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ecumenism and real ale
Categories: forty-blogs-of-lent
Tags: God, Real ale, Church, Christianity
Date: 23 February 2012 00:29:32
Forty blogs of Lent
2
One of my favourite breweries is Copper Dragon in Skipton, Yorkshire.
The quality of their ales is magnificent, with one exception.
At least it is not magnificent to me, you see I do not like Scotts 1816, one of the ales that company produces.
Which is why I like Copper Dragon as a brewery. Because one thing you cannot level at any of their products is blandness. Each of their products has a distinctive flavour, and whilst I may not like a particular one I'd rather have something distinctive than the blandness that some of the big breweries produce.
Which brings me to Ecumenism:
Christianity, like real ale, comes in a number of different styles and many more flavours. Some are plain, some extrovert and some come with scent and smoke. But the secret to unity is not conformity. Conformity, having everything the same tends towards blandness, as it does with ale. Instead let us celebrate our diversity.
Your kind of Christianity may not be what I like, nor mine yours. So what? If everyone were a fairly conservative Evangelical with leanings towards Catholic spirituality (that's me, by the way) then who would reach those who like choral music? I can't do it, to me the words Choral Evensong mean "avoid".
But congregations in Anglican cathedrals, where they have a good choral tradition, are growing, so there must be something there, it's just not my cup of tea. It attracts some people, so let's celebrate it, even if like me you don't particularly like it (or Scotts 1816 for that matter).