I have spent the last year trying to attend as many different acts of worship as possible. For most churchgoers, fifty acts in a year is not that hard, after all, you will probably attend church most weeks, with additional services at Easter, Christmas, and if you are lucky a wedding, or unlucky a funeral. The problem I have is that I'm supposed to be training for the ministry, so my attendance at worship is going to be pretty limited from now on. Next month I start my first placement, and while I will be present during worship, I'm going to be working. I've been lucky to have been in a position where I can devote a year to observing such a variety of worship.
I'm in a fortunate position to be in the central belt, about an hour from Glasgow and half an hour from Edinburgh. The time I have spent up north recently has shown that some people take having an abundance of churches for granted. In the central belt, often if you think your local church is too liberal or conservative for your tastes, you can go over the road to another. Go outwith the central belt, and you may already have to travel some miles to get to a church. While it is sad to see empty churches in rural areas, I visited a couple of clearance villages over the summer, and these would have had many hundreds in their population, and all attending the local church. Once the land was cleared for sheep farming, the houses were demolished, the people relocated to the coastal fringes or beyond, and all that is left to show there was once a thriving population is a disused church.
If the church, and not just the Church of Scotland, wishes to continue to serve the most vulnerable in our society, then it should be ensuring that there are flexible and dynamic forms of ministry that will serve those who are in need of the help of the church. I'm not entirely sure if I'm being called to a rural area, and in some ways I hope not, but I'd at least like to be able to work with other denominations to bring God's church to our communities. This year has demonstrated that there are congregations from all backgrounds who wish to work together, not just in rural areas, but in our towns as well. Street pastors and food banks are operated by churches for the welfare of our entire communities. It's a joy to see people working as a team, regardless of their faith background.
When it comes to worship