Stephen Parsons Surviving Church Further reflections on Deference in the Church
Archdruid Eileen The Beaker Folk of Husborne Crawley An Expert on Retail and Christianity Writes
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and others Washington National Cathedral Have We No Decency? A Response to President Trump
Why do people show more deference to bishops than to Jesus? How, from that comparison, can we not conclude that something is very wrong?
Kate And how can you possibly know that that they are? What is your measure? If I seek to pay due regard to those called to positions of authority in the church it is precisely out of deference to Jesus who is Lord of the church.
Where does Jesus demand deference to himself?
If ye love me keep my commandments? Mr Runcorn refers, albeit conditionally, to paying due regard to those “called” to positions of authority, but the question is what level of regard is due. Postman Pat should be paid due regard in recognition of the role he has been called to in delivering the Royal mail. Jesus is Lord of the Church, but He is also King of Kings. Bishops may expect the same “due regard” as any other public official. But there is an increasingly common notion that bishops are called by God, rather than appointed in the same way… Read more »
‘there is an increasingly common notion that bishops are called by God’. So this is a new idea? God was previously not thought to be involved in church appointments?
I didn’t think it was a common belief, no. At least, no more than any other walk of life. It seems to me that historically bishops were appointed by rulers or their advisors entirely on the basis of their own judgement; often of their own interests, and that this was so clearly the case that nobody could reasonably have supposed otherwise. Perhaps the Vatican may have made such claims but the history of papal conclaves hardly supports them. Looking in the Ordinal for priests and deacons the Bishop says candidates must be apt and meet for the role, and the… Read more »
On this side of the pond, the use of honorific and first name is exactly the opposite…not a show of deference, but of closeness and friendliness. A priest I do not know well is “Father Smith”…but one I consider a friend, often my own rector, is normally “Father Johnny”.
Is the Bishop and staff of Washington Cathedral lone voices? The silence from their comments is deafening.
Surely the Presiding Bishop, and members of the Episcopal church in America should be standing alongside the Bishop of Washington cathedral.. As should be any thinking Christian.
Fr John Emlyn
It was only published here yesterday. There has been considerable reaction in the USA. The website holytrinitywo.org provides some details. The Episcopal News Service episcopalnewsservice.org home page carries the headline “National Cathedral’s sharp criticism of Trump resonates across America”.
There have been a lot of statements and a lot of calls to action to “restore the soul of America.” You might want to look into ++Michael Curry’s recent statements and sermons. The Cathedral is not an outlier, but they certainly did a beautiful job of articulating the theology. I don’t know if you are in TEC or CoE, but here in the US, TEC is heavily involved in Migration Ministries, Gun Violence, anti-racism efforts, and a lot of advocacy on all of the moral issues. If you aren’t hearing about it, perhaps it’s because the assault on human decency… Read more »
Thank you Roland for the connections.
Fr John Emlyn