Photo credit: © Churches Together in England cte.org.uk
The tapestry of the Kingdom on display at Churches Together forum
The Rev'd Lois Beynon is Diocesan Ecumenical Officer and Vicar of the Clun Valley Benefice; here she reports back on the recent Forum meeting of Churches Together in England
Churches Together in England’s Forum recently met at The Hayes, in Derbyshire for three days to explore the theme ‘One but not the same: Celebrating Diversity, living with difference. Forum is a triennial gathering of representatives from 50+ member churches, and 70+ Charities and Networks in association to learn, worship, and build relationships together. I had the privilege of joining the Church of England’s delegation, which included a mixture of ecumenical officers, General Synod reps, and a group of young adults from Rochester Diocese.
A particular highlight for me was that we were joined by Dr Deborah Lewer, Senior Lecturer in History of Art at Glasgow University to help us theologically reflect upon our keynote sessions through the lens of art. Debbie explored four artworks with us, one of which was ‘America’s most wanted painting’ by the Russian artists Alex Melamid and Vitaly Komar.
This rather absurd painting, which at first glance looks fairly innocuous, is the product of a 24 minute telephone survey of 1001 ordinary Americans in the early 90s, in which they were asked various questions about their art preferences (eg. Colours, form, size, the sorts of depictions people like to see). This painting was then produced in response to the research. Key findings included a strong preference for the colour blue, and for nature, historic figures, children and wildlife. The result is George Washington, in a grassy scene, beside a lake and clear blue sky, with a couple of deer and some children. If you look closely, you’ll also spot a hippopotamus in the water. The size was also important – with a preference being given to art being ‘about the size of a 19” television’.
Debbie explored this piece with us in preparation for a session on Artificial Intelligence and the Church, considering how in some senses, the survey and painting could be likened to the training of an AI machine, before AI had even entered the public consciousness.
I wonder, if a similar survey were conducted today, with questions about the life of Christian communities in England, what might the results show? I asked a few AI chatbots, and their responses were about as bland as ‘America’s most wanted’ and featured very little about faith or Jesus Christ. This could of course be down to user error, or it could be indicative of the beauty and diversity of Christian communities in our nation. Perhaps part of the gift of Christianity in our country is the variety, depth, and diversity of our faith expressions.
Even within Hereford City, I can think of at least 20 different denominations, each with different ways of expressing their faith, and that’s before we consider the variety of expressions within our Diocesan family.
Our role as followers of Christ is to be part of this great Kingdom tapestry in our nation – overlapping where we have common ground and shining with the colours of our traditions in other parts, which sometimes includes those things we can’t theologically agree upon. Sometimes the tension in parts of this tapestry runs a little high, and a thread snaps. But the beauty of a tapestry is that when a thread becomes worn or breaks, it doesn’t just fall away – it’s held in place and strengthened by the others close by, and in time, it can be mended, often ending up even more beautiful than before.
The tapestry of Christian experience in our nation is beautiful, rich, and diverse. We share one faith, and one hope, but we aren’t all the same, and that’s what makes the tapestry of the church so amazing. Because by allowing God to weave our life -threads in His glorious paths, we find that we are part of something so much bigger than we could ever imagine.
If you would like to learn or hear more about CTE Forum, recordings of the keynote speakers, artists in residence, and some of the workshops, can be watched on CTE’s YouTube Channel here. https://www.youtube.com/@ChurchesEngland
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