A great part of Piddingworth's on-going mission includes promoting the Christian life
and its virtues, and to celebrate and honour that great faith given by our Lord Jesus Christ,
once and for all, to the apostles and all the saints.
It will come as no surprise to some readers, that many in this generation, tempted by
the illusions, inventions and novelties of "New Age" paganism, have turned away from
the enduring truths that are the foundation of our civilisation and of the one, holy,
catholic and apostolic church. Some within the Church itself have advocated replacing
much of the Faith with worldly, political and old pagan notions that are credulous.
In the midst of it all, there remains, still and forever, the Living Water of Christ,
the Son of God,for those who thirst for true happiness, and the answer to life's
purpose and meaning.
This Christian faith was deeply held and lived by my West family at Piddingworth,
Stanmer Farm, East Sussex. In the midst of their labours, tragedy and much suffering,
there emerged from that place, the simple, loving and saintly example of Rose West,
my grandmother, whose quiet legacy, by God's grace, has been passed on to her family.
Since 1991, I have sought to dedicate my work and ministry to her cherished memory,
as well as that of her mother, father, sister and brothers, for the sake of the kingdom of God.
I treasure the English Church from which I first gratefully received the grace of the
Christian life and ministry but am deeply saddened by the recent, devastating and,
in places, perverse innovations in faith, teaching, practice, within the Anglican Communion.
Having isolated itself from its Catholic and Orthodox brethren, it has chosen,
in a variety of ways, to abandon the vital Catholic and Apostolic tradition it once declared
and guarded during and after four centuries of religious and political conflict.
So many 'shepherds' have abandoned their 'sheep'...and the sheep have been scattered
with many now 'lost'.
While my ecclesial and spiritual identity remains deeply attached to the Anglican
cultural heritage, I have, since 1998, embraced in conscience, and am in full communion
with the Catholic Church and the authority of St. Peter. I pray in hope with St. Thomas More
and St. John Fisher that, by God's grace, the English Church will be restored; by fidelity
to Christ's enduring gospel, for the sanctification of the world and the fulfilment
of His kingdom.
(The Rev'd) Gregory Benton
updated Lent, 2008 |
