prayer; our thrice-glorious liturgy and musical tradition; our pride in Oxbridge learning. It should be all about Jesus, his person, his work, his word, his apostles' writings. Our liturgy, along with our Anglicanness, should be a heartfelt response to those things. Our "culture" and our "ism" be damned.
Reader Comments (3)
At the same time, it is hard to find and Anglican parish that is Anglican. Most the parishes I have visited are little more than Baptist or non-denominational churches with a create-your-own liturgy. I do agree we should preach Christ, not Anglicanism, but is it too much to ask for Anglican parishes to be Anglican and use the Book of Common Prayer? I'm tired of the false advertising of some churches who claim Anglicanism without resembling it.
No, I don't believe that is too much to ask. I wish we'd get our act together: Evangelical AND Catholic; Word AND Sacrament; Decently AND in order; Protestant faith AND historic church order and worship.
Amen!