While I reflect on my connection with Church - as in local Anglican Church - I have been reading the book: CHURCH, MINISTRY, SACRAMENTS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT written by C.K.BARRETT. It arose out of his presentation of The 1983 Didsbury Lectures. The embarrassment is that I purchased it in 1987, read parts of it then ...but ...
While I will flesh out this Post in the next few weeks what I am finding is the serious disconnect between Jesus' intentions for the New Israel - Church -, the New Testament presentation of the developing framework of Church AND present day church (deliberately in lower case) There is NO gathering of church today in Brisbane that one could say - There it is!
1. All Christians are ministers of the Gospel - yet as our parish priest noted to a visiting priest from Singapore ... on learning he was priest .. Oh, you are really one of us! There is reference to bishops and deacons acting in informal roles in the early Church. No priests.
( I must needs to write carefully here. The disconnect I find profoundly disturbing. What do I do, can I do during the rest of the years I have to live? Reading the Gospel of MATTHEW and reflecting through Bishop Tom Wright's commentary is seriously challenging. This is Jesus, who is about to be declared the Risen Lord and Saviour, calling the shots.) Jesus call to take up my cross and follow Him remains the defining call. Apart from contacts with folk after the Sunday service I remain a spectator in maybe a charade.
.... more to come. I cannot ignore the Epistle to the Hebrews as well.
