On Vicars

 On Vicars

 First published in Column 8, some time in 1994

65 English clerics criticized the Bishop of Chichester recently when, while doing his job, he sacked a vicar who said he doesn't believe in God. And why did they criticize the Bishop? Because the clerics claimed the Church of England has a long-standing tradition of tolerating and valuing a wide range of views.

Somehow I believe the clerics are a little confused, though I know they're not alone in their thinking.

If I joined a Harley Davidson club, full of enthusiasts for that particular brand of bike, and insisted on my belief that Honda motor scooters were still the best thing on two wheels, I suspect they'd wrap the nearest spanner round my ear.

If I went to a Photography group and claimed that the taking of photos was an outmoded occupation, I doubt that they'd tolerate my liberal views. If I said to a gang of phonecard collectors that I wanted to have their fellowship but I believed phonecards should be cut in half and given to the dustmen, I think they'd use the scissors on some aspect of my physiognomy.

If you're going to be part of any group it stands to reason you must take up their basic tenets, even though outsiders may consider their views to be mere opinions. I can't see how belief in God is not basic to being a Christian. And last time I heard, Anglicans were still included in the Christian scene.

I can understand if the vicar in question, Anthony Freeman, (an interesting surname in the circumstances), is having a crisis of faith. Many believers do, in all sorts of religions. They may go into a state of total unbelief regarding things in which they formerly believed. It's not unusual, and not unreasonable, but it is personal.

Such a crisis time is hardly reconcilable, however, with continuing to lead a congregation which may not be having the same crisis of faith. A minister can't lead a group of people if he doesn't believe in the things he's telling them. That defiles his integrity not a little. Of course he can proclaim to the congregation that he doesn't believe in God. But any sane group of believers should then seriously question his ability to lead them. As the Bishop of Chichester also did.

Recently I've been reading a book called Coping with Controversy .  Its author, Gareth Jones, makes the point that some things are central to a Christian's belief: God's existence seems to be an obvious central aspect. Other aspects of our belief are more peripheral. They're areas we can disagree about without ceasing to be a believer.

To me the clerics in England have mistaken a central belief for a peripheral one. I don't see how a segment of Christian society can deny the very thing that's at the base of the religion and still call themselves Christians. At the very least, Anthony Freeman and his supporters should consider retiring from their ministry until they discover whether they are believers or not.

I don't think that means they need to withdraw from the church, which is full of people who are on different parts of their spiritual journey: some unshakeable in their beliefs, some at the opposite end of the spectrum like broken straws.

But just as we wouldn't want teachers in schools who thought it was a waste of time to teach kids facts as we know them, or policemen who thought that law and order was a thing of the past, or doctors who thought that health was irrelevant, I don't think the church can use people in leadership who can't accept what the church has always regarded as the truth.