Behind Our Name: Celtic Anabaptist, an Oxymoron?

This article primarily deals with our understanding of how a Celtic Anabaptist spirituality is lived out here in this community; it is never meant to represent the whole denomination or even the archpresbytery.

Historic reunion

In 2004, when (then-)Bishop Michael Wrenn founded the original Celtic Anabaptist Church in Tillatoba, Mississippi, he received his ordination from Archbishop Rod Rickard, from the Reformed Catholic Church of America. An Irish Christian with Anabaptist upbringing, he sought a way to combine the best of both heritages: the continental radical Reformers and Irish/Scottish Catholics. CAC was hence founded on the commonalities found between these two streams of Christianity, and symbolically represents a reunion of the Catholic and Protestant traditions that had been separated by centuries of schism.

A diverse communion

Celtic Anabaptist Communion represents a wide spectrum of Christian beliefs and practices. Constituent communities of CAC ranges from far-conservative to evangelical to charismatic, to moderates to liberal.
See Celtic Anabaptist Worldwide Directory (still in work.)

Anglican/Celtic liturgical traditions

CAC recognizes the value of liturgy and its symbolic meanings, and its proper place in Christian spirituality, as means to help humans transcend the physical and centre their minds on the divine. To this end we draw deeply from the heritage of Celtic churches. Anglican liturgical texts were also influenced much by the Celtic traditions, and we make an extensive use of Anglican-Episcopal prayer books due to their ready availability. While we do not give an absolute power to the liturgy, we find it to be meaningful and helpful when done with proper intentions.

How the CAC differs from the Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans

Unlike the Roman Catholics and some mainline Protestant denominations, we consider that there are only two ordinances that are mandated by the scriptures: Eucharist and Baptism. Both we consider to be symbolic outward acts that point to the inward grace. We are advocates for the believer's baptism, so we do not practice infant baptism. Certain Catholic practices are not done anywhere (as far as I know) in the CAC worldwide.

How the CAC differs from the Friends, Mennonites and Brethren

We do not necessarily reject all Catholic/Protestant traditions wholesale. We do not hate them. Also we combine some unprogrammed worship, but largely our worship services are programmed.

How the CAC differs from evangelical or fundamentalist churches

• Salvation: We view "salvation" as an ongoing lifelong process of being sanctified through living in the Spirit and being transformed into glory of God. Many evangelicals see this as a one-time event, in which someone can be "saved" by simply reciting a "sinner's prayer."
• Calvinism, Arminianism: We reject Calvinism as a pathological projection of human mental insecurity and cruelty. We also reject Arminianism as a denial of God's omnipotence and giving too much power to the imperfect mortals. Many other CAC churches are either Calvinist or Arminian. [1]
  

Ordination of women

We believe that when God calls someone to the ministry, we are not in the place to say otherwise. Certainly we must discern the spirit, but that does not mean we are to discriminate against any specific person because of sex, race, social/economic status, etc. I am aware that some Anabaptist folks are having a wonderful time making fun of us, but here's something to consider:

From the available data, (support for ordination of women) seems to have started with the action of the Michigan district conference in 1890, when it passed the following resolution: "Women are eligible to the office of minister or deacon from the following scriptures: Acts 2:18; 8:1-4; 15:32; 18:26; Rom. 16:3; 2 Cor. 3:17." The next year the Indiana district conference adopted a similar motion: "Resolved, that we extend the hand of welcome to our sisters to enter the ministerial field when possessing the necessary qualifications." The Illiokota conference of the same year (1891) included in its actions a motion "that no distinction be made in representative bodies of the church on the basis of sex." A fourth district, Pennsylvania, went on record in 1892 as follows: "Resolved: That we regard woman's work as essential to the salvation of the world, and that her divine mission is the same as man's." In the following year the general conference, just ten years after the new denomination began, passed this affirmation: "Resolved, That this convention recognizes and appreciates the force of the expression in Holy Writ: 'There is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ'." -- Flora, J.R. "Ordination Of Women In The Brethren Church: A Case Study From The Anabaptist-Pietist Tradition." Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 30 (1987), 427-441.

"I am glad I never stood in the way of women preaching, and that I belong to a church that assists them in doing so." -- Henry R. Holsinger, editor, The Brethren Evangelist (1895) -- ibid.

A fundamental belief of the Society of Friends (Quakers) has always been the existence of an element of God's spirit in every human soul. Thus all persons are considered to have inherent and equal worth, independent of their gender. This led naturally to an opposition to sexism, and an acceptance of female ministers. In 1660, Margaret Fell (1614-1702) published a famous pamphlet to justify equal roles for men and women in the denomination. It was titled: "Women's Speaking Justified, Proved and Allowed of by the Scriptures, All Such as Speak by the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus And How Women Were the First That Preached the Tidings of the Resurrection of Jesus, and Were Sent by Christ's Own Command Before He Ascended to the Father (John 20:17)." In the U.S., "In contrast with almost every other organized religion, the Society of Friends (Quakers) have allowed women to serve as ministers since the early 1800s." -- "When churches started ordaining women." Religious Tolerance. 10 Jun. 2005. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 15 Oct. 2005 < http://www.religioustolerance.org/femclrg13.htm >.

