| ADVENT 2008 Dear Affirming Catholicism Supporter, WELCOME Welcome to Affirming Catholicism’s latest email newsletter! We’ve just lit the first candle on our Advent Wreath, and have started our observance of that very complicated season of Advent. It’s particularly complicated, of course, because half the time we’re already celebrating Christmas with our local schools and all kinds of groups in our community, while with our regular congregations we’re wearing purple and thinking about the Second Coming of Christ and future judgement. All this may be complicated and untidy, and the kind of thing that makes liturgists like me (and other lower forms of life) long for the golden age (that never was) when we kept Advent properly. But the kind of liturgical tension we feel at this season of the year might turn out to be a very creative and bracing experience for our thinking as a Church. For it must be right for Christians to be celebrating what already is – the reality of the Incarnation that brings dignity and value to what it is to be a human being, and at the same time for us to be looking forward to a better world with what President-elect Obama calls ‘the Audacity of Hope’. For Affirming Catholics, as for many Christians, this tension is something we encounter every time we celebrate the Eucharist, as we link our offering of ourselves with Christ’s eternal self-offering to the Father, an offering made once for all in the past, but which transforms our worship and our lives in the present, and gives us a foretaste of how the world will be when we join together in Christ’s heavenly banquet. So may you have a very complicated and fulfilling Advent, with plenty of expectation and celebration, and on behalf of the Trustees of Affirming Catholicism, we wish you a very Happy Christmas (when it comes!) As ever it would be very good to hear back from you, and to receive your contributions for future newsletters, so that we can continue to encourage one another. Please send comments, questions, articles etc. to perran@perrangay.com. Perran Gay Canon Precentor and Head of Worship at Truro Cathedral, Affirming Catholicism Supporter Liaison Trustee IN THIS NEWSLETTER: Meet the Team: our Company Secretary David Thunder Conferences past and future Keeping in Touch Out and about: in Truro Guild of Servers – a new initiative from SCP and Affirming Catholicism General Synod by-elections Book review MEET THE TEAM Here’s our latest profile from the team of Trustees working on behalf of our movement as Directors of Affirming Catholicism. We are very lucky to have as our Company Secretary David Thunder, who writes this about himself and his particular role: Last month Jonathan Clark told of his journey from an evangelical background to the Affirming Catholic centre. My journey began from the other end of the spectrum, so far away in fact as to have been off the radar. I vaguely remember a priest giving dispensation from fasting on Holy Days of Obligation and apologising in advance for the form of Eucharist that would be used the following Sunday for Confirmation by the Bishop - it would be alien to us. Arriving at university I went looking for sung mass in college chapel only to find wall to wall Choral Evensong: this was as much of a shock as enquiries from the Christian Union pursuing whether I had “given myself to Christ” (I mistakenly thought he had given himself to me) and whether I was yet “born again” (once was enough). You will have gathered that Pauline language was as foreign as the Apocrypha - indeed Romans in particular was to be read with caution and only while turning the pages with white gloves on. I was hastily pointed in the direction of a “safe house without-the-walls” by a thoughtful and tactful College Chaplain. Following University I gradually negotiated my entry into mainstream Anglicanism in the Midlands. Nearly 20 years in the automotive industry helped, mostly in Management Services (now called IT, I think) and then the European Division. My wife and I were involved in what might loosely be called the Christian Socialist tradition in a parish that ran a Shelter Housing Advice Centre, was involved in the Northern Ireland Peace process following the Birmingham pub bombs, spent Sunday mornings running soup kitchens in the context of mass during the various coal, gas and electricity strikes (an early “fresh expression” for you!), and helped to resource something called the New Town Ministers’ Association for mission in the housing estates of the new parishes. I then spent a year at Business School before entering consultancy and devoting a lot of time to helping firms enter, somewhat belatedly, the New Europe we had but dreamt of years earlier. Periods as PCC Secretary and Churchwarden kept me busy (even distracted) with the occasional high church fix “elsewhere” and all seemed to proceed undisturbed till the decision to ordain women priests, which I was vaguely aware was to be the end of the C of E as we all knew and loved it. Affirming Catholicism arrived as the answer to the false prospectuses I realised we were being sold by unthinking catholics – that it was necessary to choose between liberalism and catholicism as there was no way of putting the two together. And so here I find myself as the Company Secretary of the new Board – chief foot washer to my colleagues. There any many things any organisation could do; a smaller