I love the Church

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SINCE my last column there’s been something of a controversy over the closure of church buildings – again. A group of ministers (predominately from independent churches) instructed legal action against the Scottish Government while most other Churches, including our own, saw that closure was a necessary public health measure to stop the transmission of the virus. It will be interesting to see how the legal challenge plays out.

This needs to be stated: the closure of our buildings cannot be spun as a ‘ban on worship.’ I’ve worshipped every Sunday throughout the pandemic, in a building on a handful of occasions and otherwise joining with others online. And I’ve sought to worship in spirit and in truth every day. Sometimes I’ve sung my heart out while walking along the beach; every day I’ve read scripture and prayed and offered my life in service.

Who says we’ve not been able to worship? Now this is a million miles away from saying that I haven’t missed corporate in-person Sunday worship. Not being able to meet together to sing our praises, to pray together, to reflect together on the preached Word of God – and yes to hang out together over coffee afterwards – has been awful. I’ve missed it more than I can describe and especially ‘this year’ when I’d been so looking forward to worshipping with brothers and sisters all over the country and beyond.

But I’ve still worshipped and no pandemic restrictions have put a stop to that… nor will they.

All that said, I’m genuinely intrigued as to what Church is going to look like in the time to come? To that end, I was recently asked: ‘When will we see packed churches again?’ I was about to answer: ‘Oh that may be some time away yet’ but I stopped and returned the question with: ‘Was your church packed before the pandemic?’ My questioner responded that it hadn’t been, that it had been declining for longer than she could remember.

With few exceptions, that’s the picture across much of the country. We were declining numerically and had been for sixty years and, most worryingly, the decline in numbers of young people had been nothing short of catastrophic.

So I’m pretty sure that whatever Church is going to be like, it can’t be the same as it was. What was wasn’t cutting the mustard. It’s not that we’re finished, more that we need to find new forms – new wineskins for new wine as Jesus put it.

And some new priorities.

Actually just one. Mission.

Let it be asked of every worship service; is it being designed with younger people in mind, or those who have never been, or with a ‘we like it this way?’ attitude?

Let it be asked of every group and organisation; is it being run with the express intention and hope of engaging with new people?

Let it be asked of every pound spent; is this expenditure intended to keep the show on the road or to bring good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, sight to the blind?

I love the Church. Christ has called me into it – to share in its life and to serve God through it. Will you join me in praying for it, daily? 

The Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair is Moderator of the General Assembly in 2020/2021 and minister at Arbroath: St Andrew’s.