The fastest growing churches in the UK are those which have started afresh. There is something irresistible in our culture in exploring and being part of a new experience. For instance, when yet another restaurant or coffee shop opens in Holywood, it is almost a race to see who can visit it and pass comments on its food and service. Some flock to see a latest film release; some anticipate the pleasures of driving the latest model of car. I heard one church consultant advise that a church should always be doing something new if it is to maintain the interest of its members and, to a certain extent, we have sought to follow that advice.
However it is obvious that we are not a ‘new church’, with new ideas, new people, new visions and a new building. [Our church building] was built 166 years ago and extended in 1869. However, our traditions and structures go back much further than that. How easy it is for someone from our progressive and changing culture not to recognise that ‘old’ doesn’t mean ‘bad’. Over some thirty years of Christian leadership, I have become suspicious of every new idea and the accompanying criticism of its predecessor. Often, the new idea is not necessarily better but merely different from the one before and, occasionally, it is worse.
I have also grown up in a generation that has seen unprecedented numbers of Christian young people unable to make the transition from the ‘cool’ youth fellowship to the multigenerational experience of adult church. It is not always wise to employ youth workers and leaders who themselves have been unable to make this move[...], and who perpetuate the myth that all that is old should be thrown out.
But generational integration is no easy option. It requires the exercise of the gift of love in the form of patience, forgiveness, forbearance and faithfulness; attributes that are often sadly lacking in all generations within the church. Although it may be true, or not, that young people today are rude and impatient, it is certainly true that the older generations are responsible for teaching and modelling a better way to deal with difference.
It is with this expectation of love and humility that we are planning our activities in 2011 under the title “A Past and a Future”. This year will be an opportunity to remember affirm and celebrate all that has happened in our church and community [in] the past. We will read stories of faith, building projects and of ministries. We will open up the registers of baptisms, weddings and funerals. We will invite those who have moved away to visit and help us celebrate. We will put into relief our present initiatives and give thanks for the foundations on which we build.
But ‘A Past and a Future’ could only serve the needs of those for whom the history of our church is both important and personal. This is in itself a worthy aim, but it could so easily become an indulgence of nostalgia. The past will have meaning only if it affects the present and the future. Although much work will go into making the year a success, I hope and pray that we will learn to communicate the richness of our heritage to those of all ages, without use of the words ‘should’, ‘must’ and ‘ought’. To do so, we must learn to speak in the language of today; we must go, metaphorically, to where our younger generations live and enable them to understand why the past is of value. To be sure, unless we are able to do this soon, the old church will be empty and the new churches will be full – of our young people.
- ROGER
Join the conversation