Throughout the world wide Anglican Communion, there are many systems in place as to how to
appoint some Bishops and in the United States they have their own version of any aystem in regards to the role of Presiding Bishop, who in theory takes the title of "Archbishop".
Recently in the UK, there has been several new Bishops, mainly due to the retirement. Within the system it takes a seperate role as an "Established" church, with all Bishop appointments being royal appointments. While we see a common formula, which is appointing parish clergy as Archdeacons and then following as Bishop later. Occasionally, very occassionally except in Wales, a Cathedral Dean will become a Bishop.
It maybe worthy of thought; for parish clergy to become Bishops, and not via the position of Archdeacon or Dean. There are many a skilled clergy who benefit many a diocese by becoming a Bishop.
Monday, 27 October 2008
Friday, 24 October 2008
A Baptist Page PortraitChristmas Evans
To place Christmas Evans among the biographies of such noted Baptists as John Buyan and Isaac Backs may seem strange. Known as the "one eyed Bunyan of Wales", Evans remains an unusual and yet very useful servant in God's army. Christmas was born at Llandysul, Wales on the day from which his name is taken to Samuel and Johanna Evans in 1766. His long life would carry him until 1838 and leave a legacy of great Baptist leadership in his homeland of Wales. Early in Evans life, his father died leaving his mother nearly destitute. In desperation, Johanna Evans sent her nine year old Christmas to live with her brother and work on his farm. Unfortunately, Evan's uncle was a drunkard and a cruel man. Due to the circumstances of his life Christmas found himself illiterate and irreligious at the age of eighteen. Finally, sick of his condition, Evans headed to the town of Llwynrhcdowain to get away from his abusive uncle and the life which held him in its snare.
In God's sovereignty, a revival was waiting on Evans when he arrived at his new home town. It was there that he was converted and came to know the living and risen Lord. Late in his life Christmas wrote of this time:
"The fear of dying in an ungoldy state especially affected me ... and this apprehension clung to me till I was induced to rest upon Christ ... this concern was the dawn of the day of grace in my spirit." 1
Almost immediately, Christmas knew that he had to separate himself from his lost and wicked companions. Not long after his conversion he was attacked by six of his former rogue friends. They beat him unmercifully and blinded him in one eye with a stick. It was because of this cruel attack that Evans would be called later in life, "the one-eyed preacher of Wales." Christmas Evans could say along with the apostle Paul, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Soon after his conversion, Evans felt the call to preach. His low upbringing and lack of education was a loss for the established church and a gain for Baptists. Because he lacked credentials, Evans could only preach in cottage meetings and it was there that he came into contact with Baptist Christians. Because of these Calvinistic Baptists, the "one-eyed preacher" began to study God's Word deeply for Himself. At the age of twenty, Christmas was baptized as a believer. He wrote:
"Having read the New Testament through, I found not a single verse in favor of paedobaptism (infant baptism) ... These Scriptures spoke to my conscience, and convinced me of the necessity of personal obedience to the baptism which Christ had ordained." 2
After his baptism, Evan's preaching changed. Everyone noticed the power with which he spoke. As he preached, the people who listened were moved to repentance and true revival. Reading his sermons definitely reminds one of the style of John Bunyan. There is deep Biblical truth accompanied by powerfully moving allegory. Perhaps, only in Wales could such a man have risen for that land is known for its fervent emotion. Christmas attributed much of his preaching style to a Calvinistic Methodist preacher by the name of Robert Roberts. Outside of church polity, Welsh Baptist and Calvinistic Methodist held much in common. Two names from the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist church should ring a bell, George Whitefield and Martin Lloyd-Jones. Christmas said of Robert Roberts:
"I went on one Sunday to hear him. He was one of the most insignificant looking persons I ever saw - a little hunchbacked man; but he neither thought nor said anything like other people; there was something wonderful and uncommon about him." 3
Like most Welshmen, Evans believed in a fervent religion of the heart. He had little use for much of what he called the "new hymn singing" because he thought it lacked meaning from the heart. Once he saw a church member pull a hymn book from his pocket. "You won't have those in heaven," chided Evans, "put it back in your pocket." 4 Baptists, in the south in particular, inherited much of their fervent and yet doctrinally sound religion from their Welsh and Scottish ancestors. Like Jonathan Edwards, they knew one did not have to divorce emotion from doctrine. One can, in fact must be, sound in doctrine and fervent in spirit. Christmas described himself as a fisher of men. He said:
"(my) line should not be of fine silk but of strong thread interwoven with the hemp of truth and dipped in the spirit of prayer, for what was wanted was not something nice to look at, but a line with a hook on one end to bite." 5
The preceding quote emphasizes a Baptist distinctive of preaching for decision. Our forefathers were doctrinally sound as can be seen in Evans reading of such weighty stuff as the complete works of John Owens. They also believed in a religion of the heart. They preached to see men and women soundly converted. To the wayward saints, they preached for godly sorrow which leads to repentance.
