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ARCHIVE
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 September 2006
David A. Harris and C. Peter Molloy
Last Sunday, if
you were in an Anglican Church, you likely (hopefully!) stood and
recited, together with the whole congregation, one of three historic
creeds of the Church. The recitation of the Creed is our weekly
grounding in the Church’s faith which it has received in the
revelation of Holy Scripture. Through these ancient words we profess
to the world and to ourselves, some uniquely Christian beliefs.
After we affirm our belief in the work of God the Father and of his
Son Jesus Christ, we then turn to the work of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit gave the Church birth and now indwells her. So we state
in the Nicene Creed our belief in “One, Holy, Catholic, and
Apostolic Church.”
These adjectives, “catholic” and “apostolic,” have always been
precious
terms to Anglicans. The fact is, we have never thought of ourselves
as a unique or even “special” sect of Christianity, but a
fundamental part of the one true Church throughout the world. We are
“catholic” in that we are full members of the universal Church of
Christ in the world - sharing the same Word and sacraments as all
Catholic Christians. We are “apostolic” in that we adhere to the
apostolic faith taught to the first apostles by Jesus Christ and
passed on to us through Scripture. Anglicans have understood
it to be one of our unique privileges as a worldwide Communion to be
able to claim these two adjectives. But with the privilege comes
also a responsibility. It’s this responsibility
which seems to be losing ground in North American Anglicanism over
the past few decades. We want to claim all the privileges of
“catholicity” and “apostolicity”- but we are growing more and more
reluctant to take upon ourselves the onerous responsibility which
these terms demand.
This summer the Episcopal Church (TEC), in the USA held their
general Convention, their equivalent of our General Synod here in
Canada. Elected was a Presiding Bishop who is prepared to
press the homosexual agenda at the cost of splitting both the
Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. In one prayer she
referred to Jesus as our Mother. And then there was the
snubbing of the Windsor Report’s demands upon TEC to repent of the
recent communion-breaking actions in New Hampshire, with the
election of Gene Robinson as bishop of that Diocese. The
Communion demanded repentance, and TEC politely refused - bringing
the future of the Anglican Communion closer to its (apparently)
inevitable demise.
But besides these more sensational actions, was one that was largely
missed by the mainstream media. It was a little motion which
affirmed
the salvific uniqueness of Christ, his ability to save. Conservative
Episcopalians hoped that in these times of such serious division
within
Anglicanism, they could at least come to a consensus around the
uniqueness of Jesus Christ in God’s work of our redemption.
Even in these difficult times, could we not all agree at least that
Jesus Christ is “the Way, the Truth and the Life”? The General
Convention refused to accept the motion. It seems that this
core Christian confession, which lies at the heart of our life as
“catholic” and “apostolic” Christians, is no longer something which
we are willing to stand by with any confidence or hope.
The privilege of being “catholic” and “apostolic” carries with it
the responsibility to actually adhere to what these adjectives
really mean.
The fact is, they are fundamental to our Christian identity. They
are a fulfillment of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in which he prays
that we would be sanctified and kept in his Word (apostolic) and
unified and kept in Him (catholic).
The question for us in Canada is “Where do we go now?” This is true
for us as individual Christians, as parishes, as dioceses, and
especially
as a national Church with a General Synod in 2007. If we want to
continue to claim the qualities of “catholic” and “apostolic,” we
have to seriously step back and look at what responsibilities come
along with the privilege.
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