number of things they should do; and an even tinier number of things, with limited resources, they can do. The “business planning” role is to help us focus on those things we “can do” without getting distracted. The board therefore focuses on strands we can service with some hope of quality and excellence. There are three main areas: Affirming the Catholic Voice, Affirming Catholic Teaching and Affirming a Catholic Presence. Catholic Voice covers theology (Charlotte Methuen), publications (Mark Chapman), Affirming Catholics in Synod (Mary Johnston), partner liaison (Jonathan Clark). The Catholic Teaching strand focuses on catechesis (Toby Wright for Gospel Imprint and parish development), liturgy (Perran Gay), and vocations and lay formation (Sally Wright). Catholic Presence is the strand from within which local groups (Elaine Jones), communications (Perran Gay), fund raising and the web will increasingly be resourced as the new board gets further organised. We are supported in all our work by the inspiration provided by our non-Executive Directors, Bishop Stephen Conway and Bishop Stephen Cottrell. This is far from being everything we should be doing, and, just three or four months in, we cannot yet do all of that - the key to faster progress is to consider increasing your financial support. In future editions of the newsletter we shall hear from the colleagues responsible for each of these main strands. I hope you will take time to consider them in turn, to ponder where and how they might be done differently or better, but above all I hope we can rely on your prayers for the success of those things we are trying to get done together, in the interests of hope and inspiration in the Anglican Communion. David Thunder Company Secretary/Director of Business Planning Affirming Catholicism A CATHOLIC ANGLICAN FUTURE – conferences past and future "Affirming the way ahead: Anglo-Catholicism and the future" We held a very successful day symposium at St.Mary-le-Bow,Cheapside on October 25th to celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the beginning of the Oxford Movement led by Jonathan Clark (Rector of Stoke Newington and Chair of Affirming Catholicism), Mark Chapman (Reader in Modern Theology, University of Oxford and Vice-Principal, Ripon College Cuddesdon), and Andrew Davison (Tutor in Doctrine, St Stephen’s House, Oxford). One of those who attended the day was Andy Wilkes from Sussex, and we are very grateful to him for allowing us to include a link to his blog where you can find a full account of the day with pictures. Just go to http://www.amanbreathing.blogspot.com and follow shortcuts to ‘Church’. We hope to produce a short book based on the presentations and questions arising from the day, and I’ll bring you news of that as soon as it is available. Future plans We’ve been very encouraged by our recent series of day conferences, both of those able to get to them, and also because they have been the springboard for topical publications that have helped to inform current church debates. We’re planning two more day symposia during 2009, on social policy and on liturgy and architecture, and I hope to bring you details of those in the February newsletter. In the meantime don’t forget our day in Bristol with the Archbishop of Canterbury – 20th July 2009 – full details soon. KEEPING IN TOUCH We hope that you find these regular email newsletters useful, and do please forward them on to others who might be interested to find out more about us. Keeping in touch in this way is obviously much cheaper than producing printed newsletters, and enables us to use our limited financial resources in other ways that we hope can really make a difference to our Church, as we provide educational and catechetical sources and seek to inform debates. But those of you who support us financially will also be receiving a printed Annual Report during the coming year. If you have received this because someone has forwarded it to you, please consider becoming a supporter yourself. It’s easy to do this on our website www.affirmingcatholicism.org.uk. In doing this, you will receive regular news and updates including the Annual Report; your financial contribution will help us to do more and to do it even better; and you will be one more voice calling for a generous and open Catholic future for the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. OUT AND ABOUT…IN TRURO While a lot of this newsletter is about what’s happening at national level, the work of our local groups remains as important as ever. Here’s a snapshot of what we get up to in our Truro group. We’re very lucky in Truro to have a well established diocesan group with a keen team of laity and clergy to organise things. Each year we put on between 8 and 10 events, and once the programme has been agreed by the team, one or two members of our working group take responsibility for making the practical arrangements. We try to aim for a balance between events that will have a general appeal – e.g. a study evening on a contemporary issue that we try to treat in a balanced way while making clear what our Affirming Catholic ‘line’ might be, and events that celebrate our particular Catholic heritage or progressive stance. This coming year we will be offering study evenings on Climate Change, and on Communion before Confirmation. Following a successful pilgrimage to Rome last year, next year we