Sunday by Sunday we proclaim the Apostles Creed which contains the words:
‘the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body…’
The fullest version of God’s church is expressed through the ‘communion of the saints’ from every part of God’s earth and heaven enabling forgiveness, triggering transformation from death to life as cells regenerate into newness whilst holding the original pattern and design.
In the Eucharist when I stand behind the table and elevate and divide the large circular wafer in two I say:
‘We break this bread to share in the body of Christ, though we are many we are one body,
because we all share one bread.’
What happens during the Eucharist is too often not replicated at the other tables in the life of the church. At the general synod table where the Archbishops sit, our PCC tables where the agendas are kept, or the tables at seminaries where people are being taught to become priests and deacons. When the wider culture and society does not reinforce the message of the Eucharist the power is dissipated. In these and other settings it is the often the few, and those with power who are championed and represented.
One of our biggest problems in the U.K today is social isolation we are not one body we are bodies of one. As a black priest when the main stories are of the ‘communiformity of the white saints’ I’m so glad CMEAC, the Church of England’s Diversity and Inclusion wing have with SPCK produced an incredible book called ‘Every Tribe’ which was compiled and edited by Rev Dr Sharon Prentis herself a black priest and academic.
This book shows all the significance of the contributions of saints of colour to God’s world. It does not criticise white saints rather it privileges the stories of saints of colour in their own right. It injects a needed supply of antibodies into the collective blood stream to attack the pathogens caused by the white superiority and normalcy disease.
The book speaks of Abba Moses a former Ethiopian gang leader turned leader of hermits. Revd Pauli Murray the first woman of colour to become a priest in the American Episcopal church. She was by today’s terms trans, also a poet and human rights activist, and pacifist. Then there is the subversion of St George, an English hero who had Palestinian and Turkish heritage. Through to Sister Marie Cleméntine who was murdered by a possessive warlord and words of forgiveness were on her lips even as his fatal shot took effect. There are many more stories. We need relationships to survive, it is our social oxygen. This book offers pure oxygen to people of colour as we meet ourselves in the saints presented to us. Even the contributors to the book are modern day saints in their own right. It is deeply healing to encounter Christ in someone who has suffered as you have. I highly recommend this book it is one for us all wherever we are from, we are part of the ‘communion of the saints’ and if we truly want to discover Christ he awaits us in the stranger and saint you are yet to meet.
Azariah France Williams is priest in the Church of England in an urban parish which is a member of the HeartEdge church network. He has been a priest for 10 years and holds a MPhil in theology as well as a Masters degree in Mission. He is the author of ‘Ghost Ship: Institutional racism in the Church of England’, SPM (2020)