Touring Churches

Since taking up a new appointment at the beginning of last July, I have been trying to visit every church alongside keeping up the regular run of things. As Moderator of the Eastern Synod of the United Reformed Church, I have some responsibility for around 140 congregations of the United Reformed Church across the east of England - in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and a bit of Hertfordshire. I've still got a good number to visit, but I am excited by what I have seen so far - and convinced that there is plenty of evidence that the church is alive and well. Yes, there is more we could be doing - that is the nature of things - and not the same as saying that there is more that we should be doing. Probably there is, but the gap is much less - as different church communities respond to God's call to them. For the most part I have simply visited the building and met a few folk to chat over the important things that are part of being church for them at the moment. In doing this I have heard many fascinating and encouraging stories. Too often we are worried about what we are not doing - when what we need is the confidence to do what God is calling us to do, sure that he won't call us to do something that we can't manage and confident that he has a call that is just right for us - and doesn't want us to be worrying about all the things that others are called to do.

Strictly Come to Church

Reality shows and those involving public votes have become two of the most common genres of television. In the lead-up to Christmas there have been several programmes which owe a lot to the public vote, including 'I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here', 'The X Factor' and, of course, 'Strictly Come Dancing'. This last has hit the headlines more than once during this last series because of the public's determination to take a view that was at significant variance to that of the judges on occasion. Is it a show about dancing, or is it a show about popularity? The judges would inevitably, and rightly from their perspective, want to put the stress on the dancing. But the evidence would suggest that, in the end, it is more about popularity. But all the talk has got me wondering and asking: just what is the reality that the church represents? What are the really important things? What are the criteria on which we judge what is church? And where does popularity fit in? I want the church to be popular, but popularity can't have the last word.

High School Musical Church

One of the key things about church is being committed. One of my daughters has just wandered into my study, big smile on her face, her arms full of High School Musical memorabilia - 'look Dad, at all the High School Musical stuff I've got and this is only some of it!' Such experiences often leave me wondering whether we are as excited by all the stuff of our faith. In many ways commitment is not "in" these days - and yet football teams, pop groups, even particular brands have no difficulty in attracting followers. People want to show that they belong and they will go to considerable effort and expense in doing so. What is our equivalent of the High School Musical calendar, annual, CD, tee shirt etc.?

Join the Revolution

There are many ways of defining the church. Essentially, of course, we are those who follow Jesus. That means - or should - that we are concerned with the things of God and with what Jesus most often described as God's Kingdom. However, in a world where kingdoms are less and less the way that peoples operate, is it perhaps time to update that concept and description? Surely the point that Jesus was making essentially concerned the need to discover a new way of doing things. This particular new way was one that would and should challenge the existing ways. Perhaps we should move to a concept like revolution which would challege us to take seriously the impact that doing things God's way ought to have. It ought to really shake things up and change them. How revolutionary are we as a church? What impact does our church have?

We Stand on Holy Ground

"The church is more than the human institution we see, with all its human foibles and failings. It's the dwelling of God's Holy Spirit: like Moses at the burning bush, we stand on holy ground, and on that ground nothing less than utter truthfulness will do. Nothing destroys community quicker than equivocation in interpersonal relations. It is not disagreement that destroys Christian community so much as a failure to acknowledge the truth before each other and before God's Holy Spirit." That is part of Loveday Alexander's comment (Acts, BRF, 2006, p. 49) on the Ananias and Sapphira story in Acts 5. It raises some pretty significant questions, perhaps not least: How do we treat truth? What do we do with disagreement? What does it mean to us that we are 'standing on holy ground'?

The Story We Find Ourselves In

I've been reading Brian McLaren's "The Story We Find Ourselves In" - a fascinating novel-type account of the story we all finds ourselves in as part of God's world. We are all part of life. We are all part of the world. As Christians, we are part of the church. What is the story we are telling by how we live in our part of the church? What is the church story that other people can "read" as they look at what we are doing and saying?

Part of something bigger

Being part of the church is about community. We are not to be isolated - we are part of the group. We should be engaged in partnership. That was something the early Christians soon found out. It can have its difficulties as we will not all always see things the same way, but it is important to receive the sustaining support of those who accompany us on The Way. Commenting on how this was worked in the early church and with particular reference to Acts 2, Loveday Alexander suggests: "Being a Christian is about acquiring a new allegiance, following a new Lord, but that is not just a private matter between ourselves and God. There is also a horizontal aspect to this new allegiance: whether we like it or not, we are part of something bigger. We are setting out on the journey with a band of fellow pilgrims .... (Acts, Loveday Alexander, BRF, p. 36).