Good grief, I did not expect that

They say God is a God of surprises. And I am surprised to learn that Glynn Cardy is leaving the Anglican church for the Presbyterian Church, as announced here. (H/T Chris Nimmo commenting below).

That is,

"This morning I told St Matthew’s, my spiritual home for the last 9 years, that I’m leaving. I’ve accepted a position with St Luke’s Presbyterian Church in Remuera. I have many happy memories to take with me, and so much aroha from so many people – from both the church and wider community.

I look forward to getting to know a new community, a new denomination, and all the opportunities that will inevitably arise."

Wow! Glynn, if you are reading this, I wish you well :)

Tuesday: An article in the Herald is here.

C of E in Dismal Swamp?

Trying to follow the C of E General Synod, I have been watching Twitter. Tweets seem to be of the official kind ('Look, despite the headlines, we are really quite good at being good') or the despairing kind ('Synod is as boring, deadly and dull as I expected; we seem to be avoiding the tough issues and hoping against hope for a miracle on [insert issue]'). The general impression, if one sticks to this kind of chorus of cliches, is that the C of E is in the dismal swamp. It would be a mercy if someone drowned it.

But this is completely wrong. This Sunday faithful worshippers will have gathered in hamlet and vale, in city centres and suburbs, in Saxon churches and in coffee shops. The gospel will have been preached, Word taught and bread broken. Disciples will have taken another step on the journey of faith. God will have been worshiped splendidly, with chorus and chant, song and psalm.

The problems the General Synod is mired in are real problems, but they do not tell the whole story. No more than to say that I burned the potatoes tonight tells you that I have had a terrible day.

Besides, it is possible that the problems of the General Synod are minor compared to the storm that is about to be unleashed on the Communion in a few months time. Head to Preludium for an insight into what may be coming. More on this here in a day or two.

Insight?

Alerted by a friend I have visited an intriguing Kiwi blog, That is Logical!. Joshua Taylor (another Joshua Taylor, not our diocesan youth worker) has decided to visit ministers in Auckland to interview them about what they believe. His first interview is with Glynn Cardy, Vicar of St Matthew's in the City, Auckland who occasionally features on this blog. The interview is a great opportunity to attend to what Glynn believes. Or is it?

I found as I read the interview that I was often agreeing with Glynn! Yet I think there is a huge gulf in belief between us. What is going on?

I think it is this. There is always agreement between people. Even the most divided of groups agree that the sun will rise tomorrow but one day hence will run out of energy and rise no longer. Further, agreements may mask big differences. All sorts of agreements about the sun are possible in a divided group (a year is 365.25 days, red sky at night shepherds delight, the light of the moon is a reflection of the sun's light, etc) but a group could be wracked by fundamental division over whether the sun is the centre of the universe.

Thus I find myself in agreement with a number of Glynn's answers as they are worded yet I think the tendency in his answers betrays the gulf between us. For example on the authority of the Bible I agree that "It has the authority that the communities have given to it." I also agree broadly that "it is a human document it wasn't written down by, you know, a god with, you know, an anthropomorphic god that had a pen and paper and wrote it down or dictated it like "Moses write what I tell you". This was written by human beings and of course it is open to the fallibility of human beings. But it has a spiritual power, in the sense of when people live out some of that love and compassion that comes through in stories. It also has horrible killings and rapes and other things in there that aren't of course not meant to be emulated." (Just before you hit the comment button, I think the dictation element which Glynn denies is too quickly denied. Parts of the Bible are dictated by God (e.g. parts of Daniel, Ezekiel, Revelation). 'Open to the fallibility' is not the same as 'fallible'.)

The tendency inherent in the answer given re the Bible is something else. The tendency is towards a liberal approach to the Bible in the sense that what is believed about the Bible fits with a liberal theology and bits of the Bible which do not fit with that theology are denied. Thus,

"Me: OK. So you would drift from the conservative christian position that it is the inspired infallible word of God?
Vicar Glynn Cardy: Absolutely. You have probably guessed that I am not a conservative christian!"

Anyway, one could go on exploring all the interesting answers given in the post. Today's available minutes are too short. But I am grateful to Joshua Taylor for offering this extended record of what one of our most controversial vicars Down Under believes.

How portentous is this coup?

