A matter of hearts as well as minds

In 1885, Jonathan Titcomb wrote a ‘Pastoral’ for the Anglican chaplaincies of Northern and Central Europe. Titcomb was the first Church of England bishop with a dedicated ministry to northern Europe. He is one of my predecessors. And his ‘Pastoral’ makes fascinating reading.

Titcomb speaks with enthusiasm and affection of the Anglican communities around Europe. He notes the churches in Elberfeld and Rummelsburg that are largely made up of artisans, the seaport churches like St. Malo and Dunkirk, where the British population is made up of sailors, and cities like Leipzig and Frankfurt where the congregation mainly consists of British people who married into German families. Titcomb delights in the stories of the chaplaincies: Geneva, which traces its history back to the time of Calvin, Antwerp, which once had William Tyndale as its chaplain, and Hamburg which goes back to the time of James I.

The Anglican presence in Europe grew over the next 20 years after Titcomb completed his ministry. In Belgium, Anglicans enjoyed the status of being a ‘recognised’ church, with state funding for clergy and buildings. In Switzerland, hoteliers built chapels to cater for the spiritual needs of their guests. And in Germany, by 1913 there were 80 Anglican churches catering for the large number of English speakers.

However, in the first half of the 20^th century, the hopeful optimism of Anglican (and more widely British) engagement with Europe was shattered. Nationalistic fervour grew. This together with military competition and a complex set of alliances led to two world wars.

Warfare destroyed many of our churches. Yet the British returned. I treasure a letter written to me by the elderly Canon Markham, the military chaplain who arrived in Brussels in 1945 to re-open Christ Church. Over succeeding decades, many British people came to live on the continent, whether to retire to the warm sunshine of Spain and Southern France or to work in the manufacturing industry of Germany or the administrative centres of Benelux.

For many of us who live on the continent, the proposed UK Referendum on Europe feels perplexing and perhaps threatening. For myself, I have lived in Belgium for the last 10 years. We have brought up our children here. I have come to value the excellent health care, good schooling and beautifully prepared food. As a ‘foreigner’ I and my church community have been made to feel immensely welcome. And, of course, living in another linguistic culture is a richly educational experience that I warmly commend to others!

The Referendum is supposed to be about the UK’s acceptance or not of the Institutions of the European Union. But to me, it feels (as it says on the tin) as if Britain is deciding whether or not she wants to be in or out of ‘Europe’. I am saddened that we don’t in our day feel the confidence in relating to Europe that Bishop Titcomb and his generation knew. I am perplexed that a debate which might have centred on the explicitly Christian founding values of the EU is instead dominated by an unpleasant sense of xenophobia and fear of ‘migrants’ (for I too am a migrant).

Let’s be clear: Europe is in crisis. Its common currency is threatened by Greek debt. Its open borders are threatened by uncontrolled migration. Its political structures are threatened by the widespread rise of populism. And on its Eastern border it faces growing Russian military power.

European countries feel warm and friendly towards the UK. I have seen this in the tenor of the political debates around Cameron’s renegotiation. I experience it in my pastoral ministry. But that could change. When those we love disappoint or leave us – especially if they leave us when we most need them - we normally react with anger. Witness a messy divorce.

The EU motto is ‘unity in diversity’. We know in church life how difficult that is sustain. And it is no easier in European political life. But it is surely worth the effort, if the alternative is a return to the competing nationalisms of small states that marked the opening years of the last century.

The EU has been described as the 20^th century’s “dullest miracle” for preserving peace despite continually wrestling with budgetary and migration issues. Yet it has largely achieved its fundamental aim of preserving Europe’s stability. Nobody remotely suggests that the structures are perfect. But the Union is a matter of give and take, and there is much which Britain can both give and receive from close relationships with its European neighbours.

The miracle may be a dull one, but it is rather significant for the future of our children and grandchildren, and something that is worthy of the commitment of our hearts and the assent of our minds. And for myself…well I hope my own episcopal ministry can recapture some of the enthusiasm for Europe embodied by my illustrious predecessor Dr. Titcomb.

About the author

Bishop Robert Innes is Bishop of the Diocese in Europe. He is also the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the EU. He has lived in Brussels for the last 10 years. Before moving to Belgium, he was in ministry in County Durham.