Review
Episcopal News Service. May 10, 1990 [90035B]
Rev. Mark Harris
The Story of Anglicanism, a three-part video by Cathedral Films and Video
In the midst of the issues of the moment in the Episcopal Church, it could easily be concluded that the church is either irrelevant or irreverent, forsaking either its mission or its theology or both.
Yet in the midst of controversies it is also important to remember that we are part of Christ's church, a body of people on pilgrimage, and its history is a sacred dance of this people with God known in Jesus Christ. Knowing the story of that pilgrimage and the patterns of that dance are essential, for that record gives us something beyond the unforgiving moment against which to gauge our faithfulness as a community. It is important and good news for our church when this story is told anew and told well.
The Story of Anglicanism is a well-told tale, a powerful statement of who we are. In three half-hour video segments, "Ancient and Medieval Foundations," "Reformation and Its Consequences," and "Creating a Global Family," Cathedral Films and Video has provided the Episcopal Church with a teaching tool of great value.
As a minor consultant on this and its companion piece, The Story of the Episcopal Church, I do not propose to write a critical review. Such reviews will be forthcoming. I do want to say I believe this video history is of profound importance to the life of the Episcopal Church.
The facts of the history of Anglican Christianity are presented, with good and bad, great and small, smooth and rough times given their due. This is the lesser thread of the story, however. The greater thread is a telling of the spirit of Anglican evolution into what Elizabeth Templeton, near the end of Part III, calls our "costly openness." In the end we are given to understand that perhaps the unforgiving moments of these and other church times are to be seen against this greater, more costly, vocation.
The Story of Anglicanism is an important educational tool for the understanding of mission. It is also a fine addition to the histories of the Anglican Communion. But most important, it is a spiritual statement of a spiritual path, and a call for us to continue on the pilgrimage knowing that the walk is itself a shrine.