Anglican Odalism

“We proclaim and celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ in worship and action. But through the Grace of Jesus Christ we also affirm our traditional spirituality and our place in God's Creation. We know that Christ has come to fulfil our own traditions too.”

This quote, taken in August 2008, is from the official website of the Anglican Church of Canada and refers to the mission statement of the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples. Anglo Saxon Anglicans supports the right of the indigenous peoples of North America, and indeed of everywhere, to reconcile their Anglican faith with their native traditions. The support of the Church itself for this is welcomed. But what is good enough for the native peoples of North America is good enough for the native peoples of our English homeland – indeed for Anglo Saxon people wherever we might live. The ACIP, and the related Anglican Indigenous Network, argue the right to maintain their identity, traditions and self determination in their own lands. To work in partnership with others certainly, but not to be simply absorbed into wider society and lose what it is that makes them what they are. The site includes the following quote which sums this position up well.

"All of you are Christ's body and each one is a part of it."
-- 1 Corinthians 12:27

The Anglo Saxon English people lost many of our native traditions and spirituality many centuries ago, although some of them do still survive in modified form. A great injustice was done to our folk too. Much of our native traditions and spirituality were cursed by the Church, declared evil and severely punished. Reverence for nature, for the spirits of the land and for our ancestors was called witchcraft and devil worship. But the modern Church is seeking to reconcile itself with the native traditions of certain groups of people. And not just the Anglican Communion. The Russian Orthodox Church is seeking a new relationship with the native peoples of Siberia and elsewhere. We can learn from other native peoples who are still much closer to their own traditions and who the Churches are entering into a new relationship with. We can preserve and reconstruct. This will help us to build up a folk religion of our own – and put right the suppression that our own ancestors suffered all those years ago. We do not say that every aspect of our old traditions was good or should be reconstructed. But we do say that we have a right to reconnect with our own ancient traditions every bit as much as other indigenous peoples. And we do see ourselves as indigenous people. We are currently suffering the same effects of global imperialistic capitalism that caused the Native Americans so much trouble. Our communities are being torn apart too; our people exploited and turning to drugs and alcohol misuse. Infact, the ordinary people were exploited even in the days of colonialism – it was a system that exploited not the ordinary people.

Christian Odalism is a reconnection with our own traditions, our native spirituality within a Christian framework and it is a reconnection between the people and our native land. The two are inextricably connected to each other. It is not against any group, but rather a recognition of our right as a people to our traditions and identity and to our relationship with our native lands. Many aspects of our ancient traditions were absorbed into the early English Church, although sometimes in a distorted form. It is our aim to restore much of this, put right the distortions and seek a new relationship between the universalism of Christianity and our ancient ways.

At the heart of Christian Odalism is respect. Respect for other people and other traditions provided they do not seek to harm us. But above all respect for ourselves, our traditions and our lands. One of the biggest problems facing our folk today is a lack of self respect and a lack of self regard. Rights without responsibilities, hedonism turned into debauchery. Rampant knife crime, people afraid to go out at night. English people disgracing themselves and their country across the globe. Many people look at this and wonder just what the hell has happened, what has gone wrong. What did all those brave men and women fight and die for last century. Certainly not for what is happening right now. Our recent ancestors would be disgusted at many of things happening now. And they would be disgusted with the self serving institutions that have encouraged such behaviour and wreaked so much damage on our communities.

Much of this is a result of the profound social changes that have taken place in our communities over the last few decades. The problem is serious and getting worse. The Church is not providing the right moral and spiritual direction for people – indeed it so often appears to be part of the problem. This is something that Anglo Saxon Anglicans aims to put right. We need a new start. Only we can do it – nobody will do it for us. We need to rebuild our respect for ourselves as a people and for our links to the land. We need to re-discover many of the old fashioned values that made our ancestors strong. During the last war, Herman Goring said that the English people’s greatest strengths lay in the spitfire fighter plane and the Church of England. So important was the Church to us as a bedrock of communal life. Well not any more! That is what we need to rebuild.

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