Congregations are a mixed lot. Some are in church on Sundays because they find their parish church a place where the Gospel is preached in its hallowed entirety. They would be the first to admit that they are not much bothered about labels. So long as the message is clear and biblical in their eyes, the matter of labels – C of E, Methodist, URC, etc – is of complete indifference. Some are present because they are only too well aware that it is vain and frustrating to find the perfect church; they settle for the best – as they see it – that is available. Some are dyed-in-the-wool Anglicans who take the view that our English Church, governed by a Christian monarch and possessing lord bishops, an intimidating ecclesiastical vocabulary and a cumbersome bureaucracy is the nearest thing available to a successor to the Church as we find it in the New Testament.
And incumbents feel the heat. Indeed, numerous incumbents are themselves newcomers to the Church of England compared to what we call cradle Christians, who have imbibed the Anglican formula since they learned in the catechism to keep their hands from picking and stealing. But there are some benefits from being dyed-in-the-wool. For one thing, a dyed-in-the-wool Anglican cannot avoid history. Like it or not, we cannot ignore our past. And much as we may sympathise with, say J.N. Darby, who sought in the early 19th century to reproduce the NT Church and brought into being the (Plymouth) Brethren, we know that this is but one example of breakaway groups succeeding in demonstrating that relying upon an oversight or similar mechanism to regulate matters is much more like priestly dominance than it cares to think. A dyed-in-the-wool Anglican sees himself as a member of a continuing body of believers who are only divorced from previous generations and their loyalties by extreme circumstances.
Another benefit closely related to this is the inevitable influence of centuries of Christian culture. Beautiful church buildings, great oratorios and profound imaginative literature are examples of what this accomplishes. It is a tradition that cannot and should not be ignored.
Which leads us to consider that as citizens we are part of a national community that at the present moment is finding it difficult to achieve a consensus on Covid-19. This is leading to a tension between national and regional policies. A similar tension is evident to worshippers, not in regional terms but in internal differences. We are having to consider what will change in our customary set-up when the present crisis is over. Our adaptability will be severely tested.
IMMERSION
Could this have been a unique event? During lockdown, on 4 October, an adult baptism by immersion took place at Christ Church, St Albans. Conducted by the Vicar, Jeremy Follett, the event was held in the open air with a plastic pool. ‘It was a bit cold,’ said a member of the congregation. It was also raining.
WORLD MISSION
St James’s church, Muswell Hill contributed nearly £60k to mission partners in 2019. Recipients included Wycliffe Bible Translators, Emmanuel Anglican church, New York, arts ministry in Cambodia and Operation Mobilisation. St Andrew’s, Maghull, Liverpool supports the African Pastors Fellowship, which has developed solar power facilities in Rwanda and a tree planting programme. St Nicholas’s, Durham takes a serious interest in Bible translation work – the Toba and Enxet languages in Argentina, the Latvian Bible centre and also Mission Aviation Fellowship and the Bible Society. St. James’s, Carlisle supports a Church Mission Society agent in East Africa, workers in Bangkok slums, Montenegro and the Farsi Fellowship in London.
TRANSFORMATION
Holy Trinity church, Wallington is utilising the changes made possible by a £1.8 project which has transformed the church interior. The church was built in 1867. Its website features a magazine from 1927 costing tuppence a month.
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