Church Times

29.09.06

Anglicans need a 19th-hole approach
By Giles Fraser

NEATLY STITCHED on the back of the caps of the American Ryder Cup team, each player had his own name. On the back of the European caps, each player had one word: Europe. It’s hard not to read the US defeat as an indictment of the bowling-alone individualism that is often said to characterise much of US culture. Europe, on the other hand, played as a team.

Given this, it is worth noting that many of the US team are Christians. The American captain, Tom Lehman, once wrote: ‘God has definitely used golf in a great way over the last several years. I think of myself as a Christian who plays golf, not as a golfer who is a Christian.’ The Americans, unlike the Euros, had a chaplain as a part of their entourage. Throughout the golf, Mr Lehman fiddled nervously with his WWJD bangle (‘What Would Jesus Do?’, for those not in the know).

It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t seem to have induced a greater camaraderie or team spirit among the Americans. The apparently godless Euros expressed a fierce and emotional solidarity that was, apparently, found at the bottom of several pints of Guinness. The boozy rituals of male bonding seemed to draw players closer than the emotional intensity of pious prayer meetings.

Years ago, I played in an American clergy golf competition in Alabama. I am still in contact with many of the players. I have no idea what they make of gay vicars or women bishops, though many are from conservative dioceses. But, if we did have a row about it, the friendship we forged will make it so much less likely that we will want to walk apart.

Here is the punchline. If Christians, and specifically Anglicans, spent more time developing friendships with each other, we would be so much less willing to press the self-destruct button at the first sign of disagreement. A bit more in vino veritas down the bar, a bit less manipulation through mini-sermons masquerading as intercessions.

What the current crisis in our Church shows is that many of us, and the clergy especially, have not been good at investing in friendships with each other. It is no wonder, therefore, that we don’t play as a team. Diocesan conferences, with all that competitive niceness, are no place to make real friends.

In answer to Mr Lehman’s WWJD question, we ought to recall how often Jesus was accused of wasting his time by eating and drinking with friends. So can I put in a plea to the organisers of the next Lambeth Conference? Make them laugh, make them cry, and, for goodness’ sake, get them drunk.

The Revd Dr Giles Fraser is Team Rector of Putney, and lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford.

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