Another momentous time in Evan's life was when he met and married Catherine Jones. His beloved Catherine would prove to be a great stabilizing force in the preacher's life. As in most great men's lives, there is a great woman, often behind the scenes. Christmas and his wife moved to the Isle of Anglesey to begin a new work among the Baptists of that tiny island. During his ministry on the island that Evans began to read John Owen and to translate John Gill's, Body of Divinity into Welsh. The work was difficult and opposition was great but God blessed his efforts among a number of Baptists churches on the island.
Life has many strange turns and Christmas walked down a most crooked road as he approached his sixtieth birthday. First, his beloved Catherine was called home to Christ in 1823. Not long after that, Evans was named in lawsuit by creditors seeking to recover unpaid debts from some of the Angsley chapels. Then he spent nine months battling an infection which threatened to rob the sight Evans had left. If that wasn't enough, many of the Baptist church on the island began to chafe under Evan's leadership and made it plain that felt it was time for him to move one. One is reminded of the words of Paul in Corinthians when he names all of his troubles and adds "as well as care for all of the churches." In spite of all of these trials, Christmas never hesitated in his march for the kingdom of God.
Evans left Anglesey in 1826 and moved alone to the little village of Caerphilly. God once again blessed Evans in his love and gave him a loving new wife in Mary Evans. Christmas spent the last few years of his life preaching from one place to another, often returning to preach at the great annual assemblies of all evangelical Christians in Wales. On July 19th, 1838, God call Christmas home after a job well done. David Rhys Steephen preaching at Evans' funeral said:
"He had a heart swelling with love to God and man ... He was a man that feared the Lord God ... He walked before Him with great humility all the day long." 6
On the day of his death, Evans preached a sermon on the apostles on the day of Pentecost. He likened their mission as going out into a great naval battle:
"The captain of our salvation sent out twelve little boats to engage the whole fleet of hell. For a time all was enveloped in fire and smoke, and the issue of the day seemed doubtful; but when the conflict had ceased ... it was ascertained that the twelve little boats had captured three thousand of Satan's ships of war." 7
After preaching, Christmas Evans sat down and said, "This is my last sermon." And it was. Yet Evans still preaches from the past. His life of solid dedication to God and God's church is a monument to what it means to serve God with one's whole heart. The one-eyed preacher from Wales may not have had a face that was much to look at but he had a heart that was a work of art. May his legacy live in our hearts.
Baptist Page Articles are offered as a service to the readers of The Baptist Page. You are given permission to reprint this in any form available. We only ask that this paragraph remain with the article.
©1997-2001 The Baptist Page - www.baptistpage.com
To place Christmas Evans among the biographies of such noted Baptists as John Buyan and Isaac Backs may seem strange. Known as the "one eyed Bunyan of Wales", Evans remains an unusual and yet very useful servant in God's army. Christmas was born at Llandysul, Wales on the day from which his name is taken to Samuel and Johanna Evans in 1766. His long life would carry him until 1838 and leave a legacy of great Baptist leadership in his homeland of Wales. Early in Evans life, his father died leaving his mother nearly destitute. In desperation, Johanna Evans sent her nine year old Christmas to live with her brother and work on his farm. Unfortunately, Evan's uncle was a drunkard and a cruel man. Due to the circumstances of his life Christmas found himself illiterate and irreligious at the age of eighteen. Finally, sick of his condition, Evans headed to the town of Llwynrhcdowain to get away from his abusive uncle and the life which held him in its snare.
