A great sadness of the church in this new century is the number of people within her Body who decide for whatever reason to no longer eat at the Table. Years ago, before the Reformation, it was a practice of the church to excommunicate those who were grave sinners in order to encourage them to repent. In this day, as the church seeks to embrace everyone, some of her members find openness so intolerable that they depart and move away from the Table.
Usually, the unhappy, angry, or disappointed depart without a word fading into society and the faith community is left to mourn their departure. It is as though they never were connected to the Life within the Body and unlike those that left they have no remorse. All of this goes on without a word, without dialogue, without a desire to interact with others in order to listen and to share one's pain in order that the Body may be enriched and strengthened.
I pray that these who 'wander the earth' in search for refreshing Bread and gladdening Wine will discover a new homeland, a faith community that is open wide to welcome them home.
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Perhaps those who depart are coming home. For leaving a Church that has built walls to keep out those who are gay (or who otherwise don't fit in) might be joining a more capacious spiritual world. The Anglican communion began in the wake of the ravages of royal desire; a half millennium later it seems undone by the fear of sexual desire. And how does the question of homosexuality, in a world when religious hatreds have become intense, even come to be an issue worth debating? It is the church that has departed, not the faithful. The Church should speak to issues of social justice. The Church should be courageous. The Church should recall the transformative hope of the early Christians huddled together not to weed out those who were outcasts but rather to invite them to the Table. To me, the question is whether or not the Table is in fact for everyone.
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