Some of us have been watching events in Egypt closely. A commenter here (who lives in Egypt) recently asked for our prayers. ++Mouneer has asked for our prayers. We should pray and keep on praying for peace in that amazing country, one of the 'biblical lands.'

Now as I write the breaking news is that Morsi has been toppled. In part this seems a reassertion of the power of the military (and to that extent, a triumph for previous President Mubarak, a military man's supporters). In part it is a triumph of people power - people dissatisfied with the Islamicization of Egypt under the direction of the Muslim Brotherhood.

It is the latter which may be portentous for the world. The creeping power of Sharia zealots, whether dominantly in (say) Pakistan, Syria and Afghanistan, or surreptitiously in (say) England is worrying. But is Egypt now a sign that the people, even in Arab lands, will only take so much conservatism?

Here is an intriguing argument, that in Egypt the liberals are not democrats and the democrats are not liberals!

New Dean for Napier Cathedral

Congratulations to Michael Godfrey (ex-pat Kiwi currently in Oz) who will be the new Dean of Napier Cathedral.

Later: the Taonga report on Michael and his life story is now here.

Talking of deans, Bishop Justin Duckworth interviews his new dean, Digby Wilkinson, here.

Linchpin sex secret power of Christianity

" is sex the linchpin of Christian cultural order? Is it really the case that to cast off Christian teaching on sex and sexuality is to remove the factor that gives—or gave—Christianity its power as a social force?"

Rod Dreher smacks an argument to the jaws of Western civilization. But Western civilization fights back through the counter-punches of Donald Devine. Who will win? Actually, maybe both as they score various hits on different parts of the body politic.

Dreher is warning that Western society embracing same sex marriage is effectively a choice to hasten the demise of Christianity as the social force of Western civilization. Devine argues that Christianity is a victim of its own power, in this case the power of individualism which Jesus unleashed on the world (however unintentionally). Yet Devine also underscores the death of Christianity,

"What we see today in the success of gay marriage is not really freedom run amok, but the result of turning the power to define morality over to the state, or to the dominant group representing it."

Is the state is the new god of the Western world, worshipped in the cathedral of parliament, led by the high priests and priestesses elected by the people to 'represent' them to the god but subject to the influential judgments of the elders (also known as 'journalists')?

The demise of Christianity is also measured in my post yesterday: the failing power of Christianity is evidenced by the lack of concern the Western world shows for persecuted Christians.

For decades we have known that Christendom no longer defined the relationship between Christianity and the West but we have harboured the sentiment that Christianity nevertheless remained the ruling paradigm for morality, justice and human dignity. The last nail in the coffin of Christendom turns out, pace Dreher and Devine, to also be the nail which deflates the balloon of inflated expectations about Christianity's cultural influence.

The death of Christianity as the social force for Western civilization is a Good Friday moment in history. We need to use Holy Saturday to prepare for the Day of Christianity's Resurrection.

On that day we will not be restored to former glories and life in the citadel of power. But we will experience again the power of the Holy Spirit.

Is Assad on the side of the angels?

The Middle East is a tricky place to make sense of. What is happening in Egypt? Mubarak went. Morsi was elected. Or 'elected.' Either way, a huge push to move him on is happening as I write. Millions are taking to the streets, filling Tahrir Square. (If only Egypt was Australia. Last week it took just - I think - twelve people changing their minds about Rudd, and Gillard was goneburger).

Much murkier is Syria. A proxy in war between Iran and Saudi Arabia? A country in turmoil because the poor have been ground down for too long? A cauldron kept off the boil for decades by Assad Snr and Assad Jnr, now not just boiling but exploding? Of one thing we can be certain, revolution in Egypt and Syria, in Iraq too, has not been kind to Christians.

This article makes the point that terrible things are happening to Christians in the name of the religion of peace. Damian Thompson takes up one item in the list, the beheading of a Catholic priest, and charges the MSM with ignoring it. Assad is no saint. But the tragic irony of his dictatorship from a Christian perspective is that his regime has been kinder to Christians than the tyranny being exercised by the militia which have taken control of parts of Syria.

Postscript: The trickiness of the Middle East has tripped up the Archbishop of Canterbury, seemingly. Ruth Gledhill reports that ++Justin is seeking a new communications aide after a PR debacle in Israel Palestine. (Most of report behind the paywall assisting Rupert with his divorce settlement).