It is when the issues are ours that we get so hooked by our habitual patterns. Other people in conflict seem absurd. Like any living church we too have our tensions, and unless we view them with an honest and self-critical eye they might cause us and others hurt. Be it over the issues of the development of work at the Dom, or whether we are young or old, gay or straight, British or American, traditional or unconventional, watch out for the 'them and us' defence that we can sometimes engage in. Notice how quickly your brother or sister in the next pew can start to seem alien, their motives suspect, their friendships a power bloc.
Party spirit starts that way and can sour the atmosphere in a church.
We are different from each other of course, thank God, and we must never opt out of living with the tension and challenge of that. This is where, like all humankind, we need God's help to do the impossible. The wall of interpersonal difference and the fear of others can be a formidable obstacle, though it can be jumped quite easily when it has not been built up to a fortress. St George's congregation does not need dividing walls. At times of tension, change, insecurity and growth in our church's life let us all co-operate in the first humble task of community, keeping in touch.