A Future for the Church?

 

 

 

‘You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse’

From  ‘If I Ever Lose My Faith in You’ by Sting (from the Album ‘Fields of Gold’)

 

 First a warning and then a clarification.

 Warning: this Advent there may be a few posts in which I express my fears, disappointments and disillusionment with certain aspects of the church as a human organisation, including the Church of Scotland. In spite of the quote from Sting’s song (above) that should not be read as suggesting any cynicism about the Church of Jesus Christ, ie - ‘the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church’.

 Clarification: and (again!) in spite of the quote from Sting’s song, I have not completely lost my faith in science and progress, and I am especially grateful for what medicine and science have achieved in the face of the current ongoing pandemic. Nor have I lost my belief in the ‘holy church’ if what is understood by that is the community of faith instituted by Jesus Christ and constituted by God’s Holy Spirit. I am not sure whether or not I have lost my sense of direction… and while I don’t think so, I do sometimes wonder…

What I may be losing is a belief that the church as currently organised is capable of being reformed and renewed.

 Of course, I am aware within the Church of Scotland of all the proposed changes that are being discussed, the plans that are being made, the (supposedly) ‘radical’ new approaches being pursued.

But, truth be told, it all sounds like the same old same old. For how many years has there been talking and thinking and discussing about groupings of congregations, team ministry, reformed Presbyteries and so on? The answer is counted in decades! I have been part of it and even at some points quite deeply involved in these discussions. And what has really changed? Not a lot, except for the ongoing decline in membership.

All this talk has been accompanied by a resistance to change, and desire to hang onto all that is familiar, and a determination to cling to long irrelevant principles and practices.

And, anyway, is this approach to our crisis really the answer?

Alongside the seemingly unrelenting decline of membership (and vitality) in the Kirk there has been another phenomenon (now well documented) of large numbers of previously committed church-goers ceasing to attend and be involved. Many (not all) of these have not ceased to believe. In fact, many of them continue to meet with other Christians in homes (or cafes, or pubs etc). I have personally witnessed this apparently growing phenomenon amongst some of my own friends, including some who were once in Ministry.

Another interesting (and possibly related) observation is the number of people who attend worship in settings where they can more easily remain anonymous and not be drawn into membership, involvement, weekday activities, groups, committees and so on. When, on occasion, I have been on leave but have been in or near a Scottish city, I have, over the years, chosen to attend a large church, often a cathedral style building, and not always of our denomination. It has often appeared to me from the behaviour and attitudes of my fellow worshippers that there have been lots of people who are also visiting or who at least are not deeply involved in the life of that community.  This has been more marked in recent years when I have observed the surprising number of younger adults attending in such settings (many more than you might expect to see in your average parish church). But what has been most interesting is the number of fellow Ministers of the Church of Scotland I have bumped into in these worship services! In some cases they have, in retirement, made these churches their home. But often they are ‘just visiting’ and tell me they move around from church to church (that is, on those Sundays they choose to go anywhere!). Others are those Ministers who have another church appointment that does not involve regular Sunday duties and who have gravitated to this style of worship, while others are – like me – enjoying a Sunday off.

This apparent appeal of ‘cathedral’ worship to people has been observed for a long time in England. I find it interesting that it now seems to be increasingly observable in Scotland even though there may be fewer options for such worship north of the border.

All of this raises many questions, and perhaps not so many answers.

But, were it up to me, I would be making it a priority to talk with those who have drifted from church but not from faith, those who have chosen meeting in small groups over involvement in a congregation, those who seek out the anonymity of cathedral-style worship, those who were once in Ministry and who now eschew close involvement in a local congregation of the Church of Scotland, or – indeed – the many colleagues still in Ministry who say that even though they preach, and lead, and celebrate the sacraments faithfully, they are not sure that they would bother to come to church if they didn’t have to!

Maybe I would ask all these folks some questions and be ready to listen to some uncomfortable answers rather than assuming that I know the answers, or that ‘top down’ solutions are bound to be successful.

And perhaps it is even more important that we bring ourselves into God’s presence and allow him to ask us some questions, such as the question he asked Ezekiel ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’. Now, where might that lead us?!?

 

 

 

Beginnings and Endings

 

‘Feel the calling of a miracle
In the presence of the word…
…In the beginning is the future
And the future is at hand’

From ‘The Calling’ by Yes (from the Album ‘Talk’)

 

As any of you who ever choose to read my occasional blog posts will be aware, I am the most indisciplined and occasional of bloggers. However, for many years now, I have regularly blogged during the Season of Advent which dawned yesterday. Some years I have even managed to post on a daily basis during Advent. But no promises for this year!

 

As I write this post I am listening to a podcast of yesterday’s choral service for Advent from St John’s College Cambridge. In 2014 when I was Minister of St Cuthbert’s in Edinburgh, we introduced a similar service for Advent Sunday. I always found it deeply meaningful with all the themes of hope, expectation, patience, watching, judgment, preparation, penitence and so on.

 

I have said before (more than once I suspect!) that the celebration of Christmas is all the more special for me when I allow Advent to be Advent and as I seek to hold off the intrusive Christmas that seeks to invade this season.

 

There is a sense of beginning and ending in this Season. On the one hand it is the beginning of the Christian year, and our preparation for celebrating the ‘dawn of our salvation’. On the other hand, we are approaching the ending of the calendar year and looking to that day when God will sum up all things.

 

Beginnings and endings.

 

This year I am more aware than ever of the endings that approach for me and also the new opportunities that are presenting themselves. I will retire in a very few months and so will come to a conclusion over 40 years of full-time ordained Ministry.

 

But there are new things happening too; new beginnings, if you will.

 

Our grand-daughter was born 18 months ago and our twin grandsons in the course of this year. I have, therefore, begun the new and delightful experience of being a grandfather. What a joy it is! (although, I also think that it is probably just as well that I will be retiring soon! Juggling all these responsibilities and demands feels quite tricky some weeks!).

 

It is not really the end of a story or the beginning of a new story, but the end of a chapter and the opening of the next. But it is – for me – very significant nonetheless. The changes being embraced in the current year or two have no real parallel in my life since the short period of a very few years when I became a husband, a father and a Minister.

 

Since then, there has been no season in my life quite as significant and dramatic. And I suppose that is a bit how I feel about Advent too. In these weeks we anticipate the coming of God amongst us – the Word made flesh – in the Babe of Bethlehem, Jesus Christ our Lord, as we also anticipate and await his coming again in glory at the end of time.

 

Lots to ponder!

 

However, don’t expect too much for these blog posts! The way my thinking is going just now they may end up a bit of a hotch-potch of reflections on various themes…. We’ll see!