Why Am I and OC/IC Believer?

Do you know . . . . I have no one-line answer!

I could say it is a family thing; great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents were all Old Catholics (PNC). The rest of the family was mostly Roman with a few Greek Catholics thrown in for balance. Growing up I experienced them in relatively equal measure – migrating from one to the other was not a problem (at least not for me). My family were . . . “believers” but I would not say we were overly religious. Moreover, I could not say with any certainty that at the time, I “strongly” identified with one or the other community.

Of the many Christian communities I experienced in my late teens and early twenties (teen fellowships, bible study groups, college fellowships & congregations, etc.), when most of us “choose” the faith communities or strands within our own tradition that we eventually call “home” – OC/IC communities were the only ones in which I felt completely at home. Why, exactly remains a mystery to me.

The fact that these were small communities (often 20 or less) where you really got to know the people who participated was certainly a major plus factor. Big churches have never kept my interest the anonymity of the majority, and the notoriety of the few is not my idea of engagement, pastoral care, or balance. In a small community, everyone must participate or the whole suffers. I may have developed this understanding in other – non-faith contexts. For most of my teen years I was heavily involved in Scouts. We were, I think very lucky in that our particular BSA Troop was very active, well run, and in hind-sight one of the best things I ever did during that time in my life. One thing I learned there is that in order for something to be successful, everyone has to participate – everyone must do their bit.

Small communities are very personal communities – this obviously has its pros and cons. One big pro for me is the fact that a small community empowers both the group, and individuals in the group, to dig beneath the surface and really get into the substance of a topic. How I enjoyed the many debates, and opportunities for further exploration, I had both in college Christian fellowships, and in my later experiences in OC/IC communities in DC. On big con of small community is that if participants are not all committed and engaged, the community and its projects wither and fail.

Thus far I have only touched on the . . . “mechanics” of being in the OC/IC community that work well for me (comfort & small community); and it must be said that my preference for small communities has meant that building community has not (and I doubt will ever be) been easy – simply because, for a small community to work, everyone must participate (see a sub-theme building here?). So what is it about being an OC/IC believer that I find so compelling, that I have committed my religious & spiritual life to it?

It would not be honest of me to say that my motives have been consistent throughout to be sure I know that they have evolved over time as I have lived the life so to speak. When I first began my journey I think the bulk of my commitment was linked to the strong sense of having finally discovered a place to call home.

One characteristic that has always been a source of pride for me is the simple fact that our communities – though not always for the right reasons – have historically been the vanguard of theology, and social ministry. I was, and am very proud of the fact that we OC/IC folk ordained women nearly 30 years before the Episcopalians would do it in the 1970’s, and 50 years before the Old Catholics on the continent would do it on the 1990’s. I was and am very proud of the fact that early in our history we advocated the ordination of black people in the US, and consecrated one of the first black American bishops in the first decades of the 20th century. We are also, it must be said the first communities to openly ordain LGBT folk, an issue which the Old Catholics in the Union of Utrecht would not sanction fully until the late 1990’s and which still divides the other sacramental churches. Finally it was the Old Catholics, not the Anglicans who first initiated the ecumenical movement. Now I’m not a huge fan of ecumenism – as it is often espoused today – but I am proud of the fact that once more – it was our predecessors who were in the forefreont.

That we have been the vanguard of what other churches would (much) later follow is something we should all be very proud of. Moreover, it should also be a source of inspiration. The example of our predecessors ought, in my opinion, to inspire us to be the vanguard of theology, and ministry – full stop. Our small communities and talented members are the best resource and the strongest selling point for our tradition – and we frivolously waste these on rehashing tired old arguments, and reactionary thinking. We are the vanguard – by encouraging one another, and cooperating across the “boundaries” of our individual synod loyalties, we ought to be exploring new angles of theology, and new methods of ministry fully utilising readily available new technologies of today.

If you have not noticed already, I fall squarely into the “old school” category of an OC/IC believer rather than the newer wider category of ISM. Yes, I am behind the times, but as I hope you will see, there is a good reason for my trenchantly clinging to this identity.

I began doing some research into the whole Old Catholic phenomenon. One reason was that I wanted to understand, at least in part, my family’s connection to the movement, but now that I was an increasingly committed member, I wanted to know everything – as much as I could get my hands on about how it all came about, and what it stood for. The more I dug, the stronger my own personal commitment. Three things stand out for me as essential characteristics of the OC/IC identity: lay involvement, scholarship, synodical governance.

Historically lay involvement was a key characteristic of the OC/IC ideal. I’m using “IC” here too because there were independent catholics (mostly those linked to the Gallican movement) before the “Old Catholics” emerged. I think this is an aspect of our heritage that we have lost sight of – and that we ought to actively reclaim. There are I think a number of reasons why we have lost it – and they are all shocking, and I believe an embarrassment to us all.

Scholarship and the freedom of enquiry has also been a historic characteristic of our heritage (indeed it was often scholarship that got our predecessors into trouble with the church of the day). Over the last 75 years we have completely lost sight of this essential characteristic of our heritage. We cannot be the vanguard of theology and ministry without it. There is no way around this fact. Unless we address it, and address it with all seriousness we are doomed to repeat the failures of the pre-reformation church (both East and West) of having ignorant priests, and ignorant believers relying entirely on the tradition and rituals of the church rather than enjoying the full benefits of being baptised believers.

True synodical government – this is interrelated with lay involvement and scholarship. We have SO forgotten this key characteristic of our historic roots. Too many of our communities are run for, and by the clergy, usually not even all the clergy, but just the bishops. This lack of balance has and continues to cause many difficulties in our community. Everyone should challenge this! It is not a part of our heritage, and it is frankly not catholic (involving the “whole”)!

Even if your community is not in anyway linked with the OC/IC strains of the “ISM” movement – these three points are worth taking on board as part of your community’s developing identity. Why? Simple . . . well not so simple to describe because all three are so interwoven with one another . . . but I’ll try. Theology is the voice and conscience of the community. Scholarship explains and expresses the “why” of what we do, what we believe, and what we aspire to. Scholarship “checks” the activity of the community, just as the community “checks” the claims of scholarship. In short: Scholarship leads to the development of good theology, and a well-informed community. The active involvement of the laity, and synodical governance, ensure that the whole body both benefits from, and moulds the theology resulting from good scholarship.

So, why am I and OC/IC believer? I believe in the gifts of the whole body of faith – and therefore the full inclusion of the baptised members. I believe in encouraging the full participation of all members of a community of faith; to let some do everything, and to either discourage, or not encourage others to also participate is simply not active Christianity. I believe we are the vanguard of theology and ministry. I believe we ought to be well informed, engaged, and cultivate scholarship. I believe in synodical governance. These are just some of the more important reasons why I am an OC/IC believer. What are yours?