My views on The Times view on the C of E

The Times view of the C of E is that it is behind the times. 

They pointed out that (A) only 1% of people in the UK regularly attend an Anglican church.

They then go on to express surprise that (B) "only a quarter of Anglican priests describe Britain as truly Christian, with seven in ten of the opinion that this aspect of national identity is a thing of the past", calling this defeatism.

But in fact (B) is only a perhaps partial and late recognition of (A)! We must face facts that the vast majority of people in this country are not (or are not yet) committed Bible-believing Christians. The task that faces the church is enormous. It can be exciting, but the challenge is huge.

It is not surprising that morale amongst the clergy is low.

It is hard to adjust to the long decline of Christianity and Christendom in the UK and the changing social position of the church and the Vicar. A church must do amazingly well to stand still. Some places see real growth, sometimes by moving believers round, but still, praise God, by conversions too. Perhaps more and more people will consider Christ again as the confusion and emptiness of contemporary liberal postmodernity plays out.

Clergy sometimes want it both ways with respect to the senior clergy. (1) There are too many senior clergy, they are too expensive, and there should be more frontline parish clergy (2) The senior clergy and the diocese should do more to support me.

To say that the church is behind the times is to assume a trajectory of history which is at least open to question. The Times presumes on a god-like knowledge of the end from the beginning.

The Times suggests that the answer for the C of E is to get with the spirit of the age on such matters as female clergy and gay marriage. These issues seem rather different to me, and I won't get in to the specifics here. But if we seek to change the spirit of the age, and to win the world, the last thing we should do is to be assimilated to it.

We should of course remember what Gloomy Dean Inge wrote in his diary in 1911: "if you marry the Spirit of your own generation you will be a widow in the next."

It is possible, therefore, that some of the symptoms the Times detects are in fact results of the prescription it proposes. Has some of the decline been because the church has sometimes failed to have a striking prophetic voice? Have people thought, "Oh, what is the Vicar / Bishop saying about the great issues?". Or do they expect us to say only what is bland and comfortable and which we might have read in the Guardian already?

The church should and must continue to stand for something distinctive. Only as salt and light can we affect the world. If we are just like the village hall or the golf club, there is no need to come to us. Our unique selling points, Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and for ever, and the sure and sharp Word of God, need to be put front and centre.

How can the church regain her confidence?

Partly by a return to these things. By prayer. By looking daily to Christ and the Scriptures, empowered by the Holy Spirit. We need deep roots for troubled times. We must drink of Christ, for here is living water to refresh and sustain us for life in a largely pagan and pluralistic world. Back to the New Testament, because we face a situation not so unlike that of the early church.

Also by a warm and committed fellowship in which clergy and people have a sense of joint mission which goes beyond keeping the building open and the show on the road on a Sunday morning. Church is not a club but a team with a purpose.

And by a historical and global perspective. The church may be at a low ebb in some parts of Western Europe, but it has grown and continues to grow in a way that is frankly supernatural. A small band of committed believers won the world once. They could do so again, under God. The Word of God grows and bears fruit 30, 60 or even 100 times what is sown. Jesus will build his church. The yeast will work through the whole lump. The mustard seed will produce the largest tree in the garden and the birds of the air shall come and nest in it. The rock not made by human hands will be a mountain that will fill the whole earth. The world shall be full of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

There may be defeats, but the battle belongs to the Lord. Life and love will win. Despair will die.

No doubt there are may administrative and financial changes that could be made to the beloved C of E. Reforms of all sorts would be beneficial. For myself, I would stick with Establishment because I think it works okay much of the time and it is much easier to break than to build. We should be careful what we wish for.

The C of E may face great change. But a clarification and a purification may lead to her renewal and to the transformation of our nation once again.

* * * 

These comments respond to the Leader Article / Editorial / Opinion piece linked to above. The Times also published a news story on its front page and gave some more details of the survey results. 

As The Revd Dr Ian Paul (on Times Radio) and others have said, the methodology of the survey may be questioned. The sample was random (of C of E clergy contact details available in Crockfords, I believe), but not representative. There was a very high non-response rate. And some of the questions are arguably of the "have you stopped beating your wife yet?", type. One may want to refuse the dilemma or say that none of the options given really represent what I would say on this subject. In fact, we might do well to ask what would count as a Christian country?