difficulties with a modest proposal, 4: the historic episcopate

both the american episcopal church and the lambeth conference agreed on the fourth "lateral":
"the historic episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of god into the unity of his church."

as bernhard w. anderson said of this part of the quadralateral it is the "one side more lateral than the others." (in j. robert wright, ed. quadralateral at one hundred [cincinnatti, ohio: forward movement publications, 1988], pp. 55-60). part of what makes this statement so difficult is "the historic episcopate." if the american and world-wide bishops had appealed to the "biblical episcopate," their position would probably have strengthened over the past century as the discoveries of the dead sea scrolls, for instance, have made clear that the idea of episcopate which the church in the second and third century had for the word episcopos was current in the century or so before christ.

but the "historical episcopate" tends to call up ideas of lines of men in strange hats processing into marble halls. of course one could as well suggest the men who came to the council of nicea with their scars and ragged clothes from the persecutions which they did not know were over, mostly.

the "historic episcopate" also tends to call up the idea of large dioceses, as much political organizations as ecclesiastical.

into my lent, as i struggle with the koan of ezekiel and his vision of the rebuilding of the temple for "nations and peoples called of god into the unity of his church," comes the little bombshell of roland allen, with his ideas for a restoration of the methods of the early church when the presbyterate were literally the elders of the local church, and the episcopos was the overseer of a local church as well. of course. so simple. so free from the trappings of "taking care for what you wear." allen found it very unlike that his bishops (the anglican bishops of the 20's and 30's of the twentieth century) would ever ordain such bishops, but he did hope they might at least ordain local presbyters.

but now, nearly a century since allen was a missionary in china, perhaps the time has come to encourage such a confidence in the holy spirit to do what jesus has promised:

"in all truth i tell you, whoever believes in me will perform the same works as i do myself, and will perform even greater works, because i am going to the father. whatever you ask in my name i will do, so that the father may be glorified in the son. if you ask me anything in my name, i will do it. if you love me you will keep my commandments. i shall ask the father, and he will give you another paraclete to be with you for ever, the spirit of truth whom the world can never accept since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you. i shall not leave you orphans; I shall come to you. in a short time the world will no longer see me; but you will see that i live and you also will live. on that day you will know that i am in my father and you in me and i in you." (john 14:12-20 njb)