Saturday 16 October 2010

Different Directions in Faith

There's been a lot of news of the Bishop of Fulham's move towards the Anglican Ordinariate. I personally didn't realise that football teams were entitled to their own bishops, although it makes sense. After all, Rushden and Diamonds, being in a lower division, are entitled only to their own Canon.

But the news always seems to be one-way. The news, that is - not necessarily the travel.  We rarely hear the stories of Catholics becoming Anglicans - and they do, for I know many that have. Perhaps that is because, Anglican barriers being relatively low and its practice diverse, there's no need for an Ordinariate or any other paraphernalia. Or perhaps because, being dreadfully dreadfully English, the Church of England would see no reason to make a fuss about it.

Drayton, of course, can't see what any of the fuss is about. In the more Protestant fringes of the church, although the movement of a believer from one congregation to another might cause great personal pain - or indeed freedom - it is generally done without any great concern to the congregations as a whole or the Press. Indeed, some people can manage - without greatly changing any doctrinal views - to jump through seven or eight churches in a decade, each time happy in the belief that this time they have, indeed, truly come home.

2 comments :

  1. Well, I swam the Tiber the wrong way and ended up in an Anglican Church, but then, I am renowned for my poor navigation skills. This was of course, before the days of SATNAV and map and compass were the only reliable way of getting about.

    Sadly, my habit of holding the map upside down, while never being sure whether the compass needle should be pointing towards north or south was a bit of a handicap.

    I hope that Bishop of Fulham is heading for the first division, as in my view, he is actually going to the Ryman league.

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  2. UKViewer you are letting your gender down. At least hold the map so that it points the way you are going - even if you have to turn yourself, the map or the car round to achieve this.
    Which way the compass needle should point depends upon which hemisphere you are in, and additionally becomes even more complex if you are between the geographical and magnetic poles. However if your aim were to swim from Rome to Canterbury and you ended up between the geographical and magnetic poles, your navigation would be truly faulty.

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