I just finished reading A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists:Musings on Why God is Good and Faith Isn’t Evil by David G. Myers. Worthwhile read filled with valuable nuggets. What I appreciated most was his invitation to a “humble spirituality”, a third alternative to a purposeless scientism/rationalism and a narrow fundamentalism so prevelant in my own tradition of contemporary evanglicalism. I don’t agree with all he has written, but I believe he is in the right direction. We do need a more profound spirituality rooted in biblical wisdom and history, one that connects us in supportive communities and offers genuine hope in the face of adversity and death. We need to learn from the larger “one, holy, catholic and apostolic church.” The following is the rich content of a moving letter sent to me from my mentor Leighton Ford this past week. It is a portion of an email message he recently received this from his friend Canon Andrew White in Baghdad. “I have been to the Church of the future” Lord Hylton. It was a pleasant, warm, sunny day in Baghdad. The Iraqi army turned up to my trailer. They had come to take us to church. With me was my Iraqi director along with Lord Raymond Hylton, the chairman of our board. He had taken great risks to give up his comfortable seat in the House of Lords and travel with me for two weeks to the most dangerous place in the world. We were seated in the usual armored vehicle going through the countless checkpoints until we were finally out of the IZ (international zone, formally known as the Green Zone). The sirens started screeching, we sped fast down the wrong side of the road and in no time at all we were in St George’s Church compound. For me this was just another normal trip to church in the usual abnormal manner. Lord Hylton was welcomed by some of the children like a long lost friend. He had spent time with them in London when they visited the House of Lords, so to them he was simply their friend. The service began as usual with the words from Communion: “Allah hu maana.” The Lord is here. The people shout the response “his Spirit is with us.” Wonderful singing in Arabic and Aramaic follows, the liturgy is sung as well in these languages, the sermon given by me and then the Eucharist. The services are always long, always filled with joy, yet at every meeting people will tell of the pain they have suffered that week. The church is bursting at the seams. Despite having church on Saturday and Sunday, with the encouragement that people only come once, the church is still filled to overflowing. There are not enough seats for everybody so they stand for several hours at a time. Apart from the wonderful worship there is also an outstanding report from the Church’s dental and medical clinic. Vast numbers of people are seen and treated each day totally free of charge. The users of the service cannot believe they receive this treatment without payment. The vast majority of the patients are not even Christian. Later Lord Hylton shows me an article he has written. It begins with a line I will never forget: “I have been to the Church of the future.” Here in Baghdad in probably the most dangerous street in the world is the Church of the future? It is a church I love so much but I had never realized it was the Church of the future. What Lord Hylton was saying was so true. Here denominations do not matter. Here people from every denominational background came together to worship the living God; a people who have lost everything and realize that Jesus is everything. The whole methodology of Church is totally different. People do not just come to church to worship, it is their everything. They come here to get their food, clothes, blankets, health care, meet their friends. Here church is everything. I am reminded of the words of one of our Children “I learned here that Jesus was everything and he would provide all our needs and He has and He has made me happy again.” From Lord Hylton and a young person called Fulla I have learned this week what church is really about. It is about the presence of the Almighty in the most difficult circumstances. It is not about denominations or labels, it is about the Church Universal. The one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church being everywhere even in the most dangerous place in the world, serving and showing the love of Jesus. The following day my other congregation meets as it does most weeks with the people of St George’s. The reunion is always emotional. They hug and kiss each other. The children surround the other members of their church family. They put down their rifles and large guns. They hold hands and sing together. They are nearly all American soldiers but they see themselves as one together. They truly love each other. There is no differentiation that one appears to take from the other. If you speak to them both you will see that they both give and receive. The British Army turn up. Though not great in number here in Baghdad they have made a generous collection of money for St George’s. It is given to Faiz our lay pastor. It will give to those who have lost everything. One of the little girls runs up to me “Abouna Abouna [Father Father] I have had the best day of my life.” I ask her how and she points to the US Soldiers and says “they took us to play and swim in their pool, and gave us pizza and t-shirts and we sang together and it was the best day of our lives.” I look at them all and suddenly I too see the Church of the future, it is one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. Canon Andrew P B White Anglican Chaplain to Iraq and President of the FRRME (www.frrme.org) What are the implications of this as North American Christians in the properous West seeking to make disciples?
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