Domesticating the Spirit
I came to this conclusion as a witness to the fall of Episcopalianism in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, but think it more generally applicable: No church can function or endure as a creature of creed and canon alone, any more than a government can by the making of laws. It must also have the singular blessing and discipline of active and courageous godliness among its elders. This is the essence of apostolic succession, in which I think all Christians should believe as in the communion of the saints, and which they misunderstand at their great peril.
S. M. Hutchens is a Touchstone senior editor.
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