The Holy Catholic Church

Last Tuesday before Pentecost

Many thanks to Stuart for his plug for my book Jesus and the Pleasures. As Stuart noted, I had intended on having a six week study on it in Sunday School. Coronavirus changed that. What I've been thinking about, and Stuart's comment is serving as a catalyst for me to do, is to have a six week Zoom study of the book. I would particularly like for some of you readers of this blog from other churches besides UUMC to be in the study. It would be one night a week, each session for an hour. The only requirements to be in study group are that you buy the book, if you don't already have it, and that you read it. It's a little less than 200 pages. You can order it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. The price new was $13.99 last time I checked. You can also get used copies for less. Just in case you're wondering, I get $1.40 royalty for each new book sold. You won't make me rich. I'll give the royalties to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). If you're interested in joining the group, just send me an email: candmwilson401@att.net  

While I'm speaking of Stuart, I want us to think today about another problematic (for some) statement in the Apostles' Creed. "I believe in the Holy catholic church." Stuart, like many others who come from denominations that do not use the creed, was shocked when he first heard the word "catholic." He may have been thinking he might become a Methodist, but he knew he did not want to become a Catholic. Fortunately Glenda explained it to him. 

For the radical end of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century, the Reformation changed everything. The more moderate reformers thought they were changing everything too, but when we look at the Reformation from a 21st century viewpoint, it seems like a lot didn't change. My brother-in-law James, who grew up Methodist, married a Baptist and became one, then along with her became a Catholic. They did so for reasons that have nothing to do with theology or practice. When I asked him what it felt like going to Catholic worship, after being a Protestant all his life, his response was, "I couldn't see much difference." I wanted to tell him a few hundred differences, but I refrained.

One thing that didn't change for Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, United Church of Christ, and many other Protestant denominations was the use of the Apostles' Creed. Some of these denominations don't use it all the time, but all use it and have it in their hymnals or worship books. All have the phrase "holy catholic church." To my amazement, I cannot find any reference to any of them changing that phrase or wanting to change that phrase. The Radical Reformers and their descendant churches threw out the creed altogether, so there was no need for them to change it. 

The Roman Catholic Church has the phrase "holy catholic church," small c in its worship books, although I suspect most catholics think the creed is talking just about them.

The word catholic means "universal." Belief in the "holy catholic church" means belief that there is a universality to Christianity despite all the denominational differences. There is a church universal, to which all Christians belong. That belief may be increasingly hard for some to swallow, with the new dominance of conservative evangelicals in America, who have become as much a political group as a religious group, and whose understanding of Christianity is dramatically different from ours. 

Nevertheless, I believe in "the holy catholic church." 

Faithfully,

Christian