wfn.org | THE ASHE LECTURE FOR 1997 (CONTINUED)

[Audrey Whitefield <a.whitefield@quest.org.uk>]

Oct. 21, 1997
ANGLICAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office
London, England

[97.10.3.8]

FEATURE (cont'd)

This concrete vision helps me towards articulating the great vision of
unity (which should never be confused with uniformity) and
interdependence that is God's vision for his creation. This is a vision
in which the whole is far more than the sum of its parts. It is a vision
which cherishes diversity yet does not belittle the damage done by
factiousness and division. It is a vision in which all things are
important from the delicate balance of the world's ecosystems to
individual relationships between peoples. Above all, it is God's vision
which the Christian Church has traditionally cherished and explored in
its theology of the life of the Holy Trinity - that communal life that
we call in Greek, "koinonia". Deep in our theological tradition as
Anglicans lies the theology of the Cappadocian Fathers. They had a
particular vision of the Holy Trinity as interdependent - in fact, they
used the word "perichoresis" to describe the relationship between
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a word that has its root in the word for
dance. Gregory of Nazianzen reminds us of the organic link between
Trinity and Unity:

"I have scarcely begun to think of the Unity before the Trinity bathes
me in its splendour: I have hardly begun to think of the Trinity before
the Unity seizes hold of me again." Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 49, On
Baptism,41

I believe that the churches are called to reflect and to model this
divine "koinonia" amongst and within themselves. Indeed the Church has
to address issues of unity and diversity because both of them have major
implications for our life and witness in the world. That is what it is
for us to be faithful to the injunction in John 17, where Jesus prayed
that `all should be one ... that the world may believe'. I also believe
that we need to hold before us all the time this positive, larger and,
perhaps, more awesome vision, of the dynamic interplay between unity and
diversity in the whole of the cosmos if we are to make sense of and
solve the scandalous divisions within the Body of Christ.

Theological dialogues and commissions dealing with the nuts and bolts of
relationships between and within churches are important, but every so
often it is important to lift our eyes from the page and glimpse the
real end of the journey . Only in so doing can we be really sure that we
are being faithful to God's will. The whole task of ecumenical dialogue
is to set down and explore issues of difference within the context of
the larger unity that I have been describing - the very unity that God
is calling us to manifest in our own Church life. I believe that if we
were better at holding on to the greater vision then the imperative to
move forward creatively to remove barriers and heal rifts would become
even more urgent. But against that background of the vision of God's
unity and the urgency of its claims upon us, I want to be clear that
there is much to celebrate. At the end of the most ecumenical of
centuries we can be clear that attitudes between the Churches have
changed out of all recognition. There is now a new maturity in our
relationships and that can only be good news for those who seek for a
credible and mission-orientated church.

In over 800 places in our land, in Local Ecumenical Projects and
Covenants, Christians work and worship closely together, serving their
local communities, celebrating and sharing their faith as well as their
resources. On a larger scale, there are developments like the Porvoo
Agreement which have brought about a new communion in Northern Europe -
a remarkable and prophetic development in the context of a Europe which
is itself trying to find the right balance between unity and diversity.

Indeed if I listed in detail all the ecumenical advances of the last few
years we would be here all night! But I want to say that I believe that
the Churches are on a journey together trying to witness to the gift of
unity that is already ours. Unity is about turning to Christ; conversion
to Christ, and to each other, in Christ.

And if that is true for relationships between Churches, then it is also
true for our own life within the Anglican Communion. There have been
times in our history when we have been a divided body, separated into
sharply differentiated traditions - evangelicals, catholics and liberals
- each fiercely determined to get power and control the agenda of the
Church. I hope we are learning that this is not the way of Christ.
Division serves no Christian purpose and even when we justify it in the
name of truth it is the body of Christ we are rending asunder. In the
Virginia Report which will be studied by the bishops gathered at the
Lambeth Conference next year, the Anglican Communion takes a close look
at itself and the way its structures need to develop in order to foster
its faithfulness to God's calling to be one. For we recognise in
ourselves the need to develop a creative synthesis of diversity in the
service of unity. Of course we need to be clear that celebrating
diversity does not mean thato be clear that celebrating diversity does
not mean that `anything goes' - there are limits to diversity and part
of the excitement of unity is staying together and facing new challenges
together. We understand part of that search to be one of finding
coinherence and interdependence between the provinces of our Communion.
These are hard questions but we must not and will not avoid them.

I began with the night we greet the year 2000. An enormous amount of
thought is now being focused on that moment and the events that surround
it. Every day, it seems, brings another new idea, another scheme,
another plan to mark the beginning of the third Millennium. As I speak a
roadshow is travelling around England encouraging parishes to think what
they can do under the banner of `A new start - for the world's poor, at
home and with God'. Great efforts are being made to ensure that the
concerns of the Churches and other faith communities are properly
represented at the Greenwich Dome. Campaigns are being mounted, led by
our brothers and sisters in the Roman Catholic Church, to call for
relief in the terrible burden of Third World debt.

The legacy of some of these will be brief - for others much longer - but
in turning our attention to confidence, mission and unity I hope I have
focused our thinking again on those things which will, in St Paul's
words, abide. For beyond all this activity lies the One who is the same
yesterday, today and forever. The same - and yet the One too who, in all
his creativity, is ever open to new challenges and fresh opportunities.
The One who, before the beginning of time `brooded over the waters', and
who, at the end of time will `make all things new.' And it is into his
hands that we can commit our futures knowing that the highways and
byways he will lead us into will have many an excitement, and an
occasional shock, as we turn a corner to find an unexpected obstacle, or
mount a rise to discover a breathtaking view.

In the words of Dante's great vision of paradise -

O light eternal fixed in Self alone
Known only to Yourself, and knowing Self
You love and glow, knowing and being known!

 ... like a wheel in perfect balance turning
I felt my will and my desire impelled

By the love that moves the sun and the other stars.