Mission in the Anglican Communion

National Church

The concept of National Church is a struggle for me. I find the idea on one hand exciting, on the other I find it limiting. The structure that Douglas outlines on pp 162-3 is interesting as we look at how the Episcopal Church in America was structured. Is the structure a cultural/ democratic thing that we all relate to or was it patterned on the state model so that it could align with that power structure?

Having grown up Roman Catholic, I often had the sense that the Episcopal church was just about the national church – until I became Episcopalian! In our current environment, the “mission of the national church… to be actualized in… hospitals… schools and right-ordered sacramental worship, all coupled with the American democratic freedoms.” (p. 165) is a bit of a concern. I for one don’t agree that American democracy is right for all – especially those in Iraq. If I have that conflict, how do I reconcile the righteousness of Christianity for all? As we have discussed several times in our Bible study groups, it seems that our role is to preach the gospel by word and witness and then leave the work of conversion to the Spirit. (This is particularly interesting in the Fowl work we are now reading in Ethics about the Spirit.) Throughout history, so much evil has been done in the name of religion, righteousness and ‘helping.’ Where does anyone get the right to impose their believes – religiously or politically? Given our current political administration, I would be most concerned to link church and state. It seems to me that George W does enough setting himself up as an evangelist.

As far as the National Cathedral, it seems a conflict to have what we call a ‘National Cathedral’ when we don’t have a national church. (Don’t get me wrong, I like the cathedral, have visited there several times and appreciate the ecumenical spirit it conveys.) I also find it interesting as we talk about culture, mission and church, that the National Cathedral imitates the great gothic cathedrals of Europe rather than identify an architecture and style that would be American. Having said that, the Cathedral is indeed a place for all and this was most clear in the national memorial service after September 11th.