Review - Facing the future
Facing the Future, edited by Stephen Hale and Andrew Curnow. Acorn Press Ltd, Melbourne 2009.
Bishops imagine a different church
Book reviewed by Doug Edmonds
Getting more than twenty Australian bishops to agree on anything is probably something akin to herding cats, but Stephen Hale of Melbourne and Andrew Curnow of Bendigo have at least got them to agree to each contribute a chapter to this new volume, Facing the Future.
Points of agreement do not end there, however. All the contributors share a basic optimism for the future of the Anglican Church and have a dream, however varied, for where we might move.
This is remarkable: When I was ordained, thirty something years, ago, the book's subtitle 'Bishops imagine a different church', would have been considered an oxymoron, guaranteed to raise a laugh at any church gathering.
The very fact we have bishops who can exercise the power of imagination in relation to the church is encouraging.
And it is good that, among the contributors, our own John Harrower (on 'A New openness to Change') and Chris Jones reflecting his Anglicare role (on 'A New Compassion for the Marginalised'), more than hold their own.
What used to be called 'churchmanship' doesn't count for much in Facing the Future. There are views from every perspective and all contribute towards the sense of drive towards a church at mission. It's not all about the role of bishops but deals at depth with the future of congregational life as well as wider issues.
Perhaps I'm just entering the grumpy old man stage of life, but I would have appreciated some reflection about what we're not going to give up: the primacy of scripture is well defended, but what about other characteristics of continuing to be Anglicans in an imagined future?
Facing the Future is well worth reading and has much to contribute to thinking at diocesan and parish level.