Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The parish and other churches

In the past few years, the idea of the parish regained popularity in Sydney Anglican circles. The idea is that a church and minister have a responsibility for the entire geographical area, not just those who walk in the door. Usually our thoughts go towards people who are not christians, but what of other christians in our parish. i did a quick check, and there are over 30 churches within a 5 km radius of my current church. how could rectors take responsibility (as servants, not condescending) for all the christians in our parish that happen to not be part of the anglican church. Ecumenical is a bit of a dirty word, yet a huge percentage of people in our society identify themselves as christians. if we are going to reach and encourage and grow them, it may be that that will happen outside our doors.
Serving the local church, and identifying the body must stretch beyond those who affiliate with us. Sure, we think that our way of doing things is the best, but if we are going to serve our parish, we'll have to serve those who disagree.

6 comments:

Matthew Moffitt said...

Very CofE.

byron smith said...

Very CofE and hence the best way of doing things. :-)

Mike W said...

ha ha. So, does the CofE actually do this?

Matthew Moffitt said...

I've heard the Bishop of Durham talk like this. Apparently one of the RC bishops in his diocese looks to Tom as the local bishop.

Mike W said...

Good on him. I wonder how he goes about it, or what it would look like for a rector to do it, or an assistant minister.

Matthew Moffitt said...

For the RC bishop, it means that they always ask the local CofE bishop to preach at the consecration of RC bishops.