In God's sovereignty, a revival was waiting on Evans when he arrived at his new home town. It was there that he was converted and came to know the living and risen Lord. Late in his life Christmas wrote of this time:
"The fear of dying in an ungoldy state especially affected me ... and this apprehension clung to me till I was induced to rest upon Christ ... this concern was the dawn of the day of grace in my spirit." 1
Almost immediately, Christmas knew that he had to separate himself from his lost and wicked companions. Not long after his conversion he was attacked by six of his former rogue friends. They beat him unmercifully and blinded him in one eye with a stick. It was because of this cruel attack that Evans would be called later in life, "the one-eyed preacher of Wales." Christmas Evans could say along with the apostle Paul, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Soon after his conversion, Evans felt the call to preach. His low upbringing and lack of education was a loss for the established church and a gain for Baptists. Because he lacked credentials, Evans could only preach in cottage meetings and it was there that he came into contact with Baptist Christians. Because of these Calvinistic Baptists, the "one-eyed preacher" began to study God's Word deeply for Himself. At the age of twenty, Christmas was baptized as a believer. He wrote:
"Having read the New Testament through, I found not a single verse in favor of paedobaptism (infant baptism) ... These Scriptures spoke to my conscience, and convinced me of the necessity of personal obedience to the baptism which Christ had ordained." 2
After his baptism, Evan's preaching changed. Everyone noticed the power with which he spoke. As he preached, the people who listened were moved to repentance and true revival. Reading his sermons definitely reminds one of the style of John Bunyan. There is deep Biblical truth accompanied by powerfully moving allegory. Perhaps, only in Wales could such a man have risen for that land is known for its fervent emotion. Christmas attributed much of his preaching style to a Calvinistic Methodist preacher by the name of Robert Roberts. Outside of church polity, Welsh Baptist and Calvinistic Methodist held much in common. Two names from the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist church should ring a bell, George Whitefield and Martin Lloyd-Jones. Christmas said of Robert Roberts:
"I went on one Sunday to hear him. He was one of the most insignificant looking persons I ever saw - a little hunchbacked man; but he neither thought nor said anything like other people; there was something wonderful and uncommon about him." 3
Like most Welshmen, Evans believed in a fervent religion of the heart. He had little use for much of what he called the "new hymn singing" because he thought it lacked meaning from the heart. Once he saw a church member pull a hymn book from his pocket. "You won't have those in heaven," chided Evans, "put it back in your pocket." 4 Baptists, in the south in particular, inherited much of their fervent and yet doctrinally sound religion from their Welsh and Scottish ancestors. Like Jonathan Edwards, they knew one did not have to divorce emotion from doctrine. One can, in fact must be, sound in doctrine and fervent in spirit. Christmas described himself as a fisher of men. He said:
"(my) line should not be of fine silk but of strong thread interwoven with the hemp of truth and dipped in the spirit of prayer, for what was wanted was not something nice to look at, but a line with a hook on one end to bite." 5
The preceding quote emphasizes a Baptist distinctive of preaching for decision. Our forefathers were doctrinally sound as can be seen in Evans reading of such weighty stuff as the complete works of John Owens. They also believed in a religion of the heart. They preached to see men and women soundly converted. To the wayward saints, they preached for godly sorrow which leads to repentance.
Another momentous time in Evan's life was when he met and married Catherine Jones. His beloved Catherine would prove to be a great stabilizing force in the preacher's life. As in most great men's lives, there is a great woman, often behind the scenes. Christmas and his wife moved to the Isle of Anglesey to begin a new work among the Baptists of that tiny island. During his ministry on the island that Evans began to read John Owen and to translate John Gill's, Body of Divinity into Welsh. The work was difficult and opposition was great but God blessed his efforts among a number of Baptists churches on the island.
Life has many strange turns and Christmas walked down a most crooked road as he approached his sixtieth birthday. First, his beloved Catherine was called home to Christ in 1823. Not long after that, Evans was named in lawsuit by creditors seeking to recover unpaid debts from some of the Angsley chapels. Then he spent nine months battling an infection which threatened to rob the sight Evans had left. If that wasn't enough, many of the Baptist church on the island began to chafe under Evan's leadership and made it plain that felt it was time for him to move one. One is reminded of the words of Paul in Corinthians when he names all of his troubles and adds "as well as care for all of the churches." In spite of all of these trials, Christmas never hesitated in his march for the kingdom of God.
