Welcome to a new blog.
Fides in Marginibus — Faith on the Margins — is for now a place where I can put down my thoughts as I slowly find my way into the Independent Sacramental Movement (ISM) in general, and the American National Catholic Church (ANCC) in particular. The early posts here may be quite rough, as I'm still putting this all together.
"Faith on the margins" reflects a few different realities for me:
First, my personal reality of coming into this as a fairly convinced Humanist. My heart still beats Humanist, even as I explore the possibility of a sacramental Christianity. I won't likely pull many punches in my critique of the easy theism I once held, many years ago, and which is so prevalent still in our times (and politics). Faith is on the margins for me, working its way in.
Second, the ISM itself is statistically a faith on the margins, in the sense that such a small fraction of people find their home in jurisdictions of this movement. Bishops set up jurisdictions, priests call together churches, and those who come to participate are often few in number. Of course there are exceptions.
Third, those who participate in ISM parishes are frequently people who have been marginalized by society and the church. Certainly in many jurisdictions lgbtq+ folks find a welcoming and affirming home, and women are able to answer the call to ministry. Remarried people who are shut out from communion in Roman Catholicism will find parishes that welcome them to the table. There are also ministries to the undocumented, the homeless, and the addicted. This is all faith on the margins.
As I indicated above, I'm presently journeying in a tentative faith with the American National Catholic Church. This jurisdiction welcomes everyone, and is one of the jurisdictions in the ISM that can be counted on to affirm the role of lgbtq+ folks and women in all aspects of ministry. This was a non-negotiable for me.
Now, why am I pursuing this route when I still feel a baseline of Humanism at my core? Well, you see, there's a woman. She's Roman Catholic and lives in another country. I felt that my Unitarian Universalist congregation would ill-suit her, and Roman Catholicism is closed to me since I'm divorced and planning to get married. Besides, as I've said, full inclusion is not something I'm willing to give ground on.
I started attending a parish of the ANCC thinking only that I would form a connection and have a place to attend with her once she moves here. What has happened, though, is a slow binding of myself to these people and this faith. This was wholly unexpected and has changed my outlook. Now most Sundays I attend the ANCC parish rather than the UU congregation. I miss it when I don't make it.
Where this will lead, I don't know. I've even been asked to lead the youth group for the parish, and I'm waiting to see if another volunteer can be found to help facilitate the group. Can I, with a marginal faith, lead such an endeavor? I'm certainly going to try.
