It was in the 17th century that the word ‘nonconformist’ came into general use. It proved to be a useful term. The 1662 Act of Uniformity had defined the boundaries of the Established Church and a word to describe those who were unable or unwilling to subscribe was now available. What was interesting was that the word with an opposite meaning, ‘conformist’ never made it out of the starting-blocks.
But who would wish to be styled a conformist? Such a label suggests being submissive, cautious, rigid, staid, unenterprising – most of the things in fact that our society hardly applauds. It is entrepreneurs, risk-takers, innovators, those who vote for the future who get us moving. A nation of conformists is by implication a low-achieving, complacent stick-in-the-mud society with no more imagination than a giant sloth. If a subscriber to Church of England formulae is to be conformist, it is not something to trumpet abroad.
The label ‘Methodist’ has overtones just as interesting. They gained the nickname because they took the matter of holiness seriously. They were methodical in their devotion. They were like a plumber or electrician trying to trace a leak or a fault. He eliminates one possibility after another until he finds what it is that is causing the problem. The opposite of being methodical is to be careless, perfunctory, slip-shod. It suggests hoping for the best rather than going through the necessary procedures to achieve the goal.
We all know, of course, that this issue is more than a simple choice: form or content. ‘Animal Farm’ and the ’Communist Manifesto’ are both about the same thing but in both cases the form shapes the content with quite different outcomes.
Notionally if we belong to the Church of England (and that in itself is a variable concept), we are conformists. But the Church of England in 2022 is a very different creature from what it was in 1662. It is variegated beyond belief. It goes out of its way to stress its adaptability to make newcomers feel at home. In many parishes its script ‘Common Worship’ has become vestigial in worship that is carried on a relaxed musical vehicle rather than a scripted one. Words like ‘inclusive, lively, vibrant, family-friendly, relevant, lots of fun, Spirit-led’ are used by churches of all stripes to cover a range of varieties of a Sunday morning programme that could have a visitor guessing what kind of church he is in.
So, in our modern era the conformists have become, as far as worship is concerned, practical nonconformists. Shall we see the term ‘latitudinarian’ making a come-back? ‘Pigs might fly,’ did I hear you saying?
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