From Religious Intelligence-
The challenge within the fractured Anglican Communion is to find ways of "being together despite - and even because of - our diversity," according to a USPG: Anglicans in World Mission boss.
Member-churches of the Anglican family are "not clones," says the Rev Elfed Hughes, director of the Britain and Ireland Relations Team of USPG, one of the oldest Anglican mission agencies.
"There is richness, depth and variety in our personalities and ways of thinking," insists Mr Hughes, in an upbeat message in the autumn issue of Transmission, the quarterly of the body whose patron is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
He claims: "So what is needed is an approach to dialogue that will enable us to discuss and hold different points of view - while remaining in harmony." Optimistically, he adds: "I think there is room for a 'theology of debate'." Mr Hughes, in a four-point blueprint for such a debate calls for: :: Recognition that people "on the fringes" have always been important in the history of the church and its mission;
:: Recognition that "we can learn from each other" and rather than searching for institutional "purity," there should be a turning of debate into conversation;
:: There should be no fear of change. "It is often stated we must hold on to tradition, but this suggests a misunderstanding of the meaning of tradition; the concept of 'tradition' conveys the idea of handing on from generation to generation, but it is also about proclaiming our faith anew in every generation and in a new context";
:: No setting by member-churches of their "own agenda" - having "a fixed view" of what the church and mission should be or should become denies "the possibility of discovering something new and wonderful about God." Mr Hughes, who was ordained in 1977, declares: "In a word, a 'theology of debate' means being 'open' - open to God, to other people, to new ideas and to change."
The 56-year-old former Welsh vicar adds: "And there is no better place to put this into practice than in a global community which, in all its diversity, is seeking to live out God's call to mission."
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=4891
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