Thanks for this thoughtful article, Paul. Though I know it has wider implications than feeling “at home” in one’s denomination, many of us have moved from one denomination to another, from one theological perspective to another. I moved from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland to the (more Roman!) Church of England in my thirties. On the face of it, this was brought about by marriage and relocation but the more sacramental, liturgically led Anglican tradition was, and still is, more appealing and more nourishing to my faith.
Nearly 50 years on I find much to criticise within my chosen church but still feel “at home” here. There is a big distinction between one’s faith per se and the organisation one chooses to belong to in order to live out that faith.
But your article addresses a much wider subject than the “fit” of one’s denomination. You’re right to say that as thinking human beings we can rationalise our every action to suit our needs but if we are trying to give ourselves totally to following Jesus, we need constantly to be evaluating our actions/decisions/lifestyle choices. Sometimes I envy Peter his sheet filled with animals. You could hardly miss that. It was not exactly a subtle hint!
Thanks Aileen, I really appreciate this. I can identify with the denomination thing as well. I was not part of an Anglican church when I felt the call to being a Priest, which made things rather interesting! Being open to following Jesus, as you say, can be challenging but joy bringing.
You wrote,"His difficulty is that faithfulness itself is forcing him to reconsider what he thought faithfulness required." I have stood there. And made the decision to inquire into Roman Catholicism. However, I stood there not for intellectual reasons but because I wondered if having arrived at that intellectual tilt was a hint that GOD's will for me might lie in that direction. Once you have heard the Word of God (the boy Samuel stood on that brink in 1 Samuel 3:7), your faithfulness is to God, not to the religious institution. That point is made in regard to Samuel as Eli insists that Samuel tell him frankly what he has heard from God directly, although the message may -- and does -- impinge on his priestly office. Equally, God can call a person into or out of particular institutions. I worshiped in the RC church for 25 years before being more or less pushed out of it by the affiliated school officials and a mentally ill priest.
Moving on from Samuel to King Saul shows us the tension between leadership by a "seer" and leadership by a "king." Samuel had some teachings for the people of Israel, as a seer representing God's voice, and the people of Israel had their own notions of what kind of leadership they thought they wanted in order to be protected from the Philistines. Samuel warns them that a mighty economic shift will accompany any revision in their institutional obligations.
Today, leadership in a major religious institution hasn't quite the autocratic effects on members that it did a century or two ago, but the mere fact of institution still has consequences for the individuals trying to follow Jesus and the leading of the Holy Spirit. For one thing, the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches do not follow Jesus' example of pacifism, while wars and rumors of wars are as real today as in the days of the Late Bronze Age collapse. These are not small matters.
Thanks, Laurna, it is still a difficult area, isn't it? I think this line you wrote sums it up well:
"Once you have heard the Word of God (the boy Samuel stood on that brink in 1 Samuel 3:7), your faithfulness is to God, not to the religious institution"
I am going to save this one for further reflection. Over the last few months, I have been reflecting on my spiritual journey, and I hope to post some of them in the future. Reading your article has made me realize that I am not writing about where I have arrived but how I have journeyed. I have been living with the story of Peter in Acts that you mentioned for many weeks. I keep coming back to it, or it keeps coming back to me.
I am reminded of the definition of faith in Hebrews. The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. It is easy to emphasize the assurance and the conviction without the hoped for and not seen.
Thanks, Gary, it is great to hear from you and learn about your journey. I love that distinction of how you have journeyed rather than where. I am looking forward to reading your reflections if you post them here on Substack. That line in Hebrews is gold.
Thank you for this article, which may raise meaningful questions in many Anglicans who feel close to Catholic ways. Establishing the Ordinariate was a clever move. Although Catholicism has its attractions, I have never been tempted away from the C of E because the Catholics would probably excommunicate me immediately for various and manifold reasons!
"What are we actually trying to remain faithful to: ...or the truth, even when following it takes us somewhere we did not expect to go?" This has been my experience over the last two years. Even as trees get old and die, they continue to change!
