The church that forgot God
A new sequence: Why the Church of England is dying, and what God might want us to do about it
I can tell that I am becoming well once more – the writing is starting to flow. The first of what will probably be a weekly post. This is where I’ll be talking about McGilchrist.
This is going to be a sequence about the Church of England, why it has gone so very wrong and how it can once again go so very right (clearly another aspect of becoming well is that the ego starts to swell... who am I to speak such words? Yet who am I not to?1) This is something that, for obvious reasons, I have thought about for a very long period of time. Time to share my diagnosis and prescription for all that ails us
The Church of England is dying, indeed it is nearly dead. Clergy colleagues mordantly comment to me in a matter-of-fact manner that 'we are in our death throes'. Not financially – there are still billions of pounds squirrelled away for a rainy day. It's just that we are many months into Monsoon season and the bean-counters are a long way away in the Sahara. Which means that, to extend the metaphor, there are many creatures drowning in the rising flood waters of secularism, anomie and angst, all the chaos of the modern world, whilst those would-be Noahs trying to build arks (or lifeboats) are tied up, whipped or sent into exile.
The leadership of our church has gone very, very wrong – and, for the record, when, as shall happen frequently, I criticise the leadership of the church, this will almost never be a personal criticism (there will be one, perhaps two exceptions to that). By 'leadership' I essentially mean the House of Bishops generally, and the Archbishops’ Council specifically – and I see them as corporate entities, as part of the ‘principalities and powers’. They are creatures; that is, the HoB is one creature, and the AC is another creature. Those creatures are fallen and in need of redemption. I see those creatures as having taken captive those of good will who join in with their work, along with – perhaps – those of a little less than the best of wills. My concerns include all that gets considered by Save the Parish (and I mostly agree with them) but the problem is wider. Possibly the most damaging element of the wrongness is the inability to see that they are wrong, which is not a matter of will (good/bad) but a matter of capacity. They do not know what they do not know and this is a spiritual problem. The reason why the leadership of the Church of England has gone so very wrong is because that leadership has forgotten God. Unpacking that criticism is the burden of this sequence.
In this first post I would like to share two images with you, which I think offer productive ways to think about our problems.
The first is the monkey trap. This, famously, describes the secretion of a piece of fruit or other tasty morsel within a coconut, which is tethered to a tree. The morsel attracts the attention of a monkey, who reaches in to grab the fruit. However, the whole is big enough to let the hand of the monkey in, but not the hand holding the fruit out. The monkey is then trapped – and trapped because it cannot recognise that letting go of the fruit is what will enable freedom. Precisely what the fruit is that the Church cannot let go of is something I shall be exploring.
The second image is 'the Ichabod test'. This is not original to me but I cannot now track from whom it came, it may have been a parishioner on Mersea. In 1 Samuel 4 the Ark of the Covenant has been stolen by the Philistines and the glory of the Lord has departed from Israel, leading to one new-born boy being named Ichabod, which means the departure of glory. So the Ichabod test is enquiring 'has the glory of the Lord departed?' Again, unquestionably, it has done so. The way in which the church has fallen prey to so many different sorts of vulture indicates that the protection of the Lord has been taken away. Why this has happened is a second theme that I shall be exploring.
I am often tempted to despair when considering the present day Church of England. Indeed my (very lovely) congregation know not to ask me too much as I have high blood pressure, and I need to ensure that I remain calm. That can be difficult when pondering the nonsensical effluent with which we are presently deluged. And yet, and yet... I remain a loyal Anglican and I also – as I once mentioned to Andrew Brown when he was researching this very good book – I also still believe in God, and the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Church of England has received it, and therefore I am hopeful that our story is not coming to an end.
Yet for that more hopeful way forward to become apparent, we need to work out how we got into this mess, so that we can establish how to get to there from here. I don't believe our leadership presently knows where 'here' is.
So where are we?
When we start using ‘God’ as a rhetorical device, we’re dead
Back in that conversation with the snake
Talking ‘about’ ‘God’ is the alienated LH’s modus op.
The Anglican Church under your feet - in the Antipodes - is actually in a worse state, and imbued with the same ‘la-la-la’ false optimism of the managerial (LH) classes -surgeons with road rollers and tunnel borers, ‘we can see’
My flock are engaged in a Lent of Contemplative Silence as a reminder that it’s not about us
Looking forward (???) to your further posts!
Oh, and if in your better health you have a word or two to share re: Satan and ‘taking offense’, perhaps as a brief distraction if your hypertension begins to manifest, one of your readers at least would be most obliged :)
Kimdest
E
As a Latin Rite Catholic of English descent I am enjoying your writings and look forward to your diagnosis as to the present problems in your Church. I suspect I will find them similar to the problems in my own, and am curious to compare.