Meet Julian Sleigh.
What is the Christian Community?
JULIAN SLEIGH: The Christian Community is a movement for the renewal of religion. It was founded in 1922, in Switzerland, as a result of a group of Protestant student pastors asking the advice of Dr. Rudolf Steiner as to how religion can become a reality in the modern world. His many lectures had indicated a new understanding of the Christ, and the students realized that they would not be able to combine this new insight with the conventional Christianity of the Lutheran church. So, together with several older pastors, they decided to form a new church, and Steiner helped them to bring this about. This "Christian Community (CC)" now has congregations in many parts of the world, where the renewed sacraments are celebrated, the Gospel is preached and studied, and those who ask for it are given pastoral care.
Who is Dr. Rudolf Steiner and what was his understanding of Christ?
This is a deep and wide-ranging question. Just briefly: Rudolf Steiner (1861-1923) was an Austrian who was endowed with the power to commune with spiritual beings of the highest order and to research past events and present working of cosmic forces. He could investigate past lives and had a special understanding of reincarnation and karma, and for the complex, largely spiritual, being of Man. His teaching is called Anthroposophy and he was clearly an initiate. He gave new insights into education (Waldorf Schools), medicine (a development of homeopathy), agriculture (the biodynamic movement), architecture (organic and fluid forms), the education and nurturing of handicapped children (curative education), a new art of movement (eurythmy), insight into social organization (threefold social order), and philosophy. And also religion (the Christian Community).
His research revealed that the Christ is of immense cosmic importance and is a vital force in the evolution of the earth. His incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth and the Mystery of Golgotha constitute a turning point in the history and destiny of humanity and the cosmos. The Christ Impulse gathers momentum in our time as mankind prepares for the Second Coming: he will come not in human form but as a spiritual force.
What brought you to the Christian Community and how did you decide to become a CC priest? How long have you been a priest?
I had been working in Camphill in Scotland since 1953. This is a center for handicapped children, founded by Dr. Karl Konig, on the basis of Rudolf Steiner’s indications. Camphill was then beginning to set up adult working communities (Villages). In 1958, I went to South Africa, to assist at the Camphill center near Cape Town. When it became clear that my wife and I would pioneer the founding of a Village in South Africa, I felt called to become a priest of the Christian Community, so that services would be held regularly and I could also offer pastoral care. I was trained in Stuttgart and in England, and was ordained in London in May 1965, now almost 39 years ago.
CC priests can marry and raise families. You even have women priests. Can you tell us about this?
In giving advice to the would-be founders of the Christian Community, Steiner said that women should have equal standing with men in this new Movement, which meant there could be women priests. It was also accepted that priests could marry and have families.
Why is this accepted in the CC?
The quick answer would be to ask "why not?"
You are married and have five grown children. How do you think this has helped you serve your community as a priest? How has being a priest helped you in your marriage and in being a father?
Yes. The experience of marriage and a quite large family has given me the chance to grow as a person. It has helped me to be fully "on the earth," as well as enjoying the support and challenge of family life. My children have been my teachers in life skills, and my book on adolescence was largely inspired by my experiences as a father of teenagers.
Being a priest has certainly given a special purpose to my marriage and family. As a priest I have tried to recognize the spiritual essence of every person, and my marriage and family have enhanced this recognition. On the 22nd of February, Renate and I will have been married 45 years.
Can you give a brief outline of the sacraments as they are celebrated in the CC?
Sacraments bring about spiritual help at significant moments in a person’s biography. With birth comes Baptism. With puberty and entry into adolescence, Confirmation. For healing and strengthening the soul through life, the Act of Consecration of Man. In times of personal crisis or change, the Sacramental Consultation. At marriage, the Sacrament of Marriage. On becoming a priest, the Ordination. On preparing to die, The Anointing.
The Catholic Church has a similar series of sacraments, but the rituals for the sacraments of the Christian Community have been renewed in response to the development of human consciousness in our time.
What is human consciousness in our time?
Man has progressed in his ability to apply his/her intelligence and will power to solving the problems of existence on earth. Modern persons are less and less receptive about doctrines and dogmas in regard to how to conduct their lives. There is a strengthening awareness among human beings of spiritual forces that can guide the individual lives of people, and a longing for self-fulfillment and inner freedom.
How is sacramental consultation different from confession and counseling?
In confession in the Catholic Church the penitent is relieved of the burden of his misdeeds. In the Sacramental Consultation he is encouraged to unite his life with God and to learn from his actions and omissions. The working of the Sacramental Consultation enhances our love for God and for our fellow human beings. It takes place after the person has had a counseling session with the priest.
How does one "unite his life with God" and how does the Sacramental Consultation enhance our love for God?
The prayer of this sacrament calls on one to learn to offer one’s thoughts to God and then to act in life in the awareness of divine guidance. This can bring about a "bonding" with the divine which engenders peace in the soul. This uniting with the will of God opens a channel of communication and feeling between God and the person and so one is at one with God – a precondition for feeling the love for God in one’s heart.
In the marriage sacrament, the man and woman do not make promises to each other. Can you tell us about this?
In a marriage service the partners state their intention to strive for "community of life." This is a solemn undertaking, witnessed by the two chosen witnesses and by all who are present, by the priest and by the spiritual world. It is a statement of earnest commitment. One important feature of the service is the special recognition of the equal status of the woman and the man.
Under modern conditions destiny sometimes makes the continuation of the marriage impossible without incurring damaging effects on the soul life and spiritual entity of the partners; in which case they have to come to terms with the fact that their undertaking cannot be permanently upheld. But in general the congregation and the power of the sacrament and the ongoing human support of the witnesses all exist to bring harmony and stability to the marriage.
Can you explain "earnest commitment"?
The form of the question put to the man and the woman in the ritual of Marriage asks not for a promise to do or to act in a particular way, but to take into his and her spiritual resolve a striving for "community of life". The couple are called upon to commit themselves to try their fullest as a spiritual endeavour, to put their whole selves into the effort to unite their spiritual beings. There is no mention of "domestic bliss": the commitment called for is on the highest level of being of the two who are wanting to marry. In the ritual an ongoing blessing on the couple is prayed for.
Why do you think so many marriages are challenged today?
Because destiny can seemingly make it unworkable to maintain the marriage.
Because of the stress experienced by persons in modern life.
Because the marriage is not cultivated or nurtured or cared for.
Because we live in an age of individuation and individuality, which inhibits close relationship. ("I need my space.")
Because the modern attitude to sex is that it has to be exciting. Once the "being in love" declines, the partners may be tempted to seek new intensity in the sexual sphere and look for new partners.
Because modern people do not come to peace in themselves sufficiently to nourish a divine element in their souls. Without this their commitment to each other becomes starved.
Women demand equality and free initiative for their lives and careers, and husbands do not know how to respond to these demands.
In the course of time partners can experience the intimacy of marriage as an actual threat to their individualism, and seek for distance.
Modern life is superficial and divorce is easily obtained. And society accepts broken marriages without stigmatizing them.
Because the partners have not learned to listen to each other, and one (generally the man) resorts to violence.
These are just some of the reasons. The list could go on.
What are your hopes and expectations of your work in the Philippines in February?
I hope to meet and be met by a ring of interesting and interested people, and to share with you all some aspects of the building of relationships. I also hope to confirm and develop your understanding of the impulse of the Christian Community. Moreover, I hope to get to know your special country.
I would like to serve as a catalyst to bring new insights into the celebration of life.
Renate and I look forward to meeting you all, and we send you our good wishes.