Church Council Night

I am sorry not to have blogged much last week. It was one of those weeks and I needed more time to work on the next in the current series on Paul. I will try to catch up.

I have a Church Council meeting tonight. One day I will learn to love them. But the truth is I don't. Church Council meetings make everyone formal and tense and not in a good way. Not here especially, just anywhere you use this model of Church governance. As the local elections in England last week illustrate all too well, a Council is a place where you have different sides, parties, and arguments. All great fun, of course, but not, in my humble opinion, the best way to run even a city, let alone a Church.

The epistle reading for the coming Sunday reminds us that we are the body of Christ. A metaphor of intimacy and inter-connectedness. You inflict pain on your body at peril. On the contrary, you nurture and care for it and avoid strife and conflict and anything that would harm it. Surely a better way to run a Church than the way of secular politics? But the Church has always followed secular models of government - to its own great cost.

The Biblical images of the Church, apart from 'body', are ones such as 'family' and the 'temple of God'. Apart from anything else, they somehow seem much friendlier and nicer than images drawn from the world of confrontational politics. I would much rather prefer, at a Council meeting, to be addressed as a brother, or if you will, as a father, or friend than as Chairman. Beware of Greeks bearing gifts, but even more, beware of Christians honouring you with titles!

I will let you know how it goes!

Thank you for patience.

The Morning After the Night Before

Last Sunday, we had one of the best congregations, numerically, we have had. We normally get a good turn out on Sundays, but this was especially good and especially for a January, which, after Christmas, can be a quieter time of the year. In fact, we had the highest number of communicants Christ Church has had at a service in January since 1966. (This is as far back as I have registers for. I am not sure where the older registers are – if I have the time I’ll try to find them and let you know!) In fact, the last time we had this many at a service was in September last year, which was also the highest for a September since 1966.

Numbers have to be taken cautiously and do not mean that the congregation is spiritually healthy, but it would be a brave Vicar who said they meant nothing and most of us being human are rather glad when people decide to come to Church rather than choose to stay away. I took them to mean that at least people were enjoying the services and finding something in them that met a need as well as giving them a way to worship God.

Last night, we had our first Church Council meeting of the New Year for which we also had a good turn out. During a fairly general discussion, at one point, the comment was made that there wasn’t ‘enough variation in the services’. This is church speak and code for: ‘they are boring’. I got the distinct impression that the person who voiced this comment wasn’t alone in his opinion. He felt we always said the same prayers in the same order. I explained that this was inevitable to an extent if you have a set liturgy. The music, the hymns, the readings, the intercessions, and even the sermon, however, are different. But what he meant, of course, was that the services feel the same irrespective of the reality.

I can’t pretend that this observation hasn’t got to me. Unusually, I was allowing myself a little optimism about how we were progressing here, but this comment is a cause for some concern. For me, the Sunday Eucharist is at the heart of what we are about as a Church: coming together as God’s people to offer him our worship, to bring him our needs, and to seek his strength to serve him both in mission and in our daily lives.

Clearly, this comment calls for proper reflection and prayer and not an immediate and, inevitably, defensive response, but if I can’t be allowed a few instant thoughts here, then where can I be allowed them?!

The dilemma for me is the tension between worship as service, the word liturgy after all means service, and worship as entertainment. We live in an entertainment culture. This is inescapable. People expect to be entertained in any free moment they have. This is why they walk around with wires dangling from their heads and with their ears glued to mobiles. Boredom is the one thing we won’t allow ourselves and why should we when there is so much out there to entertain us twenty-four hours a day?

All of which does not mean that our worship and church services should be boring. I remember many years ago a fellow member of the Youth Fellowship commenting that the way the choir sang the canticle, Te Deum, meant it should be renamed Tedium. Worship certainly shouldn’t be tedious. Our worship should be the best it can be. At its best, our worship should inspire us and lift us to heaven to join the heavenly choirs. But I still think there is a difference between being inspired and being entertained. Inspiration should lead us to take part, to join our prayers and praises with angels and archangels and with the whole company of God’s people. This is very different to entertainment, which is self-centred focusing on what I want and where the only thing that matters is whether I like it or not.

So are our services here becoming boring? Given the number who are coming to them, obviously not everyone thinks so, but it is worrying if committed people feel this way. Does it matter, or rather, should it lead to a change in our services? I know that we must constantly strive to do better and to give God our best. I am also sure that we need to avoid the temptation to change the services into entertainment. Quite what this means for our services, I don’t know and need to give it some thought.

I do know this morning that more than anything, I just feel a bit sad.

Survived - I Think

Well, I am back from my Council meeting. I can never sleep after a Council meeting so a quick blog. I find Council meetings the most physically draining meetings of all meetings that I go to - and I go to a lot!

The Anglican Church is divided at the moment over the issue of homosexuality.

I'll do a swap.

I'll sort out issues of human sexuality if someone can sort out what flooring we have in our hopefully soon to be renovated Committee Room.

Any takers?

A Real Council

Well, having written about a fictitious Church Council meeting in the last post, today is the day of my own Church Council meeting. I never particularly look forward to them. I know how even a seemingly innocent and uncontroversial agenda can suddenly become anything but. We have one or two issues tonight that have the potential to be, if not controversial exactly, then certainly the subject of disagreement. Handling disagreement is not something we always do very well as Christians.

I know some Vicars who rather like confrontation and controversy. I am not one of them. Paul tells us to stop quarrelling and to be of one mind. That's how I see my role as Chairman: to stop people quarrelling and to help everyone reach a common mind. What if they can't or won't though?

My fictional counter part in the Archers intends to deal with the disagreement on his Council by having a vote on the issue in question. Very democratic and all that, but it is not exactly reaching a common mind just giving into one side's mind. I can't help feeling that this is not the way Christians should decide things. I make a point to avoid votes whenever possible.

The trouble is that this can mean that sometimes decisions aren't taken and that the minority can hold things up.

I'll let you know how it goes tonight.