Flush not busted!
It is too easy to have our perception of the Church of England prejudiced by media accounts of our general awfulness, our dismal failures and our decline- It is also extremely hard - and sometimes demoralising work keeping on with a much loved but apparently unsustainable model of ministry. Are we- we might wonder- doing that against all the odds because it is right and God’s will- or because we of a certain generation can’t bear to let it go and no obvious replacement is evident? Whether you are part of a tiny church in the middle of a farm or a larger church, priory or cathedral these uncomfortable questions might occur to you from time to time.
I want to offer two rebuttals to the general sense of the weakness of the church. The first is simply that the gospel rather stands on weakness and apparent defeat! Some might say that the Church thrives on it because it stops trying to please the world and focuses on being faithful to the Lord. That is a very hard path- and for churches in places like North Korea, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa - a devastating one. But small and weak keeps on keeping on with its eyes on Jesus. Perhaps most of us are not small and weak enough to let go and rely totally on God. I am not brave enough to incite you all to cast aside wealth and community popularity although I’m pretty sure that Jesus was fairly clear about such things- not least because in today’s compliance laden society it would incite breaking the law of the land in many ways and He didn’t recommend that. But I am sure that we are less small and weak than we think. Remember Elijah thinking he was the only servant of God left in Israel and God telling him to get a grip because he actually had a sizeable number of faithful Israelites on standby?
The second rebuttal reinforces the point. I sit on the board of trustees of the Benefact Trust, which owns a financial services company that you might recognise as Ecclesiastical Insurance. Benefact gives a significant proportion of its annual profits to the Trust for the sole purpose of providing churches and church organisations with grants to assist with building projects and community transformation work. I am on the board to represent and articulate the broad needs of parishes and cathedrals and I love the days when we consider applications and see what is going on across the church. What is going on is phenomenal!
Ladies and gentlemen, the Church is not dead or even dying. Where there is, missional vision and aspiration for community there is life. Where there is nothing, but steady prayer and faith God can and will work for the good of those who love him and for the coming of His Kingdom.
The Very Revd Sarah Brown
Dean of Hereford