About minister's titles and ranks

Another carry-over from the Reformed Catholic heritage, we nominally retain the structure of hierarchy for liturgical and ceremonial purposes only. In reality we reject the top-down management model of the church hierarchy, and our denomination is known for being anti-authoritarian and relationship-based, much like the way Celtic monasteries used to run. To illustrate, in CAC, the archbishop is not the top of a pyramid, but a hub in a wheel. The hub works as a coordinator and facilitator for the wheel, while also functioning as a point-of-contact person for the fellowship. Likewise, the bishop is a hub of the diocese, and the archpriest (dean) is only but a hub of the archpresbytery. The issue of ministerial titles has long been a subject of discussion within this denomination. The archdiocese feels it is inappropriate, but at the same time finds it useful when working with other churches.

About all these "Saints"

We are in principle agreement with the Apostle's Creed, in which Christians believe in the fellowship of saints. Additionally, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer exhorts the readers by mentioning the "cloud of witnesses who have gone before us." Many CAC congregations are named after saints, one of the carried-over practices from the Reformed Catholic Church. We see this both as a way to embody a church's philosophy or mission, and as a salute to the historic tradition and testimonies of faith by the "saints" who have gone before us.

Celtic Anabaptists: How Celtic are they?

The term "Celtic," according to the Pan-Celtic League's definition, is mainly a linguistic one. Thus a Celtic culture is one that is based on and largely influenced by one of the languages within the Brythonic or Goidelic language groups, namely Breton (Brezhoneg), Cornish (Kernewek), Welsh (Cymraeg) and Gaelic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Scottish Highland. "Celtic Christianity," however, is not necessarily tied to the linguistic or ethnic grouping of the Celts. While we may conjure up the imagery of St. Columba, St. Patrick, St. Brigid and St. Aidan in a remote monastery on a green field of Ireland or Scotland, another historic centre for Celtic Christianity was Lindisfarne in England, founded by Princess-Abbess Hilda from the Northumbrian dynasty (i.e., the Angles). St. Hilda learned Christianity from Scotland, and founded a monastery after the Celtic model in Lindisfarne, England. Many of CAC's congregations incorporate quite a lot of traditions we can learn from the Celtic churches of the past, but nevertheless an understanding of what constitutes "Celtic" can be filtered through our contemporary cultural understanding/bias. Missiologically, Celtic Christianity's heritage gives us a valuable lesson in how the Gospel does not favour one dominant culture over others, but can be seemlessly integrated into the indigenous spirituality and cultures. Today, the missiological paradigms of the 19th century revivalism and its cousin neo-evangelicalism are failing in North America as more and more people find the way they present the Gospel to be irrelevant. They worked well in the 19th- and 20th-century North American culture. But not in today's social and cultural milieu.
Also read for a more critical view: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/005/2.78.html

Celtic Anabaptists: How Anabaptist are they?

The Celtic Anabaptists differ significantly from individual Anabaptist denominations (such as the Society of Friends, Church of the Brethren, or the Mennonite Church) and also from the Baptists. Such differences primarily deal with details (i.e. non-essentials) of how a church is run, rather than in the essential philosophy. What is common between CAC and these Anabaptist forebears is their shared commitment "to live as a prophetic alternative to larger society through their commitment to Christ's Sermon on the Mount as normative for the Christian life when empowered by the Holy Spirit. Outworkings of this spirituality include simple yet joyful lifestyle, peace and justice making, the practice of nonviolence, communal living and the voluntary sharing of goods, particularly with those in need." [2]

[1] See the "Essential Principles" below.
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptist#Anabaptists_today

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The Essential Principles (1878)

We reverently and devoutly accept the Holy Scriptures as containing a revelation of the character of God and of the eternal principles of his moral government.

As holiness and happiness are inseparably connected, so we believe that all sin is accompanied and followed by misery, it being a fixed principle in the divine government that God renders to every man according to his works, so that 'though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.'

Guided by the express teachings of revelation, we recognize God not only as our King and Judge, but also as our gracious Father, who doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men; but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

We believe that divine justice, born of love and limited by love, primarily requires 'love to God with all the soul,' and to one's neighbor as one's self. Till these requisitions are obeyed, justice administers such discipline, including both chastisement and instruction, and for as long a period, as may be necessary to secure that obedience which it ever demands. Hence it never accepts hatred for love, nor suffering for loyalty, but uniformly and forever preserves its aim.

We believe that the salvation Christ came to effect is salvation from sin rather than from the punishment of sin, and that he must continue his work till he has put all enemies under his feet, that is, brought them in complete subjection to his law.

We believe that repentance and salvation are not limited to this life. Whenever and wherever the sinner truly turns to God, salvation will be found. God is 'the same yesterday, today, and forever,' and the obedience of his children is ever welcome to him.

Whatever differences in regard to the future may exist among us, none of us believe that the horizon of eternity will be relatively either largely or for a long time overcast by the clouds of sin and punishment, and in coming into the enjoyment of salvation, whensoever that may be, all the elements of penitence, forgiveness, and regeneration are involved. Justice and mercy will then be seen to be entirely at one, and God be all in all.

Source: http://www.auburn.edu/~allenkc/chr-univ.html

Historic language within this text (e.g., 'His', 'Father', etc.) was used here without edit for historic reference purposes only, notwithstanding the author's preference for inclusive and non-oppressive language.

Article written 2005 by Sarah A. Morrigan, A.C., Community of St. Anne, and used here by her gracious permission.