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A Word of Knowledge

History of the Church of England - Part I

It is a popular misconception that the Church of England was begun by Henry VIII. Wrong! It was founded a thousand years earlier in 597 AD by Pope Gregory when he sent Augustine to the British Isles to create the Church and be it's first Archbishop. The current and 104th Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of all England and the Anglican Communion is Dr. Rowan Williams.

During the reign of Henry the VIII the Pope relinquished jurisdiction over the Church of England and it became independent of Rome. There are a number of Catholic Churches that, for various reasons, are independent of Rome. Among them are the Orthodox Churches, The Polish National Catholic Church, The Old Catholic Church, The Holy Catholic Church of Japan, etc.

It is also a myth that the Papacy doesn't recognize our Holy Orders as valid. For some time after the Reformation Roman Church leaders put forth a number of arguments making that claim. Unfortunately their arguments unwittingly applied to Roman Clergy as well and in the intervening years they have been quietly swept under the carpet.

The the Twentieth Century the Popes have provided 'virtual' recognition of the validity of our Clergy by providing the Episcopal Ring and pectoral cross worn by those who occupy the ancient seat of St. Augustine.

History of the Church of England - Part II

One of our parishioners took issue with our statement last month that The Church of England was founded in 597 AD. He referred to that date as ‘The Church In England”. So why the discrepancy. It really is a matter of context. We were speaking in the religious context and not the civil or social context. What’s the difference?

From a religious stand point the Church was in England, that is to say, there were Christians there far earlier than 597. Tradition has it that St. Joseph of Arimathea brought Christianity to England. There are many historical references to this fact. But Ecclesiastically speaking, a group of Christians do not become a Church until a bishop has been set over them. For example Christianity arrived in Antioch rather quickly but it was not The Church of Antioch until Peter consecrated Evodius as the first Bishop. He also consecrated the Second Bishop as well whom we know as St. Ignatius. Historically and Scripturally a Church is a number of congregations in a specific geographical area overseen by a Bishop… no Bishop… no church! Hence we hear in scripture of The Church of Antioch, The Church of Ephesus, The Church of Rome, etc. In today’s parlance The Church is often described as a Diocese. The local Roman Catholic Diocese refers to itself as The Church of Rockford. The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago is really, The Church of Chicago, which is basic Anglican and Catholic teaching.. Therefore, in the religious context, the Church in England became the Church of England in 597 when Pope Gregory the Great consecrated Augustine as it’s first Bishop.

The Church of England is unique in that it falls into a civil or secular context as well because it is an Established religion. It has a political history . In the 16th Century the political squabbles between Henry and the Pope spelled the beginning of ecclesiastical upheaval for the English Church that didn’t settle down until the 17th Century . The settlement of 1689 has remained the basis of the constitutional position of the Church of England ever since, a constitutional position in which the Church of England has remained the established Church with a range of particular legal privileges and responsibilities.

So, from a religious standpoint, The Church of England was founded in 597AD but from a civil standpoint one could well say that the Church of England began in 1689 during the reign of William and Mary, several monarchs removed from Henry VIII. What it is like today does stem from that latter date, nevertheless, it is the same Church that Gregory began a thousand years earlier.

The Diocese of Renk

As mentioned in the past, the Biblical notion of Church is that it is a specific geographical area comprising a number of congregations overseen by a successor to the Apostles. This successor is called a Bishop. In today’s parlance, such a church is usually referred to as a Diocese. In our cycle of prayer each week, we pray for these different Churches. One week we prayed for the Diocese of Renk. Someone asked where it was. So here’s the answer:

The Diocese of Renk, Episcopal Church of Sudan, is the youngest of the 24 Dioceses, offially formed in August, 1995, to spread the Gospel in the Northern upper Nile region of Sudan. It occupies an area of 32,000 sq. km, has an estimated population of over 120,000. Gum Arabic is an importnat economic forest product, in addition to wood and charcoal. The Nile and its tributaries serve as good fishing ground for the population. Agriculture is also an important means of support.

Renk Diocese is on the border between the mostly Islamic north and the mostly Christian and African Traditionalist south. Bishop Daniel Deng Bul was appointed to establish this new diocese where thousands of internally displaced southern Sudanese men, women, and children have been forced to flee to safety as a result of the 20-year civil way caused by the northern Islamic Fundamentalist Government. Discovery of oil in the south also led to internal displacement as government troops forced people from villages in those areas. A Peace Agreement ended the war in July 2005, and these refugees are returning by the thousands to their devastated homeland.

Bishop Daniel received a Theology Certificate from Virginia Theology Seminary in 1997, and returned to guide the Diocese of Renk in the direction of self-sufficiency by starting schools at all levels, training programs for women, agriculture, fishing, and poultry projects. Renk Bible College was established in partnership with St. Michael’s, Barrington, for the training of church leaders, men and women. The Diocese operates the only clinic in the area.

The Diocese of Chicago has companion diocese relationships with the Diocese of Renk and the Diocese of Southwest Mexico. All three dioceses and their bishops are pledged to mutual support, encouragement, and prayer. All three dioceses have agreed to share the resources that they have in abundance with each other: to pray for each other, to visit each other, to encourage each other, to share spiritual journeys, to extend friendships, and, where money is abundant, to share financial resources. Bishop Daniel Deng Bul of Renk, Bishop Benito Juarez Martinez of Southeast Mexico, and Bishops William Persell and Victor Scantlebury of Chicago are actively involved in this sharing.

Fundamentalism

In recent years the word “Fundamentalism” has become a morally charged, emotive term often used as a pejorative, particularly when combined with other epithets (as in "Muslim fundamentalists" and "right-wing fundamentalists"). Why?

The word has it’s roots in a worthwhile activity, i.e., paying attention to the fundamentals of our faith, something our own Bishop is calling us to do. For some reason, however, some of the practitioners of such a philosophy, have so warped the vision that it no longer means what it once did. It has become a pharisaical, uncritical, unthinking, adherence to some dreamed-up principles which have no real basis. For example, a few years ago I asked a retreat center to send me some information on their facilities as I wanted to consider them for a retreat I was planning. They warned me that they were a fundamentalist organization. In my naiveté I just assumed that because it was The Church that defined the fundamentals there would be no conflict. However, the materials I received had nothing to do with Christian Fundamentals by any stretch of the imagination. They listed restrictions on the clothes one could wear, the songs that could be sung and what translation of The Bible would be permitted.

This ‘spirit’ or attitude has been found in all kinds of human activity. It has been around for centuries. Some examples are The Spanish Inquisition, The Salem Witch Hunts, Fascism, Nazism, Communism, The Jonestown Massascre and of late, 9/11. They all share that same ‘spirit’. These were all phenomena waiting for a word to describe them. Fundamentalism has become that word.

Christian Fundamentalists object to others being described as Fundamentalist but that is the word that has come to define and describe this mind-set or attitude or spirit. In this day, this spirit has pervaded some corners of Evangelical Christianity but it’s unfair to describe all Evangelical, Pentecostal, Islamic or Mormon, groups as being universally fundamentalists. We should be careful who we call a fundamentalist, because if the world has learned anything at all, it is this: where fundamentalism holds sway, sooner or later, people die.

More questions answered: Part 2; Part 3