losing faith
What happens when an Anglican Priest literally loses faith and asks the authorities to take away his license?
Is this a candidate for the most honest post seen this year?
Is this a candidate for the most honest post seen this year?
Labels: anglican, honesty, not an anglican
posted by Joe at 2:19 PM
6 Comments:
I wouldn't go that far, myself, but it is *an* honest post.
Should a vicar who feels he/she has lost faith automatically leave the church, I wonder.
It is brave and honest to say, 'I don't believe, so I can't stay in the job', but sometimes it's good to have a vicar with doubts, whose faith isn't all sewn up and may hang by a very precarious thread, but then that isn't necessarily the same as deciding God actually doesn't exist.
In my experience faith comes and goes and evolves over time, so if I were a vicar I'd let a year or few pass before I gave up my job.
I often find it hard to have faith in the church and at times I have stopped believing in the existence of God, but I've never stopped believing in Jesus: his presence in my life.
Karin, when I had doubts, I stayed in "the job" willingly. When I reached the point that I had no hope to point to, no good news to share, and no direction to lead or follow, I left. My faith was no longer hanging by a precarious thread by this point. It was absent. This did take years, and was not an overnight event, nor an off-the-cuff decision.
"I often find it hard to have faith in the church and at times I have stopped believing in the existence of God, but I've never stopped believing in Jesus: his presence in my life."
I have stopped believing in Jesus and his presence in my life, and I don't think it'd be fair to anyone for me to continue to minister after reaching that point.
Hi Quester,
Not knowing you, nor being an avid reader of your blog, my comments were a general response to Joe's post rather than a comment on your own actions.
Faith, and the lack of it, is a very personal thing.
I don't know anything of your views, Quester, but if you believe in making the world a better place I think that whether or not you had faith in God would bother me very little. I have less patience with those who profess such faith, but see church as a place for rituals or dogma that do nothing to help me or anyone else love our neighbour better or consider how our lives impact the planet. However, I know there are others in the church who see things differently.
I'm also wondering what sort of God you no longer believe in Quester? When you had faith, in whom did you have faith?
There are so many ideas of God in existence, I wonder what you thought God was like.
Sorry, Karin. Your response seemed rather pointed to me, and pointed at me. I admit I may have misunderstood.
As for your questions, I'd rather not fill Joe's blog with a conversation between you and I. Feel free to drop by my blog, though. I've created a post addressing your questions there.
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