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The Rector's letter is printed in each edition of the Church Magazine
February/March 1993
Anonymous letters are not usually to be included in Ploughshare, unless the Editor knows who they are from. There follows, however, an exception to prove the rule. It raises an important issue and many readers will have views about it.
To the Editor of Ploughshare
In Pause for Thought and Thought for the Day on the radio, the speakers get their message across in five minutes. Why does it take our clergy approximately twenty minutes to do the same? Do they feel we have not had our money's worth? I believe if a sermon is short and to the point, it is more memorable.
Several years ago, short sharp sermons were fashionable. Ten minutes was the maximum and services were over in an hour. Gradually it dawned on people in many different places that something important was being lost. Sermonettes, it was being said, were producing Christianettes.
We preachers can easily be boring. May God forgive us for it is a dreadful sin to make the vibrant Word of God boring. We are often ill prepared and clumsy in expression. We sometimes confuse the Bible's message with our own prejudices. In short, we do not preach well.
The answer however is not to preach short sermons but better ones. The task of sermon is to explain God's Word, as found in the Bible, and to seek to apply it relevantly. Preaching is a way in which God has chosen to make himself and his way known, to bring about faith and authentic Christian discipleship. This cannot be done by relying on 'Thoughts for the Day, however good and thought provoking they may be.
Our age is TV conditioned. We are not used to concentrating for long. The prevalent mood is one of challenging authority. The odds seem to be stacked against the preacher - and the listener. Despite this, however, God is still calling people to preach; there are few higher callings. When preaching his Word is taken seriously, supported with prayer and addressing the contemporary scene, people gladly come to hear and respond.
I can assure you that in our parish the ministry team of clergy and readers is seeking to preach better. We all, listeners and speakers, need to pray to be able to hear, learn and follow God's Word. It is vital if we really are Going for Growth in Christ.
(Read David Smith's comment in the April/May 1993 issue of the magazine)
Our Vision Statement:
Going for Growth in Christ
We aim under God to grow as we respond, individually and together, to the teaching of Jesus in holiness, worship, prayer, service and witness and as we reach out with the Good News of Jesus.
Christopher Frith
From the February 1993 edition of the magazine
April/May 1993
Our new Church Centre, at St. John's, has been in use for four months or so. I, for one, am really appreciating it. It is so flexible, warm, well equipped and appropriate - whatever we seem to use it for.
I'm thinking of three things in particular. We had a Marriage Preparation course, with fourteen couples, there recently, and the intimacy of the Ken Waddington Lounge helped to produce a lovely, informal atmosphere.
Early in March, the amazing World Mission weekend, Bread with Nowt taken out, was based in the centre - fast-moving, wide ranging, multi-media, with varied activities and good food. It was great to be there. For me, the most outstanding occasion so far was the Ash Wednesday evening Communion Service when our Lent course, Praying the Psalms, was launched. There must have been 120 or so present and it was possible to be both corporate (in the round) and in small groups without needing to move. A moving and memorable experience.
Our horizons are being broadened and we have many new possibilities ahead of us. We waited a long time for the Centre -but, thank God, it was worth the wait.
Christopher Frith
ps. There are many opportunities to enter into the very heart of the Christian story at this time of year. From Palm Sunday (complete with donkeys at each of the three churches), through Holy Week (with services each evening), to the glorious celebrations of Easter: please be part of it.
CF
From the April 1993 edition of the magazine
June/July 1993
I have received several comments recently encouraging me to make our church life and worship more youth orientated. There is a growing awareness that a generation is arriving which knows next to nothing about Jesus and has little respect for and patience with the established church and its traditional services.
Visitors to our churches often remark how nice it is to see young people there. Compared with many other churches, we are youth orientated. But only a minority of our youth groups, CYFA and Pathfinders, attends our services regularly even Youth Services and there is a general feeling that they (the services) are out of touch. The blanket condemnation is the word "boring"!
It's a serious situation. We have the same responsibility as the Psalmist felt centuries ago, when he prayed, "Even when I am old and grey, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation" (Psalm 71:18). I believe we should veer towards youth and we should be more contemporary. One of my favourite descriptions of our Lord is "Jesus our contemporary".
One problem among many, however, is the way that the less traditional we become in our worship, the more our valued older members feel alienated, insecure, even unwanted.
Thus far, we have held together an incredible variety in our services, at St Thomas' in particular. Many have expressed the desire to keep this apparent unity. However, I wonder how long it can go on, if we are to be faithful to our calling to reach out to our whole parish and welcome all sorts in young people in particular.
Do pray with me that God will show us His way forward. It is an urgent matter, especially if we are not to miss out on the "coming generation".
