For the Unity of the Church

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

John 17:12

I can give many reasons for becoming Anglican, but the one reason that stands out to me the most is the unity of the Church. Jesus prayed for it in John 17. Paul urges us in 1 Corinthians 1:10 to end our divisions and be united in mind and purpose. So I believe that it is God's desire to see the body of Christ, the Church, be unified.

Paul also tells us that in 1 Corinthians 12 that we have all been baptized into one body - the body of Christ. Each part of the body is necessary; each part of the body has its own function that is needed by the whole body. Growing up as a non-denominational Christian, I came to believe that this passage applies to a local body of Christians, a single congregation. I believed that denominations were bad because they divided the Church. The solution to this was to attend a non-denominational church and to think congregationally. Unity was achieved in theory by recognizing that everyone who had faith in Christ was part of the Church and in practice by attending events like Promise Keepers and the March for Life with other Christians.

I'm no longer satisfied by that way of thinking. I believe that Christ wanted more than an "I'm a Christian, you're a Christian, we're okay" kind of unity when he prayed that we would "be one, even as we are one." I'm not a scholar and I haven't done a lot of thinking or study on the Trinity, but I do know this: there is one God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are pretty unified. They are different persons and have different roles, but they are always working together for a common purpose: to bring glory to each other. That's a deep kind of community. That's the kind of community that Jesus prayed for in the Church - the whole thing. All of it. Jesus Christ wants everyone who believes in Him for salvation to have the same relationship with one another as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have with each other.

What does Anglicanism have to do with all of this?

I believe that Anglicanism is more than just another denomination: I believe that it is a framework from which a deeper unity in the Church can be achieved. I still believe that denominations are bad because they divide the Church. But the danger of the non-denominational church movement is that each church, despite its best intentions, can essentially become its own one-church denomination and, rather than encouraging unity, actually encourage division in the body of Christ. Let me offer a few thoughts on why I believe Anglicanism has the potential for uniting the Church:

Anglicans believe in visible unity. What this simply means is that we believe that there is more that unifies us than simply our faith in Christ. For example, the Anglican church around the world uses the Book of Common Prayer (in various translated versions of course), which ensures that we worship together using similar forms and similar prayers that cross linguistic and cultural barriers. Bishops in the church are another sign of unity; in fact their job is to work for unity in the church through teaching and defending the faith from heresy. We don't believe that these things are essential for Christianity or even that they are strictly Biblical, but we basically just believe that they are a good idea.

The Anglican church is a humble church, or at least a humbled church. Anglicans don't think of the Anglican church as "the only true church" as some churches do, and we don't think we have a corner on the truth as some denominations do. We have leaders who are not perfect. In fact, it's often pointed out that the Anglican church was started over Henry VIII's desire to have his marriage annulled (this is not false, but only half the truth; more on that later). In short, Anglicans are well aware of their humanity. In some ways, we don't have a lot to be proud of. We accept that the church can be and sometimes has been in error, and we pray for the Holy Spirit to show us the way ahead.

Anglicanism has a history of bringing together people with differences. Traditionally the Anglican church has been characterized as having three "streams":

• Evangelical Anglicans, who emphasize the Reformed Protestant heritage of Anglicanism, the teaching of Scripture, and evangelism;
• Charismatic Anglicans, who emphasize the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, including all of the spiritual gifts described in the Bible; and
• Anglo-Catholics, who emphasize the Catholic heritage of Anglicanism, the Sacraments, and tradition.

This is pretty significant. Churches have split and whole denominations have been founded over smaller differences than these. But Anglicans realize that these are preferences, not essentials. And Anglicans (not just Charismatics) trust the Holy Spirit to guide the Church in all truth as Jesus promised, because we believe that God has gifted us with different perspectives so that we can learn how to work together. Because a lot of Christian truths are ultimately mysteries. So we can have charity with one another as we seek the truth together so that we can together become the body of Christ. That's what Anglicanism is all about.