The Archbishop Played Bongos

If a Catholic bishop wore something of this kind, the sane among us would never hear the end of the fury.

Unless, of course, the lion was taken as some kind of Narnia allusion and that crowd all started creaming their pants about it. (I just don't get all this salivation over the CS Lewis stuff. I never have. Then again, I've never been a fiction person to begin with.)

Anyway, John Sentamu's installation as archbishop of York seemed to go off without a hitch earlier today. Some very interesting stuff in the Order of Service, though -- he was anointed, his family was anointed, he lit 12 candles, washed the feet of children, there was African dancing in the sanctuary (which was so beautiful) and all the best of the high Anglican tradition which will be deigning soon at a Catholic church near you.

You know, I wouldn't mind more celebrants playing bongos at their liturgies... it might help make ministry seem a bit more relevant in these challenged times. Sadly enough, though, relevance and clericalism cannot coexist. And on this side of the ecumenical divide, relevance went out the window long ago.

A friend who recently wrote Sentamu -- as a couple thousand others did -- to express congratulations just got a personal "thank you" in the mail from the new archbishop. I don't know how he does it; I can't even handle my own e.mails.

Even if it is Anglicanism -- which I can't say I terribly mind -- it's nice to see that, indeed, there are still Christians somewhere in the church. What a welcome reminder.

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