I have known for a long time that one of the key spiritual issues for me is community. This was likely part of the formative process of growing up in rural Indiana where the word, community, was not used very much, but the reality of it was all around me. I did not have the language of community in those early days, but I was learning how important it was for me. Part of my formative process was to learn to value and appreciate community. I still do to this day.
My need for and love of community was true through my college and graduate school days. And it has always been an issue throughout my working life. A significant factor in community for me has been the various Quaker congregations that allowed me to call home. They have been a variety of Quaker groups---some with pastors, some more traditional theologically and some more liberal. But through it all, the gathering of people who cared, served and struggled together has been a lifeline to me and my family.
I have also been a part of other spiritual communities. Some were Catholic, some monasteries and some small groups, which were part of a larger congregation. Again, it is always the people who matter. I value people who care---care about me and allow me to care for them. I need people when life becomes a struggle. And I like to be with people who know how to laugh. I think crying is inevitable in life. Laughing seems to be a choice; and some folks never make that choice!
I know communities are not perfect. And that is because all of us humans are not perfect. But we can strive to be better. That’s my commitment and hope. And I know others can help me in the growth and development. I know communities can make dumb decisions, just like humans make dumb decisions. I know spiritual communities strive to know and follow what God desires for them. But sometimes that Divine will, as it is often called, is not obvious nor clear. We are left to do our best to discern and then follow. As the saying goes, hindsight is more accurate, but hindsight is always too late! We do the best we can.
All this came to mind when I came across Christine Schenk’s recent article entitled, “Leonard Boff’s model of charism offers road map out of clericalism.” I know Schenk as a Catholic sister who is a member of a religious order I admire. I know about Boff from my graduate school days. Boff was a Brazilian Catholic who was one of the leaders of the so-called Liberation Theology movement. Clericalism is not an issue for Quakers. But I know it is an issue among my Catholic friends and other denominations who are “episcopal” in church governance (organization)---that is, who have bishops, etc. Quakers have problems, but theirs is of a different kind!
And so I jumped into Schenk’s writing. Basically her concern is the use (and misuse) of power within the Catholic hierarchy. Anyone who knows anything about power knows that power can be misused---as well as used to very good ends. But her article is not just about power. It is more about the Spirit---the Holy Spirit to be precise. She and I and all folks should agree that the Spirit is also a form of power---God’s power in our midst. In effect, she asks for some relocating of power.
Let me develop that a little. In the churches with bishops, power tends to be located in the episcopal office, i.e. in the person and position of bishop. Of course, the Pope is the Bishop of Rome---the highest figure in the Roman Catholic Church. The structure developed as the church became institutionalized in the early Christian centuries. To be simplistic, we can say the Catholic Church institutionalized the Spirit into the person and position of the bishop. If effect, this locates power in that person.
We can contrast this with a Quaker understanding, which is more a “congregational” model of church governance. In this case the Spirit is granted to the congregation rather to a person. This is not a better system; it is simply a different way of envisioning it. In one case the power is located in a person. In the other case the power is vested in the group. Schenk’s article invited me again to think about this issue.
Boff figures into Schenk’s thinking because of his experience and writings from Brazil in the 1980s and 90s. As a Catholic priest Boff experienced one form of church governance and was moved to a different kind. Schenk presents the basic issue for Boff (and herself) in this sentence. “For Boff, the church is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit, and since the Spirit is given to all of the people of God, one could ask what organizational or jurisdictional structures function best for releasing the Spirit's gifts on behalf of the reign of God?”
I like the language suggesting that the church is the sacrament of the Spirit. That resonates with me as a Quaker. I will pursue this in a more developed way in the next inspirational reflection.
My need for and love of community was true through my college and graduate school days. And it has always been an issue throughout my working life. A significant factor in community for me has been the various Quaker congregations that allowed me to call home. They have been a variety of Quaker groups---some with pastors, some more traditional theologically and some more liberal. But through it all, the gathering of people who cared, served and struggled together has been a lifeline to me and my family.
I have also been a part of other spiritual communities. Some were Catholic, some monasteries and some small groups, which were part of a larger congregation. Again, it is always the people who matter. I value people who care---care about me and allow me to care for them. I need people when life becomes a struggle. And I like to be with people who know how to laugh. I think crying is inevitable in life. Laughing seems to be a choice; and some folks never make that choice!
I know communities are not perfect. And that is because all of us humans are not perfect. But we can strive to be better. That’s my commitment and hope. And I know others can help me in the growth and development. I know communities can make dumb decisions, just like humans make dumb decisions. I know spiritual communities strive to know and follow what God desires for them. But sometimes that Divine will, as it is often called, is not obvious nor clear. We are left to do our best to discern and then follow. As the saying goes, hindsight is more accurate, but hindsight is always too late! We do the best we can.
All this came to mind when I came across Christine Schenk’s recent article entitled, “Leonard Boff’s model of charism offers road map out of clericalism.” I know Schenk as a Catholic sister who is a member of a religious order I admire. I know about Boff from my graduate school days. Boff was a Brazilian Catholic who was one of the leaders of the so-called Liberation Theology movement. Clericalism is not an issue for Quakers. But I know it is an issue among my Catholic friends and other denominations who are “episcopal” in church governance (organization)---that is, who have bishops, etc. Quakers have problems, but theirs is of a different kind!
And so I jumped into Schenk’s writing. Basically her concern is the use (and misuse) of power within the Catholic hierarchy. Anyone who knows anything about power knows that power can be misused---as well as used to very good ends. But her article is not just about power. It is more about the Spirit---the Holy Spirit to be precise. She and I and all folks should agree that the Spirit is also a form of power---God’s power in our midst. In effect, she asks for some relocating of power.
Let me develop that a little. In the churches with bishops, power tends to be located in the episcopal office, i.e. in the person and position of bishop. Of course, the Pope is the Bishop of Rome---the highest figure in the Roman Catholic Church. The structure developed as the church became institutionalized in the early Christian centuries. To be simplistic, we can say the Catholic Church institutionalized the Spirit into the person and position of the bishop. If effect, this locates power in that person.
We can contrast this with a Quaker understanding, which is more a “congregational” model of church governance. In this case the Spirit is granted to the congregation rather to a person. This is not a better system; it is simply a different way of envisioning it. In one case the power is located in a person. In the other case the power is vested in the group. Schenk’s article invited me again to think about this issue.
Boff figures into Schenk’s thinking because of his experience and writings from Brazil in the 1980s and 90s. As a Catholic priest Boff experienced one form of church governance and was moved to a different kind. Schenk presents the basic issue for Boff (and herself) in this sentence. “For Boff, the church is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit, and since the Spirit is given to all of the people of God, one could ask what organizational or jurisdictional structures function best for releasing the Spirit's gifts on behalf of the reign of God?”
I like the language suggesting that the church is the sacrament of the Spirit. That resonates with me as a Quaker. I will pursue this in a more developed way in the next inspirational reflection.
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