One Bread and One Cup

I went to an interesting meeting of the Ecumenical Oversight Group last week at which we discussed the Anglican Methodist Covenant. The interesting thing is that we didn't feel that there was much point discussing the formal theological differences between our denominations - since terms like Arminianism and Calvinism are not particularly significant to most church members - but we did discuss the symbolic value of various actions.

A group has been set up to "implement" the covenant and they recommend that Anglicans and Methodists should follow their own guidelines and have one piece of bread that they can break and one cup that they can share. This might seem a fairly simple thing but it would make a big symbolic difference and wouldn't be difficult to do.

Some Anglicans might feel that they want to use wafers - and they could still do this - but they would need to use a large wafer that could be broken into smaller pieces. Individual wafers would be discouraged - as would little cubes of precut sliced bread.

Obviously the common cup would be an issue for those afraid of swine flu - but we all expect the present crisis to pass at some point.

The great thing about this discussion was that we had two Baptists in the room who were able to add the diversity of the discussion. They pointed out that Baptists also encourage a common cup and would be happy to give similar advice.

The issue here is that many local congregations in Milton Keynes have a deeply held belief that little cups are what Baptists (and others) do. This belief is based on local tradition, but it is very strong: Anglican Communion = one cup / Baptist Communion = little cups. The interesting thing is that local tradition is creating a division which does not exist in a global sense... intriguing!...

The challenge here is tricky. Do we encourage churches to adopt a common practice that reflects the public statements of their denominations - thereby nurturing unity - or do we allow them to maintain an artificial distinction based on a local understanding of their traditions.

As I say this isn't an easy choice - particularly for those of us who believe in the freedom of the local church. It is the right of local Christians to define who they are - even if their own denominations might think they are wrong? And yet, is it fair to leave people in the dark about their own traditions - allowing them to promote disunity for the sake of ignorance?

Personally I think you can never have too much information. I think it's perfectly fine for those of us who know something about the bigger picture to pass on what we're learnt - always acknowledging that it's up to local people to make up their own minds and do what they think and feel is right.

Jayne and Simon

Jayne and Simon were married at St Mary's today. It was a super wedding with great readings by Mandy and Emma. We were reminded that "a chord of three strands is not easily broken" - so may God be with them as they continue their journey...

This was the first wedding that Liz has been involved with in Watling Valley. She's been part of a few wedding prep sessions but today she observed and led the intercessions. I'm looking forward to her first wedding in February.

After the service I popped into Stantonbury where a new baptist minister, Chris Howden, was being inducted. The sermon was by Brother Graeme, and Elder from the Holy Transfiguration Monastry - apparatnly one of only two baptist monasterys in the world (see Mr Jones and Me) I'm afraid I wasn't there long enough to get any good pictures, but anyone who asks a baptist monk to preach at their induction service should be a fairly interesting person!

P.S. Geoff Colmer has also mentioned this on his blog entry: Baptist Monk

On the second day...

Second day back. I went for an early morning run to start the long process of working off the large ammount of cheese, wine, meat and pasta I've eaten on holiday. France is great, but a real killer when it comes to my eating habits... Bumped into Geoff Colmer, (our Baptist Regional Minister and Team Leader) who was out on his bike. He's been to the Lambeth Conference as an ecumenical observer and seems to have had a valuable time. (Do have a look at his blog, Wonder and Wondering, to see more...)

I had coffee with Mike Morris in the morning and we had a good chat about Watling Valley and its future. The theme of space was at top of our agenda - how do we create space for people to be? Particualraly in a world where so many people are so frazzled with over-work both in and out of church... Finding a way to do this will be crucial if we're to become a more mutaully supportive partnership with time and space for some of our long term dreams - like midweek worship and small groups. If growing disciples really is our top priorty then some things will have to change...

I've spent the rest of the day at my desk. Most of this time has been used to finish off a few projects. My desk is slowly clearing for what is ahead... Fortunatley August is a good time to ease in gently...