The God Castaway

  Disagreeing well Acts  A Case for Mutual Flourishing from a    Liberal Catholic. When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate with them , the church appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement. Acts 15:2 There was such a sharp disagreement that they parted company, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus. Acts 15:39 But they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. Acts 25:19 So being in disagreement with one another , they began to leave [after] Paul made one statement: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through the prophet Isaiah to your fathers. Acts 28:25   As a member of general Synod, it’s fair to suggest the 2023 February sitting of Synod was a bruising encounter with over eight hours of discussion regarding the...

Synod February 2023 has been a bruising encounter, not least helped by dropping the 'Hub by Premier' mug on my foot, in the 7th floor bolt hole that held the same level of charm as one or two of the synod reps in my company at Synod this week. The timetable of events suggested and proved correct, that the main thrust of conversation was going to be about well, thrusting, bonking, making love, fornicating, a bit of ooh la la all in the eyes of God.  Of course It didn't say that on the paper but the simple matter of saying yes or no to blessing a same sex couple was far too 'straight' forward. It was always going to be penetrated by matters between right and wrong, and which side of the argument you slipped into.  Often it felt it was more about appropriate behavior under the covers of a Habitat eiderdown, rather than blessing gay people who wanted to spend the rest of their lives together without the whole congregation getting involved. As I lay semi-naked in my ...