Evans left Anglesey in 1826 and moved alone to the little village of Caerphilly. God once again blessed Evans in his love and gave him a loving new wife in Mary Evans. Christmas spent the last few years of his life preaching from one place to another, often returning to preach at the great annual assemblies of all evangelical Christians in Wales. On July 19th, 1838, God call Christmas home after a job well done. David Rhys Steephen preaching at Evans' funeral said:
"He had a heart swelling with love to God and man ... He was a man that feared the Lord God ... He walked before Him with great humility all the day long." 6
On the day of his death, Evans preached a sermon on the apostles on the day of Pentecost. He likened their mission as going out into a great naval battle:
"The captain of our salvation sent out twelve little boats to engage the whole fleet of hell. For a time all was enveloped in fire and smoke, and the issue of the day seemed doubtful; but when the conflict had ceased ... it was ascertained that the twelve little boats had captured three thousand of Satan's ships of war." 7
After preaching, Christmas Evans sat down and said, "This is my last sermon." And it was. Yet Evans still preaches from the past. His life of solid dedication to God and God's church is a monument to what it means to serve God with one's whole heart. The one-eyed preacher from Wales may not have had a face that was much to look at but he had a heart that was a work of art. May his legacy live in our hearts.
Baptist Page Articles are offered as a service to the readers of The Baptist Page. You are given permission to reprint this in any form available. We only ask that this paragraph remain with the article.
©1997-2001 The Baptist Page - www.baptistpage.com
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
This is just a fun jab everyone you need to be able to laugh at yourself sometime!!!
The Anglicans sit up in their ivory towers
The Baptists bring people to the water but don’t believe anything happens
The Roman Catholic Church missed the meaning of Catholic being universal
The Eastern Orthodox Church didn’t realize that orthodoxy came to the west also
The Lutherans Hate the idea of Saint Worship but they really really really venerate his holiness Martin Luther
The Methodists follow John Wesley but left his church.
The Non-denominational Churches are now a denomination unto themselves
The Pentecostals have the Spirit but seem to be missing the fruit of self-control
The Presbyterians have their deuteron canonical texts of confessions
The Church of Christ has the creed of no creed but Christ
The Mennonite and Amish missed the idea that “in the world not of it” didn’t mean leave.
The Messianic Jews didn’t get when St. Paul said we are all the seed of Abraham if we believe in Christ.
The Seventh-Day Adventists must of missed that Jesus rose on Sunday
The Assemblies of God don’t realize that the rest of us assemble under God also
Sometimes it’s Just good to step back and laugh at yourself!!!
Written by:Allen Bailey: aspirant of the Anglican province of America
The Baptists bring people to the water but don’t believe anything happens
The Roman Catholic Church missed the meaning of Catholic being universal
The Eastern Orthodox Church didn’t realize that orthodoxy came to the west also
The Lutherans Hate the idea of Saint Worship but they really really really venerate his holiness Martin Luther
The Methodists follow John Wesley but left his church.
The Non-denominational Churches are now a denomination unto themselves
The Pentecostals have the Spirit but seem to be missing the fruit of self-control
The Presbyterians have their deuteron canonical texts of confessions
The Church of Christ has the creed of no creed but Christ
The Mennonite and Amish missed the idea that “in the world not of it” didn’t mean leave.
The Messianic Jews didn’t get when St. Paul said we are all the seed of Abraham if we believe in Christ.
The Seventh-Day Adventists must of missed that Jesus rose on Sunday
The Assemblies of God don’t realize that the rest of us assemble under God also
Sometimes it’s Just good to step back and laugh at yourself!!!
Written by:Allen Bailey: aspirant of the Anglican province of America
Friday, 17 October 2008
Church of England schism
Source: TimesOnline By Ruth Gledhill October 14, 2008
...Evangelicals at a conference in London were told that the Church of England now consists of "two religions", one liberal and pro-gay and the other, conservative and strictly biblical. The Rev Rod Thomas, chairman of Reform, the conservative evangelical grouping that represents dozens of Anglican congregations, told parishes they should go ahead and seek alternative oversight, even if the Church of England fails to "accommodate" this solution through its General Synod.
Without agreement from the Synod of the kind that set up "flying bishops" for traditionalists who opposed women bishops, to seek alternative oversight from a bishop outside the diocese would be tantamount to schism in all but name. Two bishops in the frame to provide this oversight are the Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali and the Bishop of Lewes Wallace Benn. However, it is also possible that Reform could consecrate its own new bishops, in effect setting up a "rival" Church of England diocese.
