Archbishop of Canterbury calls for ‘footwashing’ church; New report calls for a CofE social action unit; General Synod brings out the worst in the Church of England – and in me
Archbishop of Canterbury calls for ‘footwashing’ church
Christian Today – The Archbishop of Canterbury has called for a Church that is united, confident and humble in working together for the common good.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby said Christians were not called to be useful but to bring about a revolution of peace and love by becoming a “footwashing” church.
He said it was the role of the church to identify with the poor in a way that “stands us alongside them, not just talking to them”.
Commenting on the state of the UK economy, he said the way to recovery was not through inflation, which he described as the “worst tax on the poor” because of its hammering effect on food and fuel prices.
The Archbishop criticised imbalances in cuts and spending between the North and South, saying that between 2010 and 2012 per capita spending on infastructural investment in the South East was over £2,000 per head, compared to just £5 per head in the North East.
“We all know that there is a gross imbalance in the allocation of resources,” he said.
“There is a danger of the radical autonomy, the radical individualism of our society that whole sectors dismiss other sectors.
“Economics has to be our servant not our master.”
The Archbishop was addressing the Methodist Conference meeting in Westminster last night. He spoke at length about the need for visible unity between the two Churches, which this year are marking the tenth anniversary of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant on unity.
“Our Covenant between ourselves and yourselves is a call to die with Christ to our own interests, not to calculate relative advantage,” he said.
“It’s insane hospitality opens arms to all those who will join the spiritual energy, the bigger vision, the more radical, the more revolutionary steps that are called for.”
Just a few days after the Church of England announced that it was cutting its Fresh Expressions budget by £50,000, the Archbishop announced last night that this decision has been reversed as a “tangible expression of apology” and the Church’s commitment to working towards unity.
Fresh Expressions is a joint movement between the Church of England and Methodist Council, launched in 2004, to explore new forms of church for those not attracted by traditional church forms.
Archbishop Welby drew applause when he told the Methodist Conference that the £50,000 had been found from other budgets and would no longer be cut from Fresh Expressions.
“Fresh Expressions is essentially a down payment on what could happen between us,” he said.
“It is a call by the Spirit of God to renew every effort with all we have.”
Following his speech at the Methodist Conference, the Archbishop launched a new report into the Big Society and the civic engagement of the Church of England.
The ResPublica report says the Church of England, with its strong volunteering culture, could save David Cameron’s Big Society initiative. The Church of England is encouraged to do more to support grassroots social action projects and establish social action teams in every diocese.
The Archbishop said: “For the churches to have any credibility, for the churches to unlock the wealth that God offers us through His Spirit that will enable us not merely to be useful … we are not useful, we are about revolution, a revolution of peace and love that sees the common good in dream and, through the resources released by visible unity, brings it into reality.”
New report calls for a CofE social action unit
Local government and churches should work together to fight deep-seated poverty and social dysfunction, urges a new report from ResPublica.
Holistic Mission: Social Action and the Church of England reveals that the Church drives social action, and calls for the Government to recognise and harness this power for the common good.
Launching on Wednesday 10th July in Lambeth Palace, with keynote remarks from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Justin Welby and the Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd MP, the report will demonstrate that the Church has a truly unique place in English society, and is the key to unlocking a revolution in both voluntary and statutory public service provision. The report argues that we need new institutions for the 21st century, and that the Church is well-placed to become one.
Drawing on new survey data, specifically commissioned for this research, the report reveals the following about the social action of the Church:
• The Church promotes social action: 79% of Anglican congregations formally volunteer compared with only 49% of the general public. 90% of church congregations informally volunteer compared to 54% of the general public.
• The Church is hyper-local: 90% of Anglican volunteers are participating in social action within 2 miles of their home – and 88% travel under 2 miles to attend church.
• Belief drives volunteering, but volunteers don’t proselytise: 61% of Anglican volunteers strongly agreed they were motivated by their faith – but 88% are comfortable helping those with different beliefs or values.
• But the Church can’t do it alone: 89% of volunteers agreed that their work was needed to compensate for poor government services.
The report argues that the Church is not simply a source of willing volunteers, but also a vital motor of social cohesion and social action. Local churches have access to people on a direct human level and are connected to communities at a level more local and more personal than most government service providers. The report demonstrates that the beliefs of the church are central to its success in this and that the gigantic potential of the church must not be seen as independent from its foundational ethos.
http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2013/07/new-report-calls-for-a-cofe-social-action-unit.aspx
General Synod brings out the worst in the Church of England – and in me
Guardian – Giles Fraser writes – It’s full of Anglicans in shorts trying to outdo each other with niceness. But really we’re all waiting for some aggro in the bar
Dante’s vision of hell was colourful, of course. But for the real deal, look no further than the General Synod of the Church of England. I sat on the thing for several years – though I never said a word in debate. There didn’t seem any point. Nobody ever changes their mind.
Picture the scene. The summer meeting at the University of York is focused on a large modernist theatre surrounded by a lake. The lake is full of geese who cover the whole place in distinctive pellets of poo. The theatre is often baking hot, encouraging the gathered Anglicans to dress informally, which is often an excuse for shorts, milky white legs and sandals. Body odour can be a bit of an issue too. Lots of people don’t really like each other, but, being Christians, have to pretend that they do. It is a golden rule that when two or three Anglicans gather together, there is an extravagant display of competitive niceness. I pity the poor dinner ladies, drowned in bad jokes and unfeasible compliments. I always try to be a little bit grumpy and indifferent, hoping it comes as some small relief. Then (being an Anglican myself) I feel guilty about it.
Then there is all the code language. You have to use the word “mission” a lot (a word so general it has come to be all but meaningless) and talk about “fellowship” happening in the bar, which is the Christian word for friendship, which mostly consists of gossip and gentle bitching about the opposition. For recreation, the Anglo-Catholics giggle about their frocks. Liberals plot global revolution through inclusive language. And the evangelicals have half a shandy before an early night.
The synod is split into three so-called “houses”: bishops, clergy and laity. Its often the case that the bishops try and hold the line, the priests try and drive it forward a little and the laity try to return things to the golden age of the 1950s. It is significant, for instance, that the women bishops’ motion was derailed last November in the house of laity, but was passed in the houses of bishops and clergy.
The bishops all sit together, though most of them quite clearly don’t want to be there, rightly resentful that a purple shirt does not invest them with the sort of executive authority that the outside world generally presumes they have. A vicar is a little pope in his parish. The bishops, on the other hand, are answerable to all (poor blighters). That is why they are rarely the go-to people for any interesting comment – unless they are retired, of course, when the truth comes tumbling out. Yes, a few go rogue, but most are strung up by the need to articulate a consensus position.
Round and round we go. Endlessly trying to keep everyone on board and yet also trying to follow the man who said that he came not to bring peace but to bring a sword and set “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother” (Matthew 10, 34-35). It is true that religion is often the source of conflict and violence in the world. It is to the credit of the Church of England that no one could ever be reasonably afraid of it. In reaction against its own violent past, emerging from the religious conflict of the 16th and 17th centuries, it has styled itself as a church of conflict avoidance and reconciliation. Except that it cannot reconcile even itself and, in its panic about words of fire between consenting adults, it prefers a gentle game of let’s pretend, keeping everybody frustrated and pushing all the aggro into the bar. General Synod brings out the worst in the Church of England. And, as you can see from this article, it brings out the worst in me.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2013/jul/10/general-synod-worst-church-of-england