"LEAVE, WITH MY 'BLESSING'"

From Viv Groskop at the Guardian:

On our wedding day we virtually ran back down the aisle the second the ceremony ended. "I thought you were going to trip up, you were in a such a hurry," I remember one guest saying. Why the rush? Because it wasn't really a wedding at all, but a blessing – and throughout the ceremony the vicar had not let us forget it.

My husband had been married before and, in the Church of England, remarriage is at the vicar's discretion. Our vicar had decided against it. Throughout the ceremony he referred repeatedly and pointedly to "new beginnings" as opposed to just "beginnings". He insisted that there be no exchange of rings, because we were, technically, already man and wife. (We went to a registry office five days earlier.) I spent most of the ceremony fiddling with my headdress because I had been told that I shouldn't be wearing a veil (too bridal for a blessing). It was only at the last minute that the vicar relented and allowed my father to walk me down the aisle. And did I mention that it was not a beginning but a new beginning? I can still remember seeing, out of the corner of my eye, friends and family in the congregation cringing.

It seems to me that a grudging "blessing" is an oxymoron. Either you bless with your whole heart, or there is no blessing. Can you guess who was the vicar who gave Viv and her husband the "blessing" with a grudge attached? Why none other than the Rev. Stephen Bould of St Peter, Folkestone, who announced that he would leave the Church of England to join a Roman Catholic ordinariate. Amongst his parting words are:

"It is a battle we are fighting now. Let's fight it with flair, imagination and spirit."

Battle metaphors abound amongst the dissatisfied in the Episcopal Church and in the Church of England.

Back to Viv:

Ten years on I'm disillusioned.... I would like to see the Church of England be more inclusive not only towards women priests but towards people like me – people who rarely attend church, often question their faith, but who are, essentially, supportive of the church. It's not as if you'd ever be turned away from a service, but there is a clear message on high days and holidays. Always the hopeful raised eyebrow: are you coming back on a regular basis or not? How serious are you? In today's Christian Britain you are either atheist or God Squad. There's no inbetween.

Bitter fruit, indeed.

I'm curious as to whether the bishops and priests who announced that they will take up Rome's offer have stopped presiding at the Eucharist. Do the clergy headed for Rome believe that their orders are presently valid and will suddenly become invalid once they cross the Tiber? According to Roman rules, the Church of England clergy will become humble lay folk, or, at best, seminarians, until they are screened and re-ordained. Just a thought.

Thanks to Cathy for the link.