James Hannington

James Hannington was sent from England in 1884 as a missionary Bishop. By October 1885 he and his companions had been detained and executed as a part of King Mwanga's purge of missions and missionaries in Uganda.

Whilst this story, in itself, is worth comment - and this was not the last attack on Christians - as recently as two years ago, the wife of an Anglican Bishop was killed - there is also a wider perspective which is especially painful to Episcopalians - that is the emergence of ACNA (Anglican Church in North America - of which  CANA is a part) and the realignment of the Anglican Communion.

Christians in places where religion is a weapon have a different perspective on life than in places where we are allowed to say what we think. We can look at the African Churches with anger and disbelief as they claim a conservative theological line, or we can stand alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ - fully aware that none of us has the reality of Christ neatly sewn up in our theological sock.

Consumer society seems to have done something to our brains when we think that we have to have a custom built church in which we are comfortable - the Church is not a comfortable place - it is profoundly unsettling and whilst it can offer a place of refuge and hope, and should, it also offers a sea of diversity through which we are called to grow.

I understand that we have reached a point of ontology (first principles)  - but we are stuck on our own ontological identity not that of Christ. I find it incredible that if we all sit down around a table with those we claim to be so different to we would agree on 95% (or more) of things  - and yet we have made ourselves so important in this equation that we would discredit and break down the very body which we serve through vilification and pride.

Here is my experience. There are places where I do not function as a priest - I am one, that is where God has put me, but that is a gift not a right and in places where my representative function would be seriously impaired then it is appropriate for me to fill a different role. I could get angry - sometimes I feel hurt - but my vocation is one of service. The prophetic voice, which seems to be an excuse for a lot of nastiness, is one of quiet witness not angry demands.

Russell Kirk says: ".... conservatism is less a political doctrine than a habit of mind, a mode of feeling, a way of living." I am concerned that we have two conservative factions within the Anglican communion, both of an entrenched and vitriolic mindset. One may have a reformist agenda but it is not liberal - liberalism allows for the good of all, calls for the consideration of the other - even when that other is diametrically opposed to you.

Missionaries have long known that pull between what they bring and who they find - there is no easy answer and the price they have paid to share the good news is high. Our missionary mandate is such that we must move forward but our message is compromised when we allow anger to hold us. James Hannington and his companions turned themselves over to Christ - body and soul - this service is our call also. Service not right, the other not the self.