Canterbury goes to Rome

The Archbishop of Canterbury meets Pope Francis

One of the first things people new to the Episcopal Church are likely to ask, especially if they come from a Roman Catholic background, is what we think about the pope. Usually I launch into a mini-historical overview that begins with King Henry VIII and his daughter Queen Elizabeth I and takes us through the Colonial era in the U.S. right down to the Second Vatican Council.  Which is a round-about way for me to say that, no, the pope does not exercise authority over Anglicans/Episcopalians and that the Archbishop of Canterbury is an important figure as a spiritual leader of the world-wide Anglican Communion but he is not our version of a pope.  

Episcopalians live into the Via Media or Middle Way of our heritage and theology: we are of the catholic tradition with influences from the Protestant Reformation. Many of our new members come to our church because they are comfortable with the middle ground we create.  Clearly we have many former Roman Catholics in our pews.

So I do pay attention to when any Archbishop of Canterbury travels to Rome.  Their meeting happened on June 14. The former oil executive turned priest and then archbishop Justin Welby met with the Argentina-born Jesuit priest turned pope. Both men made all of the right public statements that Christian leaders should make for the good of the universal church.   Pope Francis has already in his brief pontificate shed increased light on the need to alleviate poverty and minister to the poor: he has chosen not to live in the palatial papal residence in favor of more modest lodging.   The two men also agreed on the need for Christians to act as peacemakers around the world, which they acknowledged could only be done if Christians "live and work together in harmony," the pope said. "I pray that the nearness of our two inaugurations may serve the reconciliation of the world and the Church," Archbishop Welby said.

Both the archbishop and the pope acknowledged that differences between Roman Catholics and Anglicans have caused pain in the past and would present challenges in the future. But the archbishop said that a firm foundation of friendship "will enable us to be hopeful in speaking to one another about those differences."

I'm glad the ABC and Pope met. May Christians everywhere remember that we share more in common than what may appear to separate us. We need to work together and know one another. Closer to home, may we continue to work with ecumenical partners on the Seacoast to make our corner of God's earth resemble the kind of world that God desires for us.  

Blessings,

Mark

  

The Rev. Mark B. Pendleton

Rector

When are we going home?

Christ Church, Exeter

June 13, 2013

When are we going home?

Moving day has come and gone this past week (finally!) and I can now safely say that we are New Hampshire residents. Our worldly possessions arrived to our house in nearby Greenland. (If anyone is moving soon and needs some boxes, do let me know).

In 1998 when our youngest child Lydia was three years old, she said something that has stayed with me over the years. We were unpacking the many boxes of our move from Glastonbury, Connecticut to Silver Spring, Maryland and both of our kids were doing what kids do on moving day: they were having a blast playing in giant empty boxes. Even before the furniture arrived, they loved running from room to room and creating an echo by shouting in the empty spaces.

Lydia ran up to us at the end of moving day with a giant smile on her face and said: "Mommy and daddy, I love our new house!   When are we going home?"  As a three year old, she knew intuitively what many of us have come to learn in life - that there is a difference between a house or an apartment and a home. Home is about feeling secure, wanted, free, loved and respected. Houses increase in value and decrease: they are bought and re-sold again. They age and some can even be destroyed and lost to natural disaster.  A house can be replaced: a home is much more.

I believe that what we are about as a church when we are at our best is creating a place where all of us can be at home -- safe, respected, challenged and loved. If "home is where your heart is" then I hope we connect being truly at home with arriving to the heart of what God most desires for us.  

And yes... I too love our new house.  And thanks to so many of you, after two months, I feel at home.  

  

   Blessings,

The Rev. Mark B. Pendleton

Rector