Several people have asked me for the prayer I use when anointing people who are baptised. I adapted these words slightly from what Bishop John Thornton, my 1st bishop in Idaho, did when he baptised somebody.
I anoint your eyes so you may see God in everyone.
I anoint your ears so you may hear the cry of the poor.
I anoint your lips so you may speak nothing but the truth of God’s love.
I anoint your hands so everything you receive and everything you give is a sacrament.
And I anoint your feet so you may run to those who need you.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Lambeth
Anglican bishops from around the world are about to meet at Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference. The Conference has been meeting about every 10 years since 1867. The bishops engage in prayer, study and conversation. The purpose of the Conference is to build relationships that strengthen our communion. While the conference has not been empowered with legislative authority, statements from Lambeth are taken into consideration when Provinces make decisions.
This coming Lambeth conference comes at an important time in our history. There is strong disagreement within the worldwide Communion over the ordination of women and the full inclusion of people who are gay or lesbian. As I am writing this, the Church of England is deciding to allow women to be ordained as bishops. Hundreds of conservative bishops are threatening to leave the Church if they don’t receive concessions that will allow folks to avoid having to work with women bishops. Conservative bishops in other countries will likely see England moving forward with a secular innovation that disrespects their sensitivities.
Last week an international group of conservative bishops, priests and lay people decided to form a parallel structure within the Anglican Communion. Under their new system, a small group of archbishops will decide which dioceses are truly “orthodox.” They will move freely into other, “non-orthodox” dioceses to serve the true Christians therein.
While this may seem like modern craziness, it is really reminiscent of struggles in the English Reformation. In the 16h century, Protestants and Roman Catholics were killing one another over matters of belief. Elizabeth I created a compromise that has been the unique characteristic of Anglicanism ever since. We are a communion of faith that is united not by our doctrine but rather by common prayer. Anglicans do not have a theological “litmus test.” We pray together and respect our theological differences. Anglicanism was the first “big tent” before such a tent was in vogue. Puritans and Catholics pushed against this openness during the 16th and 17th centuries. Then for the most part things settled down. We got comfortable with our big tent.
With colonial expansion, the Anglican faith spread around the globe. The missionaries brought different aspects of this big-tent religion, some emphasizing the more puritan elements and others the more catholic elements. They failed, however, to export the big-tent ethos. Diverse religious views were exported without the underlying valuing of diversity. With the advent of the internet, it became clear to these different groups that there were others in the Communion who believed very different things. Shocked by what they have discovered, some Anglicans are branding others as unorthodox. We have been thrust back into the 16th and 17th centuries.
The tension present as the bishops meet in the coming weeks will be over the soul of Anglicanism. Should we have a centralized authority that will determine what is orthodox. Should we have a system in place to sanction those who are unorthodox? Or will we remain a big tent united in prayer. My prediction is that we will remain part of a big-tent religion. At least that is my prayer. The big unknown is who will be willing to join us in this tent.
-Dean Baker
http://blogs.deanbaker.org/
This coming Lambeth conference comes at an important time in our history. There is strong disagreement within the worldwide Communion over the ordination of women and the full inclusion of people who are gay or lesbian. As I am writing this, the Church of England is deciding to allow women to be ordained as bishops. Hundreds of conservative bishops are threatening to leave the Church if they don’t receive concessions that will allow folks to avoid having to work with women bishops. Conservative bishops in other countries will likely see England moving forward with a secular innovation that disrespects their sensitivities.
Last week an international group of conservative bishops, priests and lay people decided to form a parallel structure within the Anglican Communion. Under their new system, a small group of archbishops will decide which dioceses are truly “orthodox.” They will move freely into other, “non-orthodox” dioceses to serve the true Christians therein.
While this may seem like modern craziness, it is really reminiscent of struggles in the English Reformation. In the 16h century, Protestants and Roman Catholics were killing one another over matters of belief. Elizabeth I created a compromise that has been the unique characteristic of Anglicanism ever since. We are a communion of faith that is united not by our doctrine but rather by common prayer. Anglicans do not have a theological “litmus test.” We pray together and respect our theological differences. Anglicanism was the first “big tent” before such a tent was in vogue. Puritans and Catholics pushed against this openness during the 16th and 17th centuries. Then for the most part things settled down. We got comfortable with our big tent.
With colonial expansion, the Anglican faith spread around the globe. The missionaries brought different aspects of this big-tent religion, some emphasizing the more puritan elements and others the more catholic elements. They failed, however, to export the big-tent ethos. Diverse religious views were exported without the underlying valuing of diversity. With the advent of the internet, it became clear to these different groups that there were others in the Communion who believed very different things. Shocked by what they have discovered, some Anglicans are branding others as unorthodox. We have been thrust back into the 16th and 17th centuries.
The tension present as the bishops meet in the coming weeks will be over the soul of Anglicanism. Should we have a centralized authority that will determine what is orthodox. Should we have a system in place to sanction those who are unorthodox? Or will we remain a big tent united in prayer. My prediction is that we will remain part of a big-tent religion. At least that is my prayer. The big unknown is who will be willing to join us in this tent.
-Dean Baker
http://blogs.deanbaker.org/
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