Toward a Hedge-Priest ministry in the Anglican Tradition

Over the past few years, I have been connecting with people outside of the traditional denominational institutional "Box". Some of them are atheists, New Agers, and Druids, etc. Some still feel a connection with Christ Jesus but not with Church. Some have said I am the only Christian (and even priest) they have ever felt comfortable with. I even have a dear friend (an atheist or agnostic) who refers to me as her priest! She often tells people that, "My priest says that I'm a Pagan!" -which is both a kind of joke between us but also an expression of endearment.

Hedge-Priest: It seems I am becoming somewhat of a "Hedge-Priest"!!! lol

This term usually takes on the definitions of a: rustic, outlandish, sometimes uneducated or illiterate, poor, mean, itinerant vagabond priest, without benefice or home, but one authorized to perform the Rites and Sacraments of and by the church. For those who know me...See any resemblance? haha

However, I've also heard that the term Hedge Priest is also a variant of the terms Hedge-Witch or Hegde-Druid. A Hedgewitch, has traditionally been seen as a shamanistic person who can cross the “hedge” or boundary between this world and the other. The Hedgewitch is usually a solitary practitioner, but may be attended by assistants. Her main function is as mediator between the spirit world (the Divine) and people. She may also work as a herbal healer and midwife.

The term has also been applied to John Ball, an English Lollard Priest (c. 1338[1] – 15 July 1381), who was part of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. According to Wikipedia, "He is said to have gained considerable fame as a roving preacher — a "hedge priest" without a parish or any cure linking him to the established order — by expounding the doctrines of John Wycliffe, and especially by his insistence on social equality" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ball_%28priest%29).

Hmmm. Well, I'm just a simple Christian Priest but I do have a certain spiritual affinity and connection with both the Celtic Christian tradition and the Contemplative/mystical/monastic expressions of the Gospel and church history; and I am very interested in Inter-Religious/Inter-Spiritual dialogue. As an Anglican Priest (albeit a more Contemplative one), I love both the more traditional (Rite One) and high church expressions but also feel a much more earthy rustic spirituality-which unfortunately the institutional aspects of the church too often get in the way of.

My ministry, small though it may be, does seem to be moving more and more outside the hedge of traditional parish ministry; providing friendship and Spiritual Direction with people wherever they are in their journey.

Some of these changes are a result of my own spiritual growth process; together with certain guiding theological principles. One of these was the difference between the Roman and Celtic Model of Evangelism. The book, "The Celtic Way of Evangelism: How Christianity Can Reach the West...Again" by George G. Hunter III, addressed and confirmed certain principles I was learning by personal or mystical insight.

In the Roman Model, the Gospel was preached primarily within the boundaries of Roman civilization and culture. The Gospel was proclaimed, if one accepted it, then one could be made a member of the church. It was a Belief before Belonging system. However, in the Celtic Model, the Gospel was taken outside the boundaries of language, civilization and culture; and was shared openly with people at the crossroads of life. It was a Belonging before Belief system.

Together with the spiritual principle of the Anamchara (or Soul-friend tradition, a borrowed druid practice), who would come alongside of people and walk alongside of them in their spiritual journey in Christ, offering spiritual counsel through spiritual friendship; not just ministry from a pulpit or lectern. and its much more personal and earthy.



Yours,

The Rev. Father Jerry "Aidan" Hix, O.S.C.

Raimon Pannikar's- Christophany- The Fullness of Man

I have just started reading Raimon Pannikar's Christophany- The Fullness of Man, together with a group. here are my first thoughts...

We have only just begun our journey into Pannikar but already I feel we are swimming in deep waters. Awhile back I was reading a book by Dr. Craig T. Isaacs "Revelations & Possession: Distinguishing the Spiritual Experience from the Psychological", where he describes the experience many have of reading Carl Jung,

"Reading Jung has been described as diving in the ocean. Often one will read his work and believe they have understood it, only to be dragged back down deep in the ocean, struggle to breathe believing all is lost, only to surface and again find one’s bearings. So, too, Jung will be intelligible, then we will get lost, only to find a statement we can grab onto like a raft in the sea, and then hold onto it with tenacity for fear of being drowned again. For this reason Jung has often been misunderstood because his thought has only been taken in part. However, we must not take only a few statements he makes, hold on to them like life rafts and move only from them; rather, we should attempt to comprehend the whole that he is putting forth. Therefore, for both our understanding of this process of the development of consciousness, as well as to further expand upon the concept of objective spirit, it is necessary to pursue a greater understanding of spirit, especially as presented in Jung’s thought."

This quote about the experience of reading Jung seems quite appropriate here as we begin our journey into Pannikar's Christophany, perhaps even more so.

Due to many factors, in my personal life, family, marriage, ministry, and changes in polarity from my own spiritual practice of contemplative prayer and related studies, I have already been feeling this experience of having the floor of old ways of believing, belonging and being swept out from under my feet; or having the vessel of myself being wrecked against these waves of the ocean that seems to drag me down deep, only to resurface, gasping for breath and trying to find my bearings again. All the while, trying to hold onto a plank of flotsam and jetsam. Sometimes the plank I am holding onto seems to be my own spiritual practice or the writings of Keating, Griffiths, Bourgeault, etc., while at other times the experience of both my spiritual practice and reading authors of such deep thoughts seem to be the wave itself washing over me to destroy the old securities and consciousness.

Even now, in the beginning, in the Foreword to Christophany, we already meet deep waves of Pannikar's thought and can almost feel the palpable force of his being and presence as a manifestation of the very things he alludes to. He writes not only from his intellect but from his being. It pulls us down to depths, to meet him where he is. This is the difference between Christology and Christophany. The former is the making of dogmatic statements or moralizing's based on the life and sayings of Christ but usually misses the deeper meanings of Christ which lead to transformation of consciousness and being; whereas, Christophany presupposes that we cannot only experience Christ for ourselves but can also have the same experience Christ claimed to have with the mysterious being he called Abba.

Although I already feel I am being pulled down to unfamiliar depths, I also feel a kind of sapiential awakening and recognization. And I am becoming so much more grateful to have a plank such as the ---- list to hold onto as I plunge again and again into the deep ocean's of change and shifting polarities; especially now, as we are (or at least I am) entering what I already feel to be deep waters- a place where deep calls unto deep.

-Aidan+