The New Church-going

What counts as regular churchgoing? In my childhood it meant twice on Sundays and attendance at the mid-week prayer meeting. If you got down to just once on Sundays, people viewed you differently but it was OK. If you weren’t there at all, for no particular reason, they were concerned; some even prayed for you. Then came along the changing cultures of the 20th century, and liturgical reform. The large churches created extra services each Sunday, each with a different style. But in the countryside, to keep everyone happy (and coming), we got into different services each Sunday of a month. Said BCP Mattins one week, CW eucharist with hymns the next, BCP holy communion the third, ‘family service’ the fourth (even if no children come…). Generally these services were also at different times, so the clergy could circulate around several villages to do the ‘honours’ at the holy table. And without particularly meaning to, we ourselves redefined regular churchgoing. It now means coming once a month rather than once a week. More often is good, but once a month is OK. In this diocese we even officially count our ‘participant’ numbers (for the purposes of Common Fund) as monthly attenders.

Like many places, churches in Devon are experimenting with Messy Church. For many, it’s a massive step forward in terms of adapting to the emerging culture around us today, especially younger adults with kids. It’s a lot of work, but if people throw themselves into it, it seems to work. Perhaps this is the new face of regular church attendance. Informal. With craft work. And food. For kids, but with parents involved. Low-key Christian message. Fun. And (like the ‘family services’ they often replace) monthly. Actually, no-one can maintain Messy Church type events on a weekly basis. But there is no pressure to either.

And there’s the really big difference between the new churchgoing and traditional churchgoing. It’s not so much in what you do, or what you sing and don’t sing, or where you meet or when – big enough though those differences are. It’s the frequency. People in the countryside want traditional church for Christmas, Easter, Remembrance, Harvest, baptisms, weddings, funerals – and they don’t want or need it modernised or changed much to turn up. And some are OK about whatever-suits-you monthly attendance. But the key missional question is: how do we begin to form any substantial Christian community or commitment amongst (say) younger adults, on a diet of 3-4 major festivals a year, occasional rites of passage, and monthly fun events?

I have been working on creating a range of other things people could start coming to, also on a monthly basis. Monthly mid-week evenings on the ‘virtues’ that lie in the heart of God, with a little contemporary worship, an inspiring talk (with visuals), and some time for prayer, even prayer ministry. And monthly mid-week evenings on how Christian faith is relevant to the issues people talk about in the pub on Friday evenings when putting the world to rights, held café style with plenty of opportunity for discussion and questions – even held in a commercial café setting. Maybe people will find their ‘level’ within several layers of monthly events they can gradually grow into. Maybe it will work (very slow going so far…).

But maybe it’s not about attendance – at least, not at present. We may mourn the loss of ‘weekly public worship’ and the discipleship opportunities it provided. But perhaps the greater loss was less obvious, more hidden. Perhaps attendance loss was merely the reflection of another loss – faith practice in the home. Actually as a child I don’t remember much of it – grace before meals was about it. But previous generations had read the bible around the meal table, said prayers with children before bed, and other things besides. The father was the spiritual head of the household – just as Jewish fathers have always been. Perhaps this is where we need to start again?

So I am starting with a display of children’s bibles and DVDs, so monthly-attendance parents can see some of the amazing resources we have today to read and watch with their children, to give them the story of the Bible in their own homes. I want to add books of child-friendly prayers, as the next step. Maybe genuine discipleship can be developed rather well by a pattern of religious festivals, rites of passage, monthly events that suit you, and faith practice in the home. It’s more of an OT pattern, before the advent of synagogues; so it has provenance...

Why fasting is the new feasting

It started with a BBC ‘Horizon’ programme in August on ways to avoid late-middle-age spread affecting your health and life expectancy, and in particular how ‘fasting’ can help. The city with the fattest people in America runs a slimming programme based on eat-what-you-like every other day, and almost nothing every other day – with dramatic results. Other ‘fasting’ regimes are on the increase, and (crucially) have shown that it isn’t just about losing the fat. It seems that when the body stops burning ‘intake’ and starting burning stored fat instead, it also stops creating new cells and focuses on repairing existing ones. Apparently one of the problems of modern Western food affluence is that our constant intake prevents the body going into ‘repair mode’ – a bit like running your car constantly without ever putting it into the garage for a service. Thus perhaps the greater incidence of cancers because damaged cells have gone un-fixed. The TV reporter, trying to resolve his own weight and health issues, opted for a programme where you ‘fast’ (no more than 500 calories) twice a week. Ah! Where have I heard that before? Oh yes, strict Jews in Jesus’ day. Some wisdom there we have since forgotten (although clearly the concomitant self-righteousness that Jesus criticised is not to be emulated…).

That is how one Sunday in late August I came to be fasting (perhaps for me it will only be once a week…). It felt odd because of course Sunday is a feast day in Christian thinking. In fact even Sundays in Lent are feast days (too many days in Lent otherwise – count them if you don’t believe me). So feast days trump fast days, because feasting is the language of celebration and well-being – in a world where hunger was never far from anyone’s door, and experienced often enough to remind people. And of course, often enough to repair all those damaged cells. But in a world of constant plenty, of continuous calories, perhaps there is a place for celebration by fasting – low calorie days which punctuate the relentless feast and allow our whole selves – mind, spirit and body – to take the opportunity to withdraw and repair.

They say that one consistent feature of fresh expressions of church today is that we do (good) food. There is a lot to be said for this as an expression of Christian hospitality and generosity. But in an age of abundance and all the health problems that go with it, perhaps there should also be space for some kind of ‘happy fasting’, knowing we are giving our bodies’ God-given mechanisms a chance, and rejoicing that Christ sets us free from the constant pressure to eat.

Reaching Boomers

I am trying to get my head around this new emphasis on 'reaching Boomers'. It is being hailed as the great opportunity, as this generation starts to reach the age of retirement. I can see it is a big group of people, so it is a mission field. But they have been there for a long time. And all that time they have been clear about their attitude to Christian faith. They are the 'hinge' generation that most took the decision to sideline Christian faith / the Church within the social structures of society. Instead they embraced various forms of humanism, and eastern forms of spirituality insofar as these lent themselves to a highly individualised sense of who we are. For them to embrace Christian faith at this point in their lives involves coming to terms with the fact that the thing they have systematically demolished throughout their lives is the very thing that is the centre of truth and the answer to our society's ills. This is a tough choice. What is it that is likely to make them warm to Christian faith, at this point in their lives? They do not typically suffer from guilt that needs forgiveness (psychology has explained that as a kind of neurosis), or suffer from shame that needs acceptance and affirmation (generally Boomers have a strong sense of their own worth, and see Christianity as a threat to this). So why would they? They are the golden generation that holds a lot of the wealth of this country in their houses, bank accounts and pension pots, but who will continue to fight for their rights as pensioners to underpin their lifestyle. I can see why commercial markets are interested in this generation. I can see how the Church would benefit from a large influx of this generation into its pews. But I don't see any indication that it is happening, or likely to happen, through any forms of 'attractional church'. The Christian faith presents some serious challenges to this generation, in terms of what they have allowed our society to become. They are the business and banking leadership that has got us to where we are today. They feel they 'know' about Christianity and they feel they 'know' they don't want it. Is retirement really going to put them into a place of crisis, that might make them think again about their priorities and values, and perhaps rewrite their view of life?