IT IS always a relief
when the party-conference season is over: so much posturing and
wooing of the faithful. But it is also a necessary reminder that
human beings are political animals. We all have a stake in the life
of the polis, and democracy, for all its faults, is an
attempt to ensure that conflicting interests can be represented, if
not resolved.
In politics, there are
winners and losers. There are also dark arts, such as those
confessed to in his best-selling memoir by Damian McBride. For
those involved, politics is a fascinating, if sometimes dirty,
game.
Politics is part of
church life, too, however much we may try to seek consensus. The
Church of England admits the necessity of politics by its synodical
structure. The General Synod mimics the parliamentary system -
apart from the political parties, and the fact that we do not vote
for our leaders. (Imagine a vote for the Archbishop of
Canterbury!)
Yet to be in the tea room
at Church House during a tense debate, or to see antagonists on
sensitive issues sounding off to the press, you could be forgiven
for feeling that the Church was just as "fallen" an institution as
any secular one. Some Christians work much harder than we do to
reach consensus; the problem is that the discussion can go on for
ever.
Politics cannot be
ignored at parish level. PCCs can be extraordinarily political.
However much the clergy may be encouraged to work collaboratively,
most of them will also need some political nous, some
ability to read conflict intelligently, and to manoeuvre their way
towards what may be no more than the least-bad outcome.
Many would argue that the
dark arts have no place in parish politics, but my experience is
that some PCC members are indeed capable of operating as if they
had. It is one thing to present information in such a way as to
sway opinion, but there are those who go much further in using
their status to do down each other or the vicar. As for the clergy,
let's not go there.
Often, however, people
who lay a trap fall into it themselves, as the Psalmist so
pleasingly observes. Sometimes, the greatest political skill is to
do nothing, and to wait for an opponent to shoot him- or herself in
the foot. Politics will not bring in the Kingdom, but, in a fallen
world, political engagement remains a necessity. And, for those of
an ideological bent, it helps to think small and to remember that
it is only the art of the possible.
The Revd Angela Tilby
is Diocesan Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, and Continuing
Ministerial Development Adviser for the diocese of Oxford.
