Who's Minding the Story?

On a recent Sunday I became an Anglican.

This news will come as a shock to some of you, while others of you will be less surprised.

For me this moment comes as a culmination of a long and arduous journey of discernment. It is one step in a journey in which the way forward remains shrouded in mystery: I enter the Anglican Church as a lay person, and will continue to discern with the church what calling God might have in store for me.

To my United Church of Canada family, this decision is not a renunciation of the eighteen years we have travelled in fellowship. I will always be grateful to the church that welcomed our family, married us, and made me a minister. 

The Anglican Church and the United Church are different expressions of our shared Christian faith. Each tradition has gifts and emphases that are necessary to the health of the worldwide Church.

Each tradition offers practices, ways of being Christian, that are distinct from one another and yet which work towards the same aim: the formation of faithful Christians living their faith in communities gathered around the gospel. 

For me, now, the gifts of the Anglican tradition resonate most strongly. I recognize that for others, it is the practices of the United Church that provide the inspiration to best respond to God’s call. Others hear God’s call in other ways. 

One way is not better than another way. The real test of all these ways of being Christian is the extent to which they form us into people who “do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.”

I’m confident that as we each find our way to the traditions and practices that make God real to us, and shape us into the people we were created to be, we will be a gift to one another and to Christ’s Church. 

My heart is full of gratitude to many United Church friends who generously joined me in this discernment journey, all of whom so clearly loved and supported me—even when they disagreed with my ultimate decision.

To my friends in the Anglican Communion, thank you for your warm welcome, your prayers, and your support. I am grateful to the pastoral staff and the people of All Saints Anglican, and to all those who have contributed to my journey of discernment. 

In faith,

Jeff