are running one to Germany ‘in the steps of Martin Luther’, and will be staging a evening on his life and influence within our main programme. We will holding a devotional evening in a lovely National Trust garden learning about some of the ways in which various plants and flowers have been interpreted in the Christian spiritual tradition. During Easter we will be observing the Stations of the Resurrection (an Eastertide sequel to the Stations of the Cross), and in the weekend following Corpus Christi we meet in one of our country churches for our annual Evensong, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction, at which one of our bishops usually presides. At the end of the year we have our Eucharist, AGM and party, at which the tireless members of the working group will no doubt once again be elected en bloc and we take a deep breath before launching ourselves into another year of study and worship, prayer and parties! Perran Gay wearing my Truro hat! GUILD OF SERVERS a new joint initiative in association with Affirming Catholicism and the Society of Catholic Priests. Several people have asked whether we might have an organisation for servers (and possibly other lay ministers) associated with the progressive Catholic movement to which we belong. If you are interested in learning more or want to contribute your own ideas, you may like to come to an initial meeting in the Tutu Room at Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 24th January 2009 at 11.00 a.m. Coffee and tea will be available – please bring a packed lunch. If you are able to come, or if you have views to contribute, please be in touch with Fr. Johannes Arens – Tel: (0113) 264 2206 – email: johannes.arens@gmx.net GENERAL SYNOD BY-ELECTIONS We are much indebted to Mary Johnston for her work in convening the progressive Catholic group in General Synod – AciS (Affirming Catholics in Synod). Please read and digest this important message from Mary. Full elections to General Synod are held every 5 years. The next will be in 2010. But casual vacancies for both Laity and Proctors (Clergy in GS speak) occur whenever members move out of their dioceses and/or cease to be on their electoral roll. When this happens in the early years of a quinquennium, the vacancy is filled via an election from the unsuccessful original candidates. But by 2008, completely fresh elections have to be held in these circumstances, though not all dioceses are speedy in notifying their electorate. Currently there are known vacancies in Blackburn, Exeter and London. Check with your diocesan office whether there are vacancies in your own diocese; they occur frequently. If so, either consider standing for election yourself or encourage like-minded friends to do so. Joining General Synod at this stage would give anyone a useful taster of the responsibilities – and, yes, joys - involved, and boost the already substantial Affirming Catholic presence. Even if you are not elected, the experience of standing would serve to alert the electorate to your qualities and commitment well before the main elections in 2010. And if you succeed in a by-election you will find yourself among very many friends in ACiS – Affirming Catholics in Synod. Just let me know. Mary Johnston Convenor ACiS marygjohnston@btinternet.com BOOK REVIEW - Between the Monster and the Saint: reflections on the human condition Richard Holloway (Canongate – 2008) A challenging and heartfelt study of the human capacity for good and evil by the former Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Being human isn’t easy. We might think that consciousness and free will give us control over our lives, but our minds are dangerous and unpredictable places. We are susceptible to forces we don’t understand. We are capable of inflicting immense cruelty on one another – violence, torture and rape – yet we also have the capacity to be tender, to empathise, to feel. In his thought-provoking new book Richard Holloway holds a mirror up to the human condition. The reflection isn’t always pretty. But by drawing on a colourful and eclectic selection of writings from history, philosophy, science, poetry, theology and literature, Holloway shows us how we can stand up to the seductive power of the monster and draw closer to the fierce challenge of the saint. Richard Holloway is one of the reasons I became an Anglican. Following the evolution of his spirituality and theology in the years since has, I believe, encouraged me grow and mature in faith and this book is another contribution to the process. The first section, dealing with the “monster”, is painful reading and a sobering reminder of the evil of which – given the right circumstances – any of us is capable. It ends on a note of hopeful realism – or do I mean realistic hope? Definitely a book for grown-ups. Sally Lowe Guildford Group (and indefatigable minute taker for the Trustees! - Ed.) That’s all for now – watch out for our next edition coming to a computer screen near you…….and have a Happy and Holy New Year! St Matthew’s House, 20 Great Peter St, London SW1P 2BU administrator@affirmingcatholicism.org.uk, www.affirmingcatholicism.org.uk President, The Rt Rev’d David Stancliffe, Bishop of Salisbury Chair of Trustees, The Rev’d Jonathan Clark Administrator, Lisa Martell Registered Charity, No 1122906, Registered Company No 6434273 |
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