The Columba Declaration

A number of members have expressed concern at reports of an ecumenical squabble which surfaced in the secular press between Christmas and new year. A study group set up by the Church of England and the Church of Scotland had issued a document, known as the “Columba Declaration”, containing proposals for ways in which the national churches in England and Scotland might collaborate more closely in the future. There was some reaction from within the SEC, not least on the personal blog of the Primus. Some of the reporting was sensational, and many of the reactions were ill-informed, tendentious, or histrionic. It is important that we understand these developments in context.

The Columba Declaration, the text of which can be found at here, covers a longer report entitled Growth in Communion, Partnership in Mission: Report from the Church of England-Church of Scotland joint study group, which can be read here. Whatever its precise contents, this should not be read in isolation from other ecumenical developments over the last century and more. There have been numerous bilateral and multilateral standing commissions as well as informal discussions among the various Christian denominations, locally, nationally, across Britain and Ireland, and globally. Ecumenical bodies have also been formed at all these levels. Documents for discussion and reflection have been produced at every level, and been considered and responded to by the appropriate bodies in the various churches. The SEC has participated fully in the ecumenical movement, and continues to be ecumenically engaged. There is a dedicated Church Relations Officer and an Inter Church Relations Committee, who manage and oversee ecumenical relations on our behalf. It might have been helpful if the Columba Declaration had not been published on Christmas Eve, when the General Synod Office was closed for the holidays, and clergy had rather more immediate priorities.

The CofE and the CofS are the recognised national churches of England and Scotland, with privileges and obligations attached to that status. Many Christians, of all persuasions, have over the last century been increasingly critical of the notion of a national church, questioned the propriety of associating church and state too closely, and of identifying increasingly secular and multicultural societies with a particular Christian denomination. Nonetheless, both the CofE and the CofS have in recent years shown a determination to maintain their status. This common purpose is not shared by the SEC, which came into being in its present form as a dissenting denomination after episcopacy was abolished in the national church in 1689. After three centuries of disestablishment, the SEC has neither the aspiration nor any reasonable prospect of once again becoming the national church of Scotland.

Partly by virtue of having been for centuries the default religious affiliation of the population of their respective countries, the CofE and the CofS are the largest Christian denominations in England and Scotland. Their numerical strength may be challenged by the Roman Catholic Church, but the SEC and other denominations are very small in comparison – and no amount of indignant posturing will change or conceal the fact. It is frequently stated that the SEC “punches above its weight” – a grotesquely violent and aggressive metaphor - but this is possible only if we exercise tact and some humility in our relationships, not if we bloat ourselves like a toad. All Christian groups need to face the reality of increasingly pervasive secularism, which makes the pretensions not only of national churches, but of all religious bodies, seem irrelevant, and squabbles like this in the secular media ridiculous.

Contrary to what has been alleged, the SEC has participated in the discussions alongside the CofE and the CofS over several years. By 2013 the other parties were wishing to conclude an agreement similar to the Reuilly Common Statement, signed the Anglican churches of Britain and Ireland (including the SEC) and various Protestant churches in France in 1997. The SEC was unwilling to take that step at the time, and became observers to the continuing discussions. Whatever the merits of this decision, the SEC was therefore aware of the ongoing work and its objective. It would be unreasonable to expect that the unilateral withdrawal of the SEC would have terminated the discussions between the remaining parties, or have aborted any possible agreement between the CofE and the CofS. The Columba Declaration does, moreover, recognise that the SEC and other denominations must be involved in future discussions, and that the relevant ecumenical bodies must be kept informed.

A major reaction has concerned “territoriality”, in terms of which it is claimed that the SEC is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland (which is true), and is therefore the (only?) Anglican polity with which the CofS should be in dialogue. There are several misconceptions behind such reactions. The Columba Declaration refers specifically to developing partnerships “where there are churches in close geographical proximity”. This does not refer to opposite banks of the Tweed. Nor does it envisage CofE clergy conducting weddings in Gretna Green. The CofE no longer has congregations in Scotland, its former private chapels having become incorporated into the SEC at various stages over the last two centuries. The CofS, on the other hand, does have congregations in England, grouped in a Presbytery of England. Their relationship with the CofE and its local dioceses and parishes is important; it is in this context that local ecumenical partnerships and “fresh expressions” could be initiated. There is no reason for the SEC to be party to any discussions which may take place, and if “territoriality” is important to us, we must respect this. The CofS also has chaplaincies on the continent of Europe and in Bermuda, organised in the Presbytery of Europe. The CofE has a Diocese in Europe, as does the (American) Episcopal Church, and the Diocese of Bermuda is under the metropolitan oversight of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The SEC has no presence in these places, and the appropriate Anglican ecumenical partner to the CofS is the CofE. The CofS also has a Presbytery of Jerusalem, where its Anglican ecumenical partner is the Diocese of Jerusalem in the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and neither the CofE nor the SEC. It is important to recognise that the CofE and the CofS operate over a very much wider area than England and Scotland respectively, and that they do have very significant areas of overlapping activity. Chaplaincies in Europe and the Middle East may often be numerically small, and appear peripheral to the life of these churches, but they play a very significant and distinctive role in ecumenical relations. In many places the CofE and CofS chaplaincies already work closely together, and it is entirely appropriate that they explore ways to make their ministry in often challenging circumstances mutually supportive and more effective. Anglophone Christian groups have a particular role to play in ministry among migrants and refugees, and it is vitally important that Cof E and CofS communities and structures work together, and be seen to be working together, with relief agencies and others in the face of an enormous humanitarian crisis.

Another concern that has been expressed is that the proposal for clergy to “exercise ministry in the other church” could lead to clergy of the CofE being appointed to parishes in the CofS, without reference to the SEC. This can in fact happen already, as there is no impediment to clergy ordained in other denominations being called to charges in the CofS. There is a priest ordained in the SEC currently serving in the CofS Presbytery of Jerusalem. Another is pioneering ministry among deaf people in the CofS. Both are a credit to the SEC, and reflect the calibre of clergy formed in TISEC when I was on the staff. The SEC does not consult the CofS when making appointments, and has no right to expect to be consulted by the CofS.

While it is difficult to see how the mission of the Church may have been served by histrionic reactions to the Columba Declaration, it is to be hoped that this will not harm the ecumenical relations which have been built up over many years in Clarkston. We are the smallest member of Clarkston Churches Together, but will continue to make our distinctive contribution to Christian witness in our area, in partnership with our ecumenical neighbours. We are called to be God-centred and self-sacrificial in our witness, not to be jealous of territory which can belong to God alone, and not to be diverted from proclaiming the Gospel into competing with each other for status and influence in the world.