I find it … ironic.
This week, the Anglican Cycle of Prayer was focused on the Church of Nigeria, and the Most Revd Peter Jasper Akinola, Archbishop, Metropolitan and Primate of All Nigeria and Bishop of Abuja. Prayers for the subject of the ACP are made each Sunday in the Communion, praying for the church/diocese named and for its bishop or primate. It’s part of our Anglican thang, and this past
Sunday was no different. Indeed, as one of the Lectors, it was my privilege to lead the congregation of our church in that prayer, sincerely and faithfully.
Meanwhile, the Synod of the Church of Nigeria was busy comparing the Episcopal Church to a “cancerous lump in the body” that should be excised, even as they support the “urgent, imperative and compelling” effort to “redefine and/or re-determine those who are truly Anglicans.”
QED.
Please don’t feel bad. Between the Christian Churches/Church Of Christ the big issue was whether musical instruments should be allowed in the church. But among some of the Church Of Christ churches in the area of East Tennessee where I went to college, there was one church that felt it was sinful for some reason… to have a hatrack in the lobby.
‘Been puzzlin’ over that one lo these many years.
In the NPR interview with Episcopal Presiding Bishop (outgoing) Frank Griswold, he commented how, as a youth, the big battle in the church was between High Church — bells and smells and icons galore — and Low Church — simple, sparse, highly Protestant decor. That eventually got settled in the late 70s, from what I understand, through compromise and compassion (and the few rigid extremists on either end bailing out). Can something similar happen with the current fractures in the Episcopal Church? And should it?