I have seen the May monthly mailing of news and events to clergy and licensed lay readers in the Diocese of York. It does not mention the ”˜Thy Kingdom Come” week, or refer to evangelism and the mission of the church. It doesn’t even mention Pentecost. There are advertisements for sessions on Ignatian prayer techniques, the Enneagram, and exploring dreams. Most oddly of all, there is a notice for a quiet day on “Faith and Doubt” led by Canon Chris Collingwood from York Minster who “also practises Zen and began a Zen group based at the Minster two years ago”. A link to the Minster site is given which openly advertises Zen meditation and shows a picture of a clergyman leading a group of devotees; behind him a large statue of Buddha sits on a table.
It is not a surprise that York Minster clergy are offering Zen meditation. Last year Canon Michael Smith gave a ”˜blessing’ on the Gay Pride march which assembled in front of the Minster before processing through the city, with the full backing of the Dean. This is a place which seems to have abandoned Christian doctrine in any meaningful sense of the word.
But this does not explain why the Diocese as a whole, under the leadership of the Archbishop of York, is simply not mentioning the big prayer and evangelism initiative which Dr Sentamu himself is promoting nationally. It’s one thing for his Diocese to talk about Jesus publicly while in the background there are some clergy secretly blessing gay relationships or holding Zen meditation. It’s another thing altogether for the Diocese to openly support worship of a different god in the precincts of its main worship centre, and hide an initiative which promotes prayer at Pentecost for the coming of God’s Kingdom and sharing faith in Christ.
This raises several questions. First, who is in charge in the Diocese of York? Second, how can the Archbishop expect to unite the Church of England in prayer and mission when there is such complete confusion in his own back yard about what we believe and whom we worship?
Read it all and there is more here and here