T h i s. W i l d. R i d e.: Chancellor Giles Fraser Resigns from St. Paul's Cathedral Staff

Friday, October 28, 2011

Chancellor Giles Fraser Resigns from St. Paul's Cathedral Staff | MyFDL

I share Fraser’s opinion that the apparent decision by the Cathedral to move against the OLSX protesters is one the Church will regret. In a dramatic move eleven days ago, Fraser provided a bold witness to the Church’s concern for the poor and the Church’s stand against the endless pursuit of wealth.

This isn’t new for Fraser — it’s partly why he was given this position in the first place. Said Fraser, shortly before taking up his post at St. Paul’s:

The Bible says a lot more about money and wealth than it does about sex. Despite the churches’ pathetic obsession with what people do with their willies, we ought to be a lot more concerned with what people do with their wallets. Indeed, many are perfectly happy to accept unquestioningly the apparently plain meaning of anti-gay scripture, yet, when they are faced with Jesus telling the rich man that the only way for him to get to heaven is to give all his money away, they duck and dive and allegorise. But despite this slipperiness, it remains true that the best way to assess what someone believes is to look through their bank statement. Forget fancy words and sermons, money is the way we mean it – or we don’t. Money is the sacrament of moral seriousness.

Despite its antiquity, the well-known Old Testament story of the people of Israel living off manna in the desert remains God’s object lesson in alternative economics. In contrast to the Egyptian economy, where many had become slaves to the acquisition of wealth stored up in large barns, in the desert God offers food that cannot be stored. Those who gather more manna than they need will find that it has turned to worms by the morning. There is no possibility of storing and hoarding. In other words, there is such a thing as having enough. This is what Jesus had in mind when he advised his followers to live like lilies and birds, who are singularly uninterested in piling up their wealth in barns – or offshore bank accounts.

Let those with ears — both at the London Stock Exchange and inside St. Paul’s — hear.

God’s blessings to you, Canon Fraser, wherever your faith takes you next. I think the Tentmaker atop the cathedral would be proud of your witness to those in the tents at his feet, as well as to those in the Stock Exchange and Cathedral offices.