St Mary's

THE DISCIPLESHIP OF EQUALS: the NEW COMMUNITY

FIRST READING – Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book LIFE TOGETHER, section on ministry.

“An argument started among them (the disciples of Jesus) as to which of them was the greatest”. Perhaps we do not bear in mind enough that no Christian community ever comes together without this thought immediately emerging as a seed of discord. Thus at the very beginning of Christian fellowship there is engendered an invisible, often unconscious, life-and-death contest. This is enough to destroy a fellowship.

All this can occur in the most polite or even pious environment. But the important thing is that a Christian community should know that somewhere in it there will certainly be ‘an argument among them as to which of them is the greatest.’ It is the struggle of the natural person for self-justification. One finds it only in comparing oneself with others, in condemning and judging others. Self-justification and judging others go together, as justification by grace and serving others go together.

HOMILY ST MARYS IN EXILE – MAY 29/30 2010

THE DISCIPLESHIP OF EQUALS: the NEW COMMUNITY

If someone dreams alone,

Then it remains only a dream.

If many dream together

then this is the beginning,

the beginning of a new reality.

Dream our dream.

The vision of a different world of justice makes us dreamers. Thank you for the opportunity to share my dream for our NEW COMMUNITY, our LIBERATED community?

My background is from the Anglican tradition. I was very involved in the Movement for the Ordination of Women in the Anglican Church, a prophetic and reform movement which was not auspiced by the Anglican Church but greatly influenced the final decision to ordain Anglican women in 1992.

My reason for presenting this background is to pay tribute to this community as a place of HEALING and INCLUSION after the long and bitter struggle in the Anglican Church and the experience of being marginalized in that institution.

Peter has asked me to deal with one aspect of our community, that of lay presidency at the Eucharist. When I have mentioned this topic a number of people have said ‘Never heard of it!’ It means a NON-ORDAINED person presiding at the Eucharist, or more simply a person hosting a meal of remembrance. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me”.

I present this homily in a PASTORAL sense, out of my love and commitment to the people of this community. I believe that almost all change that happens in a congregation is a pastoral process and it is often only possible in small, manageable bites”. Some of what I say suggests change and may be quite confronting.

I want to take a step back and explore what it means to be a lay person, that often times derogatory terminology which throughout history has been regarded as 2^nd class Christians. This will lead to some discussion about LAY PRESIDENCY later.

The word LAITY comes from the Greek LAOS, meaning the People. The word should be understood positively, as referring to the people of God and Christian sister and brotherhood rather than, as in medieval language, to the uneducated, uncouth, vulgar masses. So I have called this homily THE DISCIPLESHIP OF EQUALS: the NEW COMMUNITY.

Firstly, I intend to explore and challenge  the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church as stated in the Catholic Encyclopedia (www.newadvent.org/cathen). And then to further explore how this relates to lay presidency. Since I am speaking mostly to people of the Roman Catholic tradition it may seem rather presumptuous to talk of your HISTORY and EXPERIENCE. Terry assures me that the Catholic Encyclopedia was part of his training.

I ask the questions “What has changed since Vatican 2? And what are the implications for the latest rewriting of the Catholic liturgy?” You know these answers better than I do.

What I now explore I say with the greatest respect to the many clergy who have influenced my life – to Peter, Terry and any other priests/ministers/ pastors in our community.

First extract: “…the word laity is opposed to clergy. The laity and clergy belong to the same society, but do not occupy the same rank. The laity are members of this society who remain where they were placed by baptism, while the clergy… have been raised by ordination to a higher class, and placed in the sacred hierarchy. The church is a perfect society, though all therein are not equal;…”

Let us examine the words ‘ordained’, and ‘not equal’.

‘Ordination’ has often been used as the concept of ‘set apart’, as ‘the representative of Christ’. We hear the word ‘office’. I suggest that we are all representatives of Christ.

In the Christian community of the 1^st century freedom, equality, sister and brotherhood had their foundation, but this was overlaid with hierarchical structures at a very early stage. Priests, as we understand the title and function, did not exist.

Second extract: “The church…two kinds of members: in the first place, those who are the depositaries of sacred or spiritual authority i.e. the clergy…in the second place, those over whom this power is exercised, who are governed, taught, and sanctified, the Christian people, the laity…the laity are not the depositaries of spiritual power… the subjects who are guided by the successors of the Apostles…Such is the constitution which Our Saviour has given to His Church”.

The words ‘authority’, ‘power’, ‘church’. What is our position having left a religious institution? We can never surrender our claim to spiritual authority. We see in today’s Gospel that the Holy Spirit will be our guide. Clericalism, which suggests ‘power over’, is alive and well in the Churches. Do we want a clerical model of community? If so, do we want a hierarchical model, or is it something else? How do we define leadership within our community?

In the origins of Christianity, the church as we know it, did not exist. Jesus did not found a ‘church’.

Third extract: “The laity…their separation from the clergy…excludes them from the performance of acts reserved to the latter…As to Divine service, the liturgy and especially the essential act of the Christian worship, the Holy Sacrifice, the active ministers are the clergy alone.”

The words ‘separation’, ‘acts reserved for the clergy’, and ‘clergy alone’. The word ‘liturgy’ means of the people. In the statement about ‘Holy Sacrifice’ lies the discussion and the challenge for lay presidency of the Eucharist.

I want to focus on the gifts of the people because I believe that is the essence of community. The apostle Paul, writing to the Romans said “ Let us use the gifts allotted to each of us by God’s grace – prophecy, service, teaching, and counseling, contributing with liberality, leading with enthusiasm. All are still applicable, but I suggest we can add a new list in our community, and here are some suggestions – administrators, musicians, housekeepers (cleaning the kitchen after Mass), artists, greeters, prayers, healers, those who sell the Big Issue, those who look after the drop shop etc etc. All are equal.

We know that the greatest of the spiritual gifts is love, not a superficial or sentimental love, but love intertwined with justice.

I urge you to think of your own gifts. It is often in dialogue with others that we discover our gifts and are affirmed in them.

I ask us to look at different representations of the Lord’s Supper over the centuries, ranging from Leonardo da Vinci’s formality of the Last Supper to modern representations of a group of musicians around the table, and to look at the application this may have for the different ways we might conduct Eucharist today.

The earliest surviving representation of the Last Supper is found in a mosaic from the 6^th century. Here the apostles are reclining around a table on couches, in Roman style. This suggests a relaxed atmosphere in a home where the original Lord’s Supper would have taken place.

It is not my brief in this homily to expound all the theological ramifications of the Lord’s Supper. These are topics for other homilies. What I do want to emphasize is the simplicity of this meal of remembrance.

What is my conclusion? I see no barriers to a non-ordained person, someone chosen from the community, and given preparation for that role, presiding at the Eucharist. If we look at the origins of our faith we see no priest/people divide, no separation, no ranks, all are representatives of Christ, all are equal. We have the spiritual authority to use our gifts under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We see in today’s Gospel the promise from Jesus of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In making this act we are turning back centuries of man-made hierarchical structures.

We need many conversations in our community on this topic. We come from different backgrounds and places on our spiritual journey, yet here in the simplicity of this shared meal our hearts and minds are open, we love and accept one another, as Christ loves us.

I conclude with these words from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk 2:2-3

Write the vision down

Inscribe it on tablets

To be easily read.

For there is still a vision

For its own appointed time,

Eager for its own fulfillment.

It does not deceive!

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

It will surely come,

It will not delay.

GWENNETH ROBERTS