Tales from Canterbury Cathedral

This marks the beginning of a two week Anglican Pilgrimage at Canterbury Cathedral. This is a gathering of 33 seminarians or recently ordained priests from all over the Anglican Communion. We have participants from North America, South America, Australia, Africa, and Asia. There are so many differences among this group, yet I already see so much commonality. I am looking forward to learning from my new friends.

Monday was a day of arrivals for most of the participants. As people arrived, lunch or afternoon tea or dinner became a time of informal introductions. Tuesday will begin the formal program. Even this informal meeting time has brought several observations that I want to share. These simple observations indicate the great fruit that will become evident in the future discussions.

First observation: English speaking countries have fewer multi-lingual residents. It is not unusual for non-primary English speaking countries to master three or four languages. In English-primary countries being bi-lingual is still unique.

Second observation: When meeting each other the participants from African nations would note, when a border was shared, that “you are my neighbor.” Even those who do not share a border were “my brother.” This is not the type of response Americans have shared with people from neighboring states or Canada or Mexico. The sense of “neighbor” differs. It causes me to ponder the sense of neighbor that Christ envisioned.

This final observation struck me personally as I move from the corporate world to the world of faith. A fellow MBA holder commented that Bishops and clergy are now more comfortable with the language of business rather than the discussion of the Holy Spirit. Growth projections, revenue, marketing have replaced the role of the Holy Spirit. This type of discussion and language is more comfortable for most people. It avoids the uneasy and uncertain discussion around theological reasoning. After all, how do you graph the Holy Spirit?

I wonder what we are protecting our selves from by retreating to the language of the secular corporate world. What are those around us loosing when clergy don’t invite them into the language and world of faith? Is it opening communication to use business language and tactics, or is it compromising the Church?

From Canterbury Cathedral I wish you Peace and Blessings,

Feed the Community

Yesterday we celebrated the life of a wonderful priest, The Rev. Dr Erica Brown Wood. She was the priest who started me along a path of formal discernment that is leading towards my own ordination. She was wonderful in suggesting books to read and asking questions to fuel my thinking. Serving at the altar with her and hearing her preach were all learning occasions. Watching her battle cancer was an inspiration. Knowing she died with Christ is an inspiration. She will forever affect my ministry.

Erica's death is not the only loss that I have experienced this year. (Interestingly, my “year” is currently based more on the academic calendar than the annual calendar.) Earlier this year a college friend also lost a battle with cancer. In both of the deaths I noticed that their respective Facebook pages came alive with comments from friends. It was as if those posting the comments fully expect that there is high-speed internet and Facebook in heaven.

The VTS community also experienced the journey of a student and his long struggle with a brain injury and the ultimate journey to heaven. John was at VTS for only a semester when he slipped on ice and suffered a brain injury, but in that short time he touched all our lives and the lives of those around him. His journey was chronicled daily by his wife Joy. His struggles and successes, and his ultimate reunion at the Heavenly Banquet were all described on Facebook.

I then remembered that the VTS chapel, which burned on October 22, also has a Facebook page chronicling the life and death and resurrection of that Holy Space.

In each of these situations many people learned of the deaths through Facebook. As a means of communication the information spread rapidly. As a method to facilitate healing I am not sure that Facebook is up to the task.

As Christians we are called to be in community. Breaking bread and sharing the Cup in a virtual manner is not the same. The conversations surrounding joy and pain are too complex for a virtual discussion. What the body position tells us, how the silence speaks these are lost in a virtual community. Morning Prayer online is not the same as Morning Prayer in community with two or three people or forty people. Our virtual communities will keep us connected, will get us information quickly, will form new connections. However, it is our flesh and blood communities that feed us. Just as we are fed by the Body and Blood of Christ, so too are we fed by the very real presence of those in our community.

Shalom,