I am Legion

Hogsback has Christians who remind me of "Legion" in Mark Chapter 5. We read of Jesus meeting a strange man in the village graveyard. In response to the question "What is your name?" he answered, saying, "My name[ is] Legion: for we are many." And Jesus responds by creating an internal, spiritual unity for this man, leaving him "in his right mind".

Well there is a stone church here called St. Patrick on the Hill. This is an Anglican Church that shares its Sundays out between ministers from the Presbyterians, the Methodists, the Dutch Reformed - and naturally the Church of England (CPSA). This has worked amicably for generations: even surviving the recent tragic fire in the chapel. The church is being restored and will soon be re-consecrated by the local bishop. Here, I thought, is Christian unity lived out in community ... A village that can live together within diversity.

But then I saw a notice posted on the door of a local coffee shop: there is a meeting scheduled for "all the Christians" of Hogsback to discuss building another Christian church. Huh? This will be called ... wait for it ... Hogsback United Church Fellowship! I am always amazed at how those who break away to begin yet another church will claim the word "united" for themselves. So the legion of Christian churches divide yet again.

But remember what Jesus did with "Legion", and with hogs?
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