The Universal and the Local

The Universal and the Local
JOSHUA 22:1- 34

Like a number of denominations, the Anglican/Episcopal church to which I belong is in a mess because different parts of the world and different groups in the same parts of the world hold conflicting views about the real nature of Christian faith and discipleship. The fracas focuses on same-sex marriage but involves other issues, such as women’s ministry, and questions that lie behind those issues, such as the authority of Scripture, the authority of the church’s tradition, the way we relate to the cultures we belong to, and the way one might expect different parts of the church to come to shared decisions about such questions. One aspect of this fracas that distresses me is the aggressive way Christian leaders speak to one another about the issues. They don’t sound like people speaking the truth in love. Admittedly some of my colleagues might laugh at my saying this, because they are aghast or offended from time to time at the straight and aggressive way I can speak when we are discussing some issue...