Friday, 21 March 2008

Maundy Thursday

Maudy Thursday is the day in the life of the Church that commemorates the last Supper, before Jesus is arrested, put on trial and finally crucified.
Regardless of Denomination, this day is celebrated throughout the world in practically every church. While the traditions of Easter are seen as something that is emphasied by both the Roman Catholic church as well as the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Anglican/Episcopalian church. But slowly non-conformists are seeing a possitive affect of including this as part of their worship throughout HolyWeek.
This being the case, why then is there such a problem of churches coming together for this very significant day this week? In many Dioceses, there are numerous churches, yet they cannot celebrate together.Since when have Evangelical Anglicans & Anglo-Catholic Anglicans not recognised each other's priesthood? When did the Pope inform the Roman Catholic Bishops to not come to agreement because a parish may emphasise a more "contemporary" style?
As for Lutherans, Methodists, Congrgationalists & Presbyterians as well as Baptists; many of these have shared ministries together, even shared Seminaries/Theological Colleges, yet on Maundy Thursday, they treat each other as total strangers! This is the just the start, as it proceeds to get worse on "Good Friday", "Easter Eve" and finally "Easter Sunday". Is this the example of the "Body of Christ" that the Church is to represent? As Easter begins to see a rapid increase of 30-70% in church attendence, are we not loosing that great evangelstic opportunity as we show "The World" that we cannot come together, a view that is dangerous especially as it hits the eyes and ears of the Unchurched who are not looking for a well prepared sermon on the fundamentals of Christian Doctrine, but the reality of the Risen Christ and how having Christ in their lives will improve in this already evil world.

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