Cyprian on the Unity of the Church pt 8; (two parishes and a diocese decide to break away)

Back to our good friend St Cyprian, toiling away under the pressures of his day.  Meanwhile in our day, two more parishes have decided to leave the Anglican Church of Canada, and an entire diocese decides to take the exit door from the Episcopal Church.  In Canada, we have this story:

"We are aligning with the worldwide Anglican church," said Rev. Sandy Copland of the Church of St. Peter in Hamilton, which was part of the Niagara diocese.

"It's the Canadian church or parts of it that have broken away."  Votes were held at St. Peter and St. George's in Ottawa on Sunday, with overwhelming majorities. At St. Peter, 42 voted in favour and one was opposed. At St. George's, the vote was 130 in favour and 27 opposed.

The churches, and others that have joined the network, believe the Anglican Church of Canada has drifted from core doctrine by taking a more liberal approach to interpreting the  Bible.

    story at the Hamilton Spectator

And south of the border, the diocese of Pittsburgh has decided to remove itself from membership in the Episcopal Church.  I believe the first diocese to do this was San Joaquin, and a few more may make the same move.  Story at the Anglican Journal, and many other places.  Here is the Diocese of Pittsburgh home page.


Well, how is Cyprian doing? 

24. The Holy Spirit warns us, and says, “What man is he that desireth to live, and would fain see good days? Refrain thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile. Eschew evil, and do good; seek peace, and ensue it.” (Psalms)

The son of peace ought to seek peace and ensue it.  He who knows and loves the bond of charity, ought to refrain his tongue from the evil of dissension. Among His divine commands and salutary teachings, the Lord, when He was now very near to His passion, added this one, saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.”

He gave this to us as an heritage; He promised all the gifts and rewards of which He spoke through the preservation of peace. If we are fellow-heirs with Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are sons of God, we ought to be peacemakers.  “Blessed,” says He, “are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the sons of God.”  It behoves the sons of God to be peacemakers, gentle in heart, simple in speech, agreeing in affection, faithfully linked to one another in the bonds of unanimity.

25. This unanimity formerly prevailed among the apostles; and thus the new assembly of believers, keeping the Lord’s commandments, maintained its charity. Divine Scripture proves this, when it says, “But the multitude of them which believed were of one heart and of one soul.”

And again: “These all continued with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.”  And thus they prayed with effectual prayers; thus they were able with confidence to obtain whatever they asked from the Lord’s mercy.


26. But in us unanimity is diminished in proportion as liberality of working is decayed. Then they used to give for sale houses and estates; and that they might lay up for themselves treasures in heaven, presented to the apostles the price of them, to be distributed for the use of the poor. But now we do not even give the tenths from our patrimony; and while our Lord bids us sell, we rather buy and increase our store. Thus has the vigour of faith dwindled away among us; thus has the strength of believers grown weak. And therefore the Lord, looking to our days, says in His Gospel, “When the Son of man cometh, think you that He shall find faith on the earth?”

It is interesting to see the footnote which Cyprian adds to the ills of divisions.  He makes reference to the idealistic vision of Christian community found in the early chapters of the book of Acts.  Apart from the division of heresy/schism, there is the division which is caused by a lack of concrete care one for another in the Christian community.  It used to be, Cyprian tells us, that the first Christians would share their goods, and now we can barely give a tenth of our wealth for the common good.  I'm not sure what Cyprian would have to say about the current state of errr, "stewardship", in our parishes.  Now a question remains: Is this lack of concrete care a symptom, an effect, or a cause of division?  It seems to me that Cyprian is saying it is an outcome of the divisions which have already happened.  Perhaps no relation at all to the current slew of lawsuits and disagreements over assets and property which have overtaken parts of the North American Anglican church.  But I think Cyprian certainly was on to something.  In a divorce, the biggest fight is over the assets.

Backing up a bit, Cyprian tells us that we are supposed to inherit peace as a gift from Christ.  This peace, this unanimity, was present in the first apostolic community (well, at least after Judas left it!).  How can the same peace be present in "the new assembly of believers"?  Only by "keeping the Lord’s commandments".

St Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church

related posts: Cyprian On the Unity of the Church
intro  part 1  part 2  part 3  part 4  part 5  part 6

part 7

Comments

[Peter]

Hello Joseph. What do you think of all these things?

For myself, I think it a tragic necessity.

[joseph]

It will all come out in my book. :^) Seriously though, It's a large topic which won' tbe covered in these few comments, but here are some thoughts. Caveat lector:

I would have to answer that sort of question in a roundabout way (at least in the opinion of some). I have read enough of church history to be familiar with the varieties of ways in which divisions and difficulties have arisen, and also the ways in which issues were resolved and lived through until there was light on the other side. I don't believe I am called to lead anyone out of the Anglican Church of Canada, though I can see how some people would, in good faith and conscience, believe themselves to be so called. Just as I can see how in my own city there are at least 4 bishops all claiming authority (Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Orthodox), and I can see how each has a valid ministry. Yet the very fact that we already have several bishops, each of whom sees his/her office as part of the 'catholic' continuity from the apostles, tells me that Christendom as a whole has some issues.

On another level, I agree that it is quite tragic that the Anglican church has found itself in this situation, and I believe that the same sex issue is not the "core" issue, but simply the symptom of other root issues. It is the uncovering and dealing with the root issues which is the most difficult thing in spiritual life, whether on an individual or a corporate level. That's what we as a church need to do.

I think that anglicans who have been saying "God is doing a new thing" over the past decade, have themselves built the bridge by which some of these parishes are exiting the structure of the ACoC, and yet remaining "Anglican" by being in communion with the Southern Cone et al. God might just as well be doing a new thing there, if that is the measure one uses.

For myself? "Bloom where you're planted"; I know where Christ has called me.

ps - an interesting thought which keeps popping up in the early literature is the notion that the diocese is the basic unit of church governance, not a national body. There is the diocese with episcopal oversight, and then there is the universal church. How we have looked at "church" has been, I submit, coloured by our understanding of the western nation-state as the basic political body, and applying that to the church. I suspect Christians of other eras would disagree with the way we "see" what the church is and how it functions as a structure.

[Susan]

There is the diocese with episcopal oversight, and then there is the universal church.
AMEN!!!
Yet I am not sure where this leaves anyone living under the current dispensation.
Sigh.

[Peter]

Thanks Joseph - I've been following Cyprian, and me being me I wanted to see how that tied into what you were thinking :-)