Christopher Frith
From the June1993 edition of the magazine
August/September 1993
Summer Club, our remarkable holiday club, attracts local children in droves. As I write, excitement is mounting and it's nearly upon us. As you read, the dust will be settling and exhausted leaders will be putting their feet up.
Children deserve such a high profile. It is crucial that the coming generation discover that Jesus is Good News. It is equally crucial for the Church if it is to survive to welcome a massive influx of young people.
My comments about youth, in the last issue, brought some welcome response. This, in turn, prompts me to take it further.
We need to teach young people who do come how to participate in and make the most of church services. Several have pointed out that they are about worshipping Almighty God and not about being entertained. Perhaps many have wrong expectations. Certainly, few young people and children have much knowledge of the Bible or of Christian tradition. They are not equipped to say what services should be like and what they should include. Having said that, however...
We need to have a bias to the young. Bishop David Sheppard wrote a while ago about God's apparent bias to the poor, which we should imitate. In order to regain lost ground, and in order to correct an imbalance, we must also veer towards youth. If young people say that worship does not seem relevant or comprehensible, we must take note.
We need to pray for the young. It isn't an easy world in which to grow up. Ours is not only the post Christian era; it has also been described as the post Enlightenment era. No longer is it believed that science has all the answers. So the coming generation is being enticed by all sorts of New Age directions. We must pray that they may find meaning and direction in God, revealed in Jesus.
What doers this say about the shape of our Sunday services? The gap between traditionalists and those left cold by a traditional approach is widening. Is there a valid alternative to the development of two parallel styles of worship?
Christopher Frith
From the August 1993 edition of the magazine
October/November 1993
Back in March, the PCC debated whether to hold two main services on Sunday mornings at St Thomas'. It has been preceded by much consultation and prayer. The debate was remarkable, not least because nearly everyone spoke. The voting was even more remarkable: 12 for, 12 against and 13 abstentions.
The dust has settled now but the issue is still live. Put simply there seem to be four main problems:
- GROWTH: after steady numerical growth for a number of years the morning congregation seems to have remained at an average of about 250 for two years or so. New people keep coming, but numbers don't go up. I call it the plug-hole syndrome : the tap is on but the bath doesn't get any fuller.
- VARIETY: we have a wide range of services and styles of music. It is rare to find a wider variety anywhere and it is a rich mixture which I, for one, greatly appreciate. However, the evident effect is that a considerable proportion of our members don't come to worship every Sunday, but pick and choose what suits them. The biggest reason for lack of numerical growth is that more people are coming less frequently - not that many have stopped coming altogether.
- SIZE: when you arrive it seems that there are a lot of people in church and it is no longer possible to know everyone. The incentive to invite others isn't great for we're comfortably full. In addition, if you don't feel like coming, it's easy to think that no one will notice if you are missing. The time has not arrived when we are forced to split the congregation. There is room for more and there are many larger congregations around the country. However, St Thomas' is what I call a "relationship church". The family feel is a vital ingredient and if people find it hard to feel a sense of belonging - and many seem to, now - something needs to be done.
- UNITY: there has been concern that starting a new congregation (or dividing an existing one) would stop us being a united church. Any desire for church unity is always healthy but our current unity could be a bit of a delusion. We already have distinct, but overlapping, Sam, 10.30am and 6.30pm congregations and the 10.30am one varies considerably according to what service it is.
Only God knows the answer. So there is to be a renewed emphasis on prayer - each Thursday at 9.30pm for half an hour in the Meeting Room. In addition we are trying to find churches in other places which have faced and tackled similar problems, to try to learn from their experience.
It may be that the answer will be to discontinue the 10.30am service and hold two instead - say, at 9.15 and 11 am - one with a traditional feel, with the organ and robed choir, the other having a more contemporary feel with Sowers or New Wine.
We shall see.
Christopher Frith
From the October 1993 edition of the magazine
December 1993/January1994
A baby is born and we ask what he or she is going to be called. Parents spend many hours before the birth (and after it in some cases!) choosing a name. For Mary and Joseph, however, it was all decided for them. "You shall call him Jesus," the angel said.
We choose names for all sorts of reasons, mostly because we like the sound, there are special associations, the child is to be named after someone or a family name is to be continued. Just occasionally it will be because of what the name means - and that was the case here. The angel spelt it out. "You shall call him 'Jesus', for he will save his people from their sins."
He came unmistakably as a Saviour.
As I write, the news is telling us loud and clear that the human race still needs rescuing. Unbelievable massacres in Ulster, mass starvation caused by civil war in Angola, HIV, blood scares, quantities of Manchester United fans kicked out of Turkey, 11 year old boys on trial for murder....and the seeds of these ugly things are to be found in all of us.
- If our greatest need had been education, God would have sent us an educator.
- If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.
- If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.
But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Saviour.
Christopher Frith
From the December 1993 edition of the magazine
Rector's Letters 1994
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