"The polarization is great. It is far greater than I had realized with more and more extremes in the church. Classic Anglicanism was always in the middle. I have prided myself that I have been able to sit on the fence. There is no barbed wire [on the fence] it is the sacrificial place to be."

The Dean lauded the Archbishop of Canterbury's proposed Anglican Covenant and urged his hearers to give it a chance to succeed.

Drawing on his extensive knowledge and understanding of Anglican history, Meyrick opined, "What if the Pope had not let Luther go? What if the 18th century bishops had let Wesley stay? Things would have been different. With Methodists, we are finding our way back to unity. My fear is we will lose our Anglican unity if we refuse to sit with each other." The unity of the church must be maintained, he said.

"As far as homosexuality is concerned, the references in the New Testament are strong but not numerous, and we must ask whether they are related to idolatry linked to pagan cults. In the Book of Leviticus, where homosexuality is explicitly condemned, it is deeply concerned with idolatry and cultic matters."

Meyrick blamed selfish ambition and a desire to keep others [homosexuals] down. "There are no easy answers here. We must have an awareness that we all stand before God with penitence in our heart."

Meyrick said Jacobean poet John Donne, Dean of St. Paul's, had an openness and tolerance, writing a lot of sensual poetry while remaining firm in his faith. Meyrick cited Thomas Hooker, the English-born Puritan theologian, said he was deeply influenced by both sides in the theological debates of his time. "Social concern runs through English Christianity and it is properly what it is about. Hooker said that wherever there were differences, there was always the light of God given reason."

The Dean said that Biblical teaching supports the emerging Anglican theology which he saw as primarily rooted in Scripture. He cautioned draining the gospel vitality out of it by excessive legalism. "We must put unity at the top of our concerns, even when things are not quite nice."

He cited the Book of Ephesians with its central chapters which focus on unity in the Body of Christ and on the major divisions between Christians brought up as Jews and new Gentile Christians.

"Christian Jews needed a Jewish context. Paul saw that Gentiles did not need a Jewish context. Twice in chapters 4 and 5, he uses the word "therefore", the same injunction to lead a life worthy of the gospel. Paul emphasized that being in Christ was bigger than any local context.

"Anglicans want to hold onto to being the church catholic which means holding together. This is what Paul means. Discipleship holds us together. Truth is bigger than our perception of it. Whatever is held must be subordinate to the catholic command of unity, otherwise it is always a sham. We need to be held together with humility and generosity, things are always more complicated than they appear."

Meyrick said the English have always found it difficult to talk about their Christianity. "If you don't talk about it, you don't argue about it and then you can't fight and kill over it." There is a danger in reducing the complexity and paradoxes of Christian faith".

END