NJPN Blog: How I became ecumenical

Paul Southgate

This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. July's NJPN Conference is being planned ecumenically.

No, it wasn't really because of Church teaching but rather my family tree, and I can hardly wait to study the 1921 census, published this month.

As a young man I still hoped that everyone would become a Roman Catholic. To my shame, in those days I was quite dogmatic. I would go to ecumenical meetings and encourage our Catholic folk to take part, but I still thought everyone should be Catholic. It was Catholic 'groupthink' - a failure to celebrate diversity and consider different perspectives.

Then I developed an interest in my ancestry and family tree. It turns out that we Southgates are from Combs in Suffolk where I've traced us back to 1487. 18 generations later, I calculate that gives me 524,288 grandparents - surely you and I are related somewhere along the line?

At Combs, in 1536 Giles and Robert Southgate were arraigned for breaking into St Mary's parish church and stealing some very expensive silver. Maybe they gave Henry VIII the idea of the dissolution of the monasteries that same year? Anyway, they received the King's pardon for that. The Southgates made up for it in the 19th Century when three generations of my Anglican grandfathers served as Parish Clerks at St Mary's.

In the 1600s, the Southgates at Combs were dissenters. My ancestor's Congregationalist brother emigrated to America in 1718. Our line includes Episcopalian Bishop Horatio Southgate who coined the term "the Anglican Communion" in 1847. Horatio's son Edward, a Congregationalist, converted to Catholicism and became a priest. Another in his line was Eliza Southgate who married Walter Bowne, a Quaker who became Mayor of New York. The Bownes' family home is considered by many to be the birthplace of American religious freedom.

Still, nothing is so boring as someone else's family tree. The point is, how could I not be ecumenical? My life is the gift of my half million (and counting) ancestors. They believed and doubted, converted and subverted, suffered and celebrated, worked the land and brought up families. And that's why I am here to tell the tale. I honour them, their faith, and all their descendents who probably include you - and Gareth Southgate!

And I now understand that Jesus, the Lord, the true Vine, already sees us as One, united in Him, and we have to see through His eyes.

Joining NJPN in planning the July 2022 annual Conference, 'Hope - a verb with its sleeves rolled up' is JPIT (Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches), Christians Aware, ACTA (A Call to Action) and Stella Maris. A very ecumenical team!

Paul Southgate is the Chair of the National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN).

LINK

National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN) - www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/conference/