Referencing the discussions below.
I want to preface this blog entry on something of a positive note. Mr. Alspach concluded his interaction at the Facebook discussion by saying, "For the record, Bishop Ruch is one of the godliest and creedally orthodox men I've ever met, and apart from his charismatic views of worship, he's a fantastic bishop." I would say the same thing about my own AMiA bishops. Mr. Alspach and I simply question certain aspects of Pentecostal theology and the propriety of altar dancing, fire jugglers, etc., that's all.
Furthermore, I personally don't mean to single out either Bishop Ruch or Church of the Resurrection for critical treatment. As should be evident by this discussion, what we're talking about here is the much broader phenomenon of "Three Streams" Anglicanism, and I want to say a couple of words here about that.
I know a priest through Facebook who once wrote that he left AMiA because of its "Three Streams" orientation, which he wryly described as, "You know, the charismatic, the charismatic and the charismatic." If that's a characterization, it's probably an unfair one, but if it's meant to be hyperbolic, I for one can understand its point. There does seem to be an overemphasis on the "signs-and-wonders" manifestations of the Holy Spirit in certain quarters of Three Streams Anglicanism, one that could be rectified by both a more balanced trinitarianism and a healthier balance with the "biblical" and "Catholic" streams.
Now, I am not a cessationist, for three reasons: 1) there is no sound exegetical case that Spirit-wrought miracles were confined to the time of the apostles; 2) there is testimony throughout church history of miracles. In his City of God, St. Augustine recounts a number of miracles he had observed in his day. At least two of them, from what I remember, were Eucharistic and relic-related miracles, the same kind of miracles to which modern Roman, Orthodox and Anglican Catholic Christians have attested; 3) in my experience as a chaplain, I have witnessed what appears to have been a miraculous recovery from the death process. The lady, a Roman Catholic, was actively dying, but suddenly woke up and was discharged a day later. The hospital staff were blown away. So, the Holy Spirit still "does stuff" in this day and age.
However, it does not follow from any of this that everything that purports to be miraculous activity of the Holy Spirit is indeed so. Both the Old and New Testaments are abundantly clear about the need to exercise discernment when it comes to prophecy and miracles. One of the things that stand out to me about the history of charismatic Evangelicalism is all the many times it has failed to exercise proper discernment. One can think of any number of stories about fraudulent televangelists and clearly fake miracles, and shake his head in wonderment why so many charismatics were so gullible about these things.
Nor does it follow that just because the Spirit still "does stuff" in this day and age mean that every "Spirit-filled" worship service is an authentic manfestation of the Spirit's activity. Take the Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey, for example. So, the other criticism I have is that so much of what happens in charismatic worship is based on emotional manipulation, usually accomplished by cues from either the "worship leader," the "worship band" or both. As a friend of mine familiar with one such church explained his experience to me, "It's a weekly thing. . . . There's about 10-15 songs that they routinely play throughout the year too that trigger it."
There's nothing whatsoever in the New Testament that would justify this kind of emotionalist worship centered on a "worship leader" and a "worship band." Throughout her history, the Church's worship has been liturgical only, centered around Word and Sacrament only. The only "worship leader" known to the Catholic Church, of which we Anglicans are a branch, has been the priest acting in persona Christi. For most of its history, the Church's music was sung or chanted a cappella by choirs generally not visible to the congregation. This is how Anglicans worshipped until the late 20th century, when Pentecostalism and "contemporary Christian" music were embraced by many Anglicans.
Not all Anglicans, however, and when looked at historically not most Anglicans. What's more, the advent of "Three Streams" Anglicanism has only served to introduce yet one more divisive "party" into an already divided church. For me personally, this and the problems described above have prompted a major rethink about the "new things" said to be the work of the Holy Spirit.
