In the picture: Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses for debate to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on Oct. 31, 1517. The theses were published and sparked the beginning of the Lutheran and Protestant Reformations in Europe, an event which forever changed the world.

The dictionary defines a dissident: “disagreeing especially with an established religious or political system, organization, or belief”.

Just as Democracy’s have a “loyal opposition”, so also church denominations have dissidents. How can this describe fidelity? The answer lies in an iceberg calved by a glacier remaining true to its origins, while the glacier changes itself. Thus the dissident remains true to its glacial origins, but breaks away from the main glacier in protest.

In the world-wide Anglican communion, this has happened from time to time. The Church of England was and is a “via media” between Catholicism and the Non-conformist churches arising from the Protestant Reformation. Sometimes this is called the “high church” and the “low church”. Anglicanism has looked for ways to include both elements, but the emphasis has swung like a pendulum from Anglo-Catholic to Evangelical to Liberal.

Anglican vocabulary is very creative. This is sometimes called “pluralistic unity”. Another more recent phrase is “mutual loyalty”.

The truth is that it has become like a checkerboard – on which there are distinct spaces. This approach tries to avoid a “split” and to buy time.

Another Thoughts: