tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post8411754332752202323..comments2024-03-29T06:58:28.383+13:00Comments on Anglican Down Under: Bright future?Peter Carrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-6908347869666732662016-02-13T10:59:00.805+13:002016-02-13T10:59:00.805+13:00"Where two or three are gathered together in ..."Where two or three are gathered together in my name - there am I in the midst" - Jesus -<br /><br />It is this parameter - of smallness, salt, light and yeast - that Jesus commends as being at the heart of the Gospel.<br /><br />This is where a daily Celebration of the Eucharist is so important. Each day an opportunity to come together, confess our human frailty, and gather strength from Christ himself to become His Body in and for the world for which Christ died.<br /><br />Where this paradigm is followed, we need not fear for the future.Father Ron Smithhttp://kiwianglo.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-33640765286741620582016-02-12T15:31:42.891+13:002016-02-12T15:31:42.891+13:00I have a simpler raison d’etre Peter for the state...I have a simpler raison d’etre Peter for the state of affairs of things Christian in our fair Isles.<br /><br />As Kenneth Scott Latourette depicts and explains in his monumental <i>A History of the Expansion of Christianity</i>, it is simply our turn for the tide to ebb, while it flows elsewhere. Now; there might be also concomitant ‘causes’, like the rise of secularism, as well as our perception of El Paradiso, to aid and abet these tides. There is certainly our staggering cultural sense of autonomy and self-emancipation, both of which echo both Gen 3 and Israel’s determination to “forget”. All of which will determine the direction of the tides.<br /><br />As for your hypothetical PhD student in 2040: I trust there’ll be funding still available for such topics given the present trend for reductionist education!Bryden Blackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15619512328964399016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-41688678578778196152016-02-12T12:57:02.177+13:002016-02-12T12:57:02.177+13:00Dear Peter. I take your point - that we in Aotearo...Dear Peter. I take your point - that we in Aotearoa/New Zealand have a relatively free and open society in which to enjoy all the gifts of God's creation. However, while enjoying our precious environment, we can never forget that other people in the world do not have the comfortable perspective on religious faith in a loving, compassionate God as we are privileged to enjoy.<br /><br />I thank God I am living in this country, where we are free to express the fruits of our experience of a relatively classless and free society, in which lives are not threatened by acts of a malevolent and death-dealing culture of governance. I also pray daily for those less fortunate than ourselves.Father Ron Smithhttp://kiwianglo.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-59767274407046806692016-02-11T14:25:37.557+13:002016-02-11T14:25:37.557+13:00Peter, I have a cherished but unsubstantiated hypo...<br />Peter, I have a cherished but unsubstantiated hypothesis that the natural poles of the multipolar Church of the future will be smallish places where several diaspora communities touch at close quarters, thus facilitating the recombination, testing, and diffusion of ideas. Strong-willed monocultures can dish it out but can't take it back. Cosmopolitan centres are big enough that diaspora communities spread out and connect mainly to their own. But New Zealand seems just right.<br /><br />Bowman WaltonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-37798010679306928552016-02-11T12:07:25.577+13:002016-02-11T12:07:25.577+13:00Hi Ron
You make a good point but I would like to p...Hi Ron<br />You make a good point but I would like to point out in return that my post was singularly devoid of reference to current issues and questions about homosexuality in the Anglican Communion precisely because I do not want this blog to be a "one issue" blog!Peter Carrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09535218286799156659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3915617830446943975.post-2406791314601549132016-02-11T12:00:10.008+13:002016-02-11T12:00:10.008+13:00" As a wise bishop once observed to me, peopl..." As a wise bishop once observed to me, people don't need God when already living in paradise." - Dr. Peter Carrell -<br /><br />Perhaps, Peter, that's why people in the Global South countries flock to Church. There, they do not enjoy our levels of social justice and freedom from entrenched governmental corruption.<br /><br />Why, in countries like Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, you can even be thrown into prison just for being intrinsically Gay. Not only you, but your friends and parents who support you. No wonder people are looking for justice and freedom - not realising that they might not find it in the Church!Father Ron Smithhttp://kiwianglo.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com