However, within a fortnight, I have felt like dropping the whole thing again due to the actions of some people in a supposedly "Anglican Catholic" group. Admittedly, the term "Anglican Catholic" is not owned by my church, though it does hold the legal right to "Anglican Catholic Church". This means that there is a discrepancy between what some see as a synonym for "Anglo-Catholic" and our more deliberate use of the term.
However, what I found in this group was what I would describe as a lack of definition of terms. Thus, in the group, we had members of the Anglican Communion, members of the Anglican Ordinariate, and members of the G4. Some were liberal, supporting heterodoxy of the Anglican Communion. Some were roundly Protestant, seeking to enforce the Thirty-Nine Articles at every stage.
It meant that the same arguments would be held again and again. The same old points would be raised, the same old questions asked, the same old arguments raged. All the newcomer to the group had to do was say, "hooray for women priests!" or "do Anglican Catholics believe the XXXIX Articles?" and much virtual blood would be spilt as the Reformation happened all over again. And I got sick of it.
The things that infuriated me most were the invective levelled at each other, or the claims to great personal doctrinal authority by people speaking codswallop, and the constant talking past each other. There was no common language: everyone said just what they wanted to hear. The moral that has taken me all to long to learn is that if you join a Facebook group to be educated, you will only be educated in the fallenness of mankind.
One thing I love about my Anglican Catholic Church is that it is clear what it believes and states it. If you cannot accept that belief then peace be with you as you travel on. If you can accept our belief then will be happy to walk with you.
The fact of the matter is that we are a broader church than people would give us credit. We can accommodate Masses in the Roman style with the "Big six", triple candles at paschaltide and biretta. We can accommodate Masses in the Sarum style. We can even accommodate prayer book Masses. The provisor in each of these cases is that the liturgy has to be allowed by canon. We may not use the Roman Missal, nor the Sarum missal nor the prayerbook Missal that does not conform to the 1549 and thus the 1928 US prayer book. For example, the canon of the 1662 BCP is too truncated for our public Mass.
In our Church, we have those who accept the Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. We have those who will not pray to the saints, preferring the "direct line". This is all fine. However, the principle that we must follow is given by St Benedict.
"As often as any special business has to be transacted in the monastery, let the abbot convoke the whole community and himself state what is the matter in hand. And having listened to the counsel of the brethren, let him settle the matter in his own mind and do what seems to him most
expedient. And we have thus said that all are to be called to council because it is often to a junior that the Lord reveals what is best. But let the brethren so give counsel with all subjection and humility that they presume not with any forwardness to defend what shall have seemed good to them; but rather let the decision depend upon the abbot’s discretion, so that he shall decide what is best, that they all may yield ready obedience: but just as it behoves the disciples to be obedient to the master, so also it becomes him to arrange all things prudently and justly." (Chapter III of the Rule)
For any Catholic Church, we must read "bishop" for "abbot" in the above. In our Anglican Catholic Church, we MUST accept the bishop's authority in all matters of faith that are lawful and honest. That is what we sign up to when we join, and say our canonical oaths. In signing up to being Anglican Catholic, we are subordinating our opinion to the rule of the Church and accepting an authority that is above us. We must accept the hierarchy. That is a humiliation and obedience. The upshot is that we learn humiliation for the love of Christ and we learn obedience to Christ for love of Him, especially when we have to do as we are told when we don't like it.
On the other hand, the wise bishop will seek to be as accommodating as possible within the bounds of his own obedience to the Church and the Catholic Faith. This means not only accepting Low Church worship in a High Church but cherishing it as a valid way of doing things in accordance with Our Lord's command.
I have been blessed by those in my Diocese whose liturgy is different from my own. I have been blessed by those who do not see Our Lady as Immaculate but love her nonetheless. I have been blessed by all my confraternity because they represent the colour and breadth of strict Orthodoxy as expressed in the Anglican Catholic Church.
I am glad to have left certain Facebook groups and they are probably very glad that I have left due to my holding to the ancient Catholic Faith. My hope is that we learn to live truly and authentically within the parameters of what is orthodox and, having given our opinion, move on in seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, at all times seeking to maintain true charity especially with those who disagree with us.
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