Thanks for this thoughtful article, Paul. Though I know it has wider implications than feeling “at home” in one’s denomination, many of us have moved from one denomination to another, from one theological perspective to another. I moved from the Presbyterian Church of Scotland to the (more Roman!) Church of England in my thirties. On the face of it, this was brought about by marriage and relocation but the more sacramental, liturgically led Anglican tradition was, and still is, more appealing and more nourishing to my faith.
Nearly 50 years on I find much to criticise within my chosen church but still feel “at home” here. There is a big distinction between one’s faith per se and the organisation one chooses to belong to in order to live out that faith.
But your article addresses a much wider subject than the “fit” of one’s denomination. You’re right to say that as thinking human beings we can rationalise our every action to suit our needs but if we are trying to give ourselves totally to following Jesus, we need constantly to be evaluating our actions/decisions/lifestyle choices. Sometimes I envy Peter his sheet filled with animals. You could hardly miss that. It was not exactly a subtle hint!
Thanks Aileen, I really appreciate this. I can identify with the denomination thing as well. I was not part of an Anglican church when I felt the call to being a Priest, which made things rather interesting! Being open to following Jesus, as you say, can be challenging but joy bringing.
You wrote,"His difficulty is that faithfulness itself is forcing him to reconsider what he thought faithfulness required." I have stood there. And made the decision to inquire into Roman Catholicism. However, I stood there not for intellectual reasons but because I wondered if having arrived at that intellectual tilt was a hint that GOD's will for me might lie in that direction. Once you have heard the Word of God (the boy Samuel stood on that brink in 1 Samuel 3:7), your faithfulness is to God, not to the religious institution. That point is made in regard to Samuel as Eli insists that Samuel tell him frankly what he has heard from God directly, although the message may -- and does -- impinge on his priestly office. Equally, God can call a person into or out of particular institutions. I worshiped in the RC church for 25 years before being more or less pushed out of it by the affiliated school officials and a mentally ill priest.
Moving on from Samuel to King Saul shows us the tension between leadership by a "seer" and leadership by a "king." Samuel had some teachings for the people of Israel, as a seer representing God's voice, and the people of Israel had their own notions of what kind of leadership they thought they wanted in order to be protected from the Philistines. Samuel warns them that a mighty economic shift will accompany any revision in their institutional obligations.
Today, leadership in a major religious institution hasn't quite the autocratic effects on members that it did a century or two ago, but the mere fact of institution still has consequences for the individuals trying to follow Jesus and the leading of the Holy Spirit. For one thing, the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches do not follow Jesus' example of pacifism, while wars and rumors of wars are as real today as in the days of the Late Bronze Age collapse. These are not small matters.
Thanks, Laurna, it is still a difficult area, isn't it? I think this line you wrote sums it up well:
"Once you have heard the Word of God (the boy Samuel stood on that brink in 1 Samuel 3:7), your faithfulness is to God, not to the religious institution"
I am going to save this one for further reflection. Over the last few months, I have been reflecting on my spiritual journey, and I hope to post some of them in the future. Reading your article has made me realize that I am not writing about where I have arrived but how I have journeyed. I have been living with the story of Peter in Acts that you mentioned for many weeks. I keep coming back to it, or it keeps coming back to me.
I am reminded of the definition of faith in Hebrews. The assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. It is easy to emphasize the assurance and the conviction without the hoped for and not seen.
Thanks, Gary, it is great to hear from you and learn about your journey. I love that distinction of how you have journeyed rather than where. I am looking forward to reading your reflections if you post them here on Substack. That line in Hebrews is gold.
Thank you for this article, which may raise meaningful questions in many Anglicans who feel close to Catholic ways. Establishing the Ordinariate was a clever move. Although Catholicism has its attractions, I have never been tempted away from the C of E because the Catholics would probably excommunicate me immediately for various and manifold reasons!
Thanks William, this made me chuckle and wonder about those manifold reasons!!
"What are we actually trying to remain faithful to: ...or the truth, even when following it takes us somewhere we did not expect to go?" This has been my experience over the last two years. Even as trees get old and die, they continue to change!