Hobnobbing with bishops

I have had two conversations with Anglican bishops in as many days. On Saturday I attended a fresh expressions conference at Westminster Central Hall and found myself chatting to the bishop of Willesden. Yesterday was the 40th anniversary service of a local ecumenical church and I was invited to 'take the chalice' whilst the bishop of Tonbridge presided at communion.

I found them both to be pleasant amiable men. (I suppose that ought to go without saying.) I felt particularly humbled to be invited to sign my name (in the church record book) alongside the bishop as one of the celebrants of communion, even though I had not taken any other active part in the service. It was good to be treated with respect and not in any sense be made to feel that Methodists were second best.

Having acknowledged that there is a tinge of oneupmanship here ("I'm the sort of person who hobnobs with bishops!"), I should say that I didn't feel overawed by the bishop on either occasion. Something I remember from my training was that John Wesley saw ordination as a Methodist presbyter to be the equivalent of both priestly and episcopal ordination in the Church of England. So Methodist ministers have in their own denomination the same status as both priests and bishops in some other denominations. In theory I ought to be able to meet with a bishop as an equal. In practice I feel I ought to show some due deference, but in the end none of us is more than a mere servant of Christ.

By the by, I did strike a small blow for Methodism in leaving my cassock at home. It is plain black and no match for the white cassocks with red stoles worn by the Anglicans yesterday evening. But the reason I stuck with an ordinary suit and dog collar, even though I knew I would be helping distribute communion, is that it was more true to my Methodist roots. And what is the point of an ecumenical service if it doesn't represent the different traditions? One of my church members commented that I looked very drab up there beside the others, but I can live with that.