Power has come on in leaps and bounds since Richard Trevithick started the age of steam. We arrived at the ultimate in steam locomotion with Pacific class engines like Mallard. On the way we had Deltic diesel-electrics and 125s. And while all this was going on, internal combustion engines took over the roads and jet engines took over the skies.
As usual, we like to eat our cake and have it. Huge crowds turn out to see the Flying Scotsman – and the pre-steam days too can draw hosts of people to gaze at yard-arms, mainstays and all that was needed to harness the winds in the days of the Great Grain Race.
It’s progress, overwhelming progress and the enthusiasts who delight in keeping trophies of its greatness alive are overshadowed by those who benefit from the latest, fastest, cleanest, most beautiful fleets in current power design and construction.
Where does all this scalding pace and ingenuity leave the Churches? Bobbing in the wake, it may be said. Churches have replaced instrumentalists by organs and then reversed the process. In general a church building looks old, unchanging. Its technology is anchored in the bell-foundry and the churchyard spade. Great-grandfathers would happily recognise the lych-gates, pews and belfries that they knew in their boyhood. Nothing has changed.
This unchanging style suggests that the plant and what it stands for is part not of the future but of the past. Much the same is true of theatres and concert-halls. This is as it should be in some sense. We are talking about things eternal. Shops are different. In the form of supermarkets, hypermarkets and malls they have morphed into facilities that welcome customers and love the latest, whatever that is.
Do we need to take action? Yes, as far as creature-comfort is concerned. No, as far as the message of the Church is concerned. Some things are beyond change – and understanding and ordering human nature are what they always were. The Christian Gospel, stripped down to its basics such as the Golden Rule, the incarnation, redemption and the life everlasting matches the needs and hopes of each succeeding generation.
We buy new cars when the old ones wear out. Whether they have petrol engines, diesel engines or electric traction is neither here nor there. The need is met. The Christian Gospel makes itself known in old and new ways. Only too frequently it looks old and tired. But sometimes, sometimes it even leaps and bounds.
SOUTHPORT PACE
Southport is a popular seaside resort with extensive sand-dunes. If the website is anything to go by, the pace at Christ Church, Southport, Merseyside is breath-taking. The church has a range of activities, including a new set of groups aimed specifically at newcomers. The church has been operational since 1821 and the website is varied, surprising and comprehensive. The present vicar is Steve McGarity. He leads a strong ministry team.
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