Items of a spiritual nature
Extending the Borders of
the Father's Kingdom
Back in the Summer of 1974 there was a movement afoot exploring the possibility of uniting the United Church of Canada with the Roman Catholic Church. The idea was so ludicrous as to be beyond the pale. Two more far apart denominations is hard to imagine - but there it was being seriously touted.
In as much as I am no longer in the Church - I still retain a more than passing interest in the state of the Christian Church - having once been significantly involved with it - lightly this time round and more substantially in previous embodiments.
The Christian Gospel in its purest form is something I care deeply about and want to see flourish. To this end, I am endeavoring to awaken the Christian Church (in all its branches) to embrace a higher level of spiritual consciousness, so as to extend the borders of the Father's Kingdom - on earth as it is heaven.
This is what prompted my letter to the editor of The Toronto Star.
August 26, 1974.
The Toronto Star,
1 Yonge St.,
Tor. M5E 1E6, Ont.
Attention to the Editor
Dear Sir:
Re the resolution passed by the United Church's General Council over the week end, urging a start on studying union with the Roman Catholic Church. Why the unseemly haste to revert to the Middle Ages?
I'm no anti-Catholic bigot; in some respects I am closer to Catholicism than I am to modern Protestantism. But historical facts remain. A high price was paid to break the monolithic/authoritarian colossus that was the medieval Western Church with its concomitant abuses and monstrous pretensions: to wit, the trafficking in indulgences and the infamous Inquisition to name but a few. That was the end product of a totalitarian system whereby the Church was uber alles. An interesting parallel to the Nazi regime whereby the state was uber alles.
The United Church seems obsessed with organic union and bigness (the Super Church); is it perchance to make up for what it lacks in intrinsic spirituality? As a casual observer of the Christian scene, it seems to me the more logical parties to organic union might be; (based on close ties of doctrine, tradition and temperament) the United Church with the Presbyterian, the Disciples of Christ with the Baptist, the Anglican with the Lutheran, and the Catholic Church with the Eastern Orthodox - if greater union there must be among the various denominations. They all have their place in the scheme of things; allowance must be preserved for differing individual backgrounds wherein they would feel at home.
In my view, it is better to work for unity of spirit and purpose - i.e. "unity in diversity" in the building of God's Kingdom, rather than a massive super-structural organic union.
Yours truly,
Earl Baerg
Note of interest - the Anglicans and Lutherans are now in full communion in Canada. (Waterloo Declaration)