Of the 25 congregations understood to be interested, several are already outside the formal structures of the established church, having failed to win recognition from their local diocese. A new structure would also bring these congregations into the fold.
It would be run under the auspices of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, the new body set up by the summer's Global Anglican Future meeting of conservative Anglican bishops, clergy and laity from around the world.
Evangelicals from Reform will continue the meeting today (October 15) to discuss the proposals. The aim is to find an "English" solution to the problem of splits in the Church caused by the growing divergence between conservative and liberal teachings, in particular on homosexuality but also on women bishops.
Although they want "conservative" oversight, English Anglicans do not want a split in the Church comparable to that in the US. There, costly litigation looms after two dioceses, San Joaquin and a few days ago Pittsburgh, voted to "leave" The Episcopal Church and re-align with the Southern Cone province in Latin America, headed by English-born primate Greg Venables.
Mr Thomas told the Reform conference, in Holborn in central London: "Taking alternative oversight first: the reason we're interested in Episcopal oversight at all is that we believe in being part of an Episcopal church for good theological and pragmatic reasons."
But he continued: "However, where the teaching and actions of a bishop promote an unbiblical way of thinking, then we simply have to look elsewhere for a bishop. If we fail to do this then our congregations will not see us taking New Testament teaching seriously and the process of accommodation will continue." He urged evangelicals to mobilise to take over the General Synod by making sure that evangelicals stood for election whenever possible.
"We want to insist that we are not setting up a separate ecclesial organisation," he said. "Rather, we are a fellowship operating within a wider federation. And as a fellowship we seek to reach out to whoever wants to be a partner in the gospel. We must win friends to the cause."
...Evangelicals at a conference in London were told that the Church of England now consists of "two religions", one liberal and pro-gay and the other, conservative and strictly biblical. The Rev Rod Thomas, chairman of Reform, the conservative evangelical grouping that represents dozens of Anglican congregations, told parishes they should go ahead and seek alternative oversight, even if the Church of England fails to "accommodate" this solution through its General Synod.
Without agreement from the Synod of the kind that set up "flying bishops" for traditionalists who opposed women bishops, to seek alternative oversight from a bishop outside the diocese would be tantamount to schism in all but name. Two bishops in the frame to provide this oversight are the Bishop of Rochester Dr Michael Nazir-Ali and the Bishop of Lewes Wallace Benn. However, it is also possible that Reform could consecrate its own new bishops, in effect setting up a "rival" Church of England diocese.
Of the 25 congregations understood to be interested, several are already outside the formal structures of the established church, having failed to win recognition from their local diocese. A new structure would also bring these congregations into the fold.
It would be run under the auspices of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, the new body set up by the summer's Global Anglican Future meeting of conservative Anglican bishops, clergy and laity from around the world.
Evangelicals from Reform will continue the meeting today (October 15) to discuss the proposals. The aim is to find an "English" solution to the problem of splits in the Church caused by the growing divergence between conservative and liberal teachings, in particular on homosexuality but also on women bishops.
Although they want "conservative" oversight, English Anglicans do not want a split in the Church comparable to that in the US. There, costly litigation looms after two dioceses, San Joaquin and a few days ago Pittsburgh, voted to "leave" The Episcopal Church and re-align with the Southern Cone province in Latin America, headed by English-born primate Greg Venables.
Mr Thomas told the Reform conference, in Holborn in central London: "Taking alternative oversight first: the reason we're interested in Episcopal oversight at all is that we believe in being part of an Episcopal church for good theological and pragmatic reasons."
But he continued: "However, where the teaching and actions of a bishop promote an unbiblical way of thinking, then we simply have to look elsewhere for a bishop. If we fail to do this then our congregations will not see us taking New Testament teaching seriously and the process of accommodation will continue." He urged evangelicals to mobilise to take over the General Synod by making sure that evangelicals stood for election whenever possible.
"We want to insist that we are not setting up a separate ecclesial organisation," he said. "Rather, we are a fellowship operating within a wider federation. And as a fellowship we seek to reach out to whoever wants to be a partner in the gospel. We must win friends to the cause."
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Friday, 10 October 2008
Monday, 6 October 2008
Dirty Language
What language we speak and the way we use it is of great important. Many people have a limited vocabulary, not because of any short comings in their actual intelligence ,but a mere fact in their association with those who themselves are people of few words. Sir Winston Churchill would make an attempt to learn a new word everyday, which by the end of his life, his knowledge of words in the English language was far greater than most people, even of the same intellectual level.
Jesus was a man of words; a man who was able to defend himself with the power of words. His knowledge of scripture was the best that anyone had ever heard then or ever since! The word: Unemployed is word that many do not want to hear,yet there are professionals as well as less skilled people who find themselves among the ranks of the unemployed. For many the church is where you will fail to find support or even understanding for your situation.
I have found myself in this position and I am still there! The churches and their leaders find on the whole it an embarrassing situation for them to discuss. Why would they you may ask? For the simple reason, that many of us who end up unemployed struggle, we need help, we cannot pay our bills, so obviously many churches feel that "people like you" as I am referred to, want handouts: God forbid! Secondly, while Christians should have a strong sense of faith for their situation, an understanding that Job knew, struggle and yet God revealed what he had in mind for Job and so we must have the same sense of conviction of trust in the Lord, yet many churches that we cannot always do this. Therefore, this is not good for business, the preaching business, especially if you are like me, someone who has been in the "ministry".
So as I fight into my very existence of understanding where God is in my life, what his plan is for it, there is also a discust of departure of friendships of those that use to declare their friendship; a friendship that was there when others thought I could be of benefit to them or if "knowing the Chaplain' was a Kudos for them. Now I have landed among the mortals and I am kicked to the heap like the rest of the luckless members of society.
I am no exception, for this is what society does all the time: The Homeless, the Working Poor; the ones who do not have an education or God forbid, no university degree or a disability or anything else that may single them out; with a form of name-calling, society isolates us all in one way or another. Even to the extent of our religious beliefs and Denominational associations. It is okay to be an Anglican in England, a Baptist in wales, a Presbyterian in the North of England, a Roman catholic in Liverpool, a Methodist in the West Country, but...here it is, can you reverse this? not without discomfort, or should associate with a Christian group of a Non-Denominational thinking, then you are out in the cold, that is why you will not find any Chaplains that are not part the Mainstream!
In the end, rather seen as God's children, we are put into life's boxes.
Jesus was a man of words; a man who was able to defend himself with the power of words. His knowledge of scripture was the best that anyone had ever heard then or ever since! The word: Unemployed is word that many do not want to hear,yet there are professionals as well as less skilled people who find themselves among the ranks of the unemployed. For many the church is where you will fail to find support or even understanding for your situation.
I have found myself in this position and I am still there! The churches and their leaders find on the whole it an embarrassing situation for them to discuss. Why would they you may ask? For the simple reason, that many of us who end up unemployed struggle, we need help, we cannot pay our bills, so obviously many churches feel that "people like you" as I am referred to, want handouts: God forbid! Secondly, while Christians should have a strong sense of faith for their situation, an understanding that Job knew, struggle and yet God revealed what he had in mind for Job and so we must have the same sense of conviction of trust in the Lord, yet many churches that we cannot always do this. Therefore, this is not good for business, the preaching business, especially if you are like me, someone who has been in the "ministry".
So as I fight into my very existence of understanding where God is in my life, what his plan is for it, there is also a discust of departure of friendships of those that use to declare their friendship; a friendship that was there when others thought I could be of benefit to them or if "knowing the Chaplain' was a Kudos for them. Now I have landed among the mortals and I am kicked to the heap like the rest of the luckless members of society.
I am no exception, for this is what society does all the time: The Homeless, the Working Poor; the ones who do not have an education or God forbid, no university degree or a disability or anything else that may single them out; with a form of name-calling, society isolates us all in one way or another. Even to the extent of our religious beliefs and Denominational associations. It is okay to be an Anglican in England, a Baptist in wales, a Presbyterian in the North of England, a Roman catholic in Liverpool, a Methodist in the West Country, but...here it is, can you reverse this? not without discomfort, or should associate with a Christian group of a Non-Denominational thinking, then you are out in the cold, that is why you will not find any Chaplains that are not part the Mainstream!
In the end, rather seen as God's children, we are put into life's boxes.
