I mean by Church traditions what I might have meant by churchmanship many years ago.

I am extraordinarily inclusive when it comes to church traditions, except I have never been a liberal or understood liberalism. It does not seem to make sense in the way that evangelicalism ( whether open, conservative or charismatic) does or indeed Orthodoxy (as part of my ordination training, I spent 6 weeks in Greece at the Orthodox Academy in Volos. My England Cricket hat was mistaken for a mitre) or Anglo-Catholicism.

You see I grew up in St James and St Christoper, Shiregreen in Sheffield, whose theological tradition tacked according to the whim of successive incumbents. I thought it was the only expression of Christianity for a while, apart from the Elim Church, I occasionally walked to or youth groups in the same deanery, like T’others in St Peter’s, Ellesmere (another part of Sheffield). When I went to the London City Mission, which is a conservative evangelical mission (doing amazing work) I just thought that was Christian.

I did my ordination training at Queen’s in Birmingham. The Anglican cohort of 7 or 8 that I was in covered the entire spectrum of Anglicanism or so it seemed. No wonder the strapline was for a while: ‘learning at the place where traditions meet’. I wonder whether that it what Anglicanism, certainly the CofE and CiW are about at the past, places where different experiences of truth can exist and mutually flourish.

I think of Messy Church which has blossomed all over the world. It seems to have the knack of embracing differing traditions. I wonder whether they are beginning to disappear.

I may of course be very wrong, but perhaps in a nation like Wales where only 1% go to worship with the Church in Wales, theological tradition has become a bit of a luxury.