Just to show I can write the 'Vicar' page stuff for the church magazine!
The body is one unit, though it is made up of many parts, and although its parts are many, they form one body, Paul's words here from 1 Corinthians 12:12 speak of the reality of the Church Universal but also apply in a closer to home way to the four churches that make up the historic parish where I find myself.
Here we have four churches living in relationship because we choose to! We're not a team ministry, but a family who choose to be such. Hopefully this means that we work together for the good of the whole rather than at the expense of one another. It also means that within one geographic area we can offer a wide range of church styles to satisfy everyone. If one church prospers then the whole prospers and if one falls, so do we all.
A parish church is not THE parish, but is THE parish church - that is the mother church, the place from which other churches came into being. This seems to cause some confusion, especially when as happened today, someone suggested we should all return to the central church. Sadly, this is not the answer for a number of reasons. So what do we do?
Support one another and celebrate the differences that we have in terms of churchmanship. Wise words (from Jesus' lips in Matt 12) tell us that 'a household divided against itself will not stand'. We need to be affirming each other.
We need to take Jesus' words in John (17:21) to heart and strive for unity. Praying and working such that the reality for our churches is, 'That all of them may be one. Just as Jesus as the Father is in Jesus and Jesus in the Father. By doing this the world will believe that Jesus is the Son of God'.
A final thought from Colossians (3:12 - 14) springs to minds as relevant here: " Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
As we come together on our Lenten journey let us strive to make unity the byword within the parish and work as individuals for not only our churches but the parish as a whole. We are not rivals or competitors but are co-workers and I strongly believe that the parish church is a spiritual barometer for the whole town and that by working for it we benefit ourselves wherever we might find ourselves as believers.
Pax
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