2. Previously … This course is designed to go back to the basics of what we believe, to explain (in the end) how we can live as Catholics in the Church of England today. God is love. This is self-giving, selfless love. The three persons of the Trinity are a community of love. Human love (charity) is a reflection of the divine love of the Trinity.

3. Session 2: Communion The Society seeks to be an expression of full, visible communion. It is a communion of communities that celebrate the Eucharist, with teaching and ministry that can be recognized as catholic and apostolic. Its parishes enjoy full communion not just with the Society bishop who has oversight over them (because they can receive the ministry of all whom he ordains) but also with the other Bishops of The Society and all parishes of The Society. The House of Bishops’ Declaration and The Society, which builds on its provisions, enable us to live a catholic life in the Church of England. Communion and Catholicity in the Church of England, section 2 – summary

4. The 5 Guiding Principles 1.Now that legislation has been passed to enable women to become bishops the Church of England is fully and unequivocally committed to all orders of ministry being open equally to all, without reference to gender, and holds that those whom it has duly ordained and appointed to office are the true and lawful holders of the office which they occupy and thus deserve due respect and canonical obedience; 2.Anyone who ministers within the Church of England must be prepared to acknowledge that the Church of England has reached a clear decision on the matter; 3.Since it continues to share the historic episcopate with other Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and those provinces of the Anglican Communion which continue to ordain only men as priests or bishops, the Church of England acknowledges that its own clear decision on ministry and gender is set within a broader process of discernment within the Anglican Communion and the whole Church of God; 4.Since those within the Church of England who, on grounds of theological conviction, are unable to receive the ministry of women bishops or priests continue to be within the spectrum of teaching and tradition of the Anglican Communion, the Church of England remains committed to enabling them to flourish within its life and structures; 5.Pastoral and sacramental provision for the minority within the Church of England will be made without specifying a limit of time and in a way that maintains the highest possible degree of communion and contributes to mutual flourishing across the whole Church of England. They need to be read one with the other and held together in tension, rather than being applied selectively

5. Communion We are familiar with the word ‘communion’ in church. It refers to our reception of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Mass. Tonight, we will talk about another meaning of Communion, about joining something, and union with it. Just as in the Mass we are united to Christ, so ‘communion’ refers to being united to the Church. Salvation is Communion with God This Communion is found in the Church

6. Bible Study (1) - 1 John 1: 1-4 We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— 3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

7. 1 John 1: 1-4 St John is writing in the first century to churches that have been exposed to false preaching, denying the true Incarnation that St John wrote about in his Gospel. Verse 3: we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. The word fellowship (Κοινωνία = koinonia) means ‘communion’. we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have communion with us; and truly our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We might expect the goal of proclaiming the ‘word of life’ (verse 1) to be isolated conversions, but it is not; the point of preaching is to bring people into the communion of believers – that is to say, the communion of the Church. This is the same communion that exists between Christ and the Church.

8. Bible Study (2) – John 17: 20-end ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’

9. John 17: 20-end We have already seen two ‘levels’ of communion: 1) the communion of members of the Church with each other; and 2) the communion of the Church with Christ. In this passage, we see the third ‘level’ of communion: Verse 21: …that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us… By becoming a member of the Church, I take part in the relationship of God the Father to God the Son. By being a member of the Church I am taking part in the life of God himself. This is the life of the Trinity that we looked at last week. Through fellowship/communion with and in the Church, we take part in the life of God himself. This is why ‘communion’ in the sense of belonging to the Church is so important.

10. 3 elements of the Church’s communion: The communion of the members of the Church with each other The communion of the Church with Christ The communion between Christ and God the Father

11. 3 elements of the Church’s communion: The communion of the members of the Church with each other The communion of the Church with Christ The communion between Christ and God the Father

12. A practical note on the communion of the Church

13. Questions Am I as grateful as I should be for the communion of the Church? Do I show my membership of the Church in my life? Do my friends, my family, or my colleagues, know that I am a member of the Church, and what a difference this makes to my life? Can I bring any of my family or my friends (back) to the communion of the Church?

14. Concluding prayer Most gracious Father, We pray to you for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth; in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purge it. Where it is in error, direct it. Where anything is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen and defend it. Where it is in want, provide for it. Where it is divided, heal it and reunite it in your love; For the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.