THE CHURCH of the 21st century must be “a church of passion to stir up society”, the Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Alan Harper has said.
People had “a religious obligation to be passionate advocates of a vision for all humanity,” he said.
Speaking last night at Evensong in Cashel Cathedral, Co Tipperary, to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of a former archbishop of Cashel Right Rev Charles Agar, he said the church “must cease to be a defender of historic privilege, or assume a right to respect simply for being the church. It must be moved by heaven in order to move the earth”.
The church “must abandon negativity and speak confidently to the world. It must stand for things and not merely be against things. A Christianity driven by passion will see an end to the era of complacent quietism”, he said.
Addressing “a tendency of the last 50 years to limit political discourse to matters of regulation and technology”, he quoted the late British prime minister Harold Macmillan as having said, “if people want a sense of purpose, they should get it from their archbishop. They should certainly not get it from their politicians”.
He also quoted remarks of John F Kennedy that “most of the problems that we now face are technical problems and administrative problems. They are very sophisticated judgements which do not lend themselves to the great sort of passionate movements which stirred this country so often in the past”.
Criticising both views, Dr Harper said “the notion that a sense of purpose should be reserved to archbishops completely undermines open and transparent public discussion. It removes vision from the arena of government and, for it, substitutes mere management . If passion has withered on the vine, to be replaced by cold technology, does this, perhaps, explain the flight of the voter from the ballot box”?
He continued that “men and women of faith cannot sideline passion and purpose. Knowing God and being committed to the things of God means being passionate; passionate about cultivating a personal relationship with God through the church; passionate also about justice . . . protection for the vulnerable, empowerment for the powerless and socially excluded . . . and healing for this wounded earth”.
