ECCLESIASTICAL TITBITS 2
About the middle of WWII I joined the cubs. Subsequently I went on to become a scout, one of the new fangled Senior Scouts and a scoutmaster. Because I became a cub I became a church member and a Christian. From all of those I learnt many things which helped me throughout my life and were instrumental in forming my values, although I must always acknowledge the role of my parents in this. Among the things learnt was the primacy of loyalty to one’s family, friends, groups and organisations. Not a blind loyalty but a discerning one which sought to enhance and promote the other, whether a senior or junior in one’s life.
Today I look around and see that that loyalty is now treated as old-fashioned, of no significance. Even church folk no longer stick to principles enshrined in that virtue. Nevertheless I was surprised and disturbed to learn that a former archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, had trespassed on independent dioceses in the States. He went to them without invitation or the permission of the diocesan and conducted confirmations in others’ realms.
This is not showing loyalty to the church, the faith or God. It is destructive. Such actions will cause dissension, confusion and dislocation of the Body of Christ and the break up of the church. It is not Christian behaviour but speaks of arrogant individualism foreign to Christ’s example and teaching.
PISCATOR
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
ECCLESIASTICAL TITBITS
ECCLESIASTICAL TITBITS
Some years ago Sir Tom Skinner, trade union leader, lamented the growing tendency to omit titles such as ‘Mr’ and its correlates. He was speaking about the then Prime Minister being referred to as ‘Muldoon’ without any sign of honouring the position held. Sir Tom (he was only ‘Mr’ then) claimed the day would come when we would regret our cavalier attitudes to public figures and each other.
Recently, I heard that a young curate greeted the Bishop and Synod with the words ‘Hi, folks’ without deferring to his ecclesiastical superiors or the honour inherent to Synod. Of itself not, in some people’s view, significant beyond the lack of manners,. but it signified an attitude to synod and the bishop which detracted from the honour of both.
It seems that many clergy no longer understand that the basic unit of the Church is the diocese and that the bishop is the guardian of doctrine and custom in the diocese. Priests are appointed to assist the bishop, hence anyone put into a parish is done so with words clearly stating that the charge is both the vicar’s and the bishop’s. Thus, in the diocese the bishop is supreme. In visiting any parish he/she has the right to pronounce the absolution and the blessing. This is also true in the cathedral, it being the bishop’s seat.
It also happens that no priest visiting from elsewhere can offer worship, or anything associated with it, without the bishop’s knowledge and consent. No other bishop can intrude into another’s diocese and usurp the diocesan’s rights. Anything done to the contrary is unethical.
PISCATOR
Some years ago Sir Tom Skinner, trade union leader, lamented the growing tendency to omit titles such as ‘Mr’ and its correlates. He was speaking about the then Prime Minister being referred to as ‘Muldoon’ without any sign of honouring the position held. Sir Tom (he was only ‘Mr’ then) claimed the day would come when we would regret our cavalier attitudes to public figures and each other.
Recently, I heard that a young curate greeted the Bishop and Synod with the words ‘Hi, folks’ without deferring to his ecclesiastical superiors or the honour inherent to Synod. Of itself not, in some people’s view, significant beyond the lack of manners,. but it signified an attitude to synod and the bishop which detracted from the honour of both.
It seems that many clergy no longer understand that the basic unit of the Church is the diocese and that the bishop is the guardian of doctrine and custom in the diocese. Priests are appointed to assist the bishop, hence anyone put into a parish is done so with words clearly stating that the charge is both the vicar’s and the bishop’s. Thus, in the diocese the bishop is supreme. In visiting any parish he/she has the right to pronounce the absolution and the blessing. This is also true in the cathedral, it being the bishop’s seat.
It also happens that no priest visiting from elsewhere can offer worship, or anything associated with it, without the bishop’s knowledge and consent. No other bishop can intrude into another’s diocese and usurp the diocesan’s rights. Anything done to the contrary is unethical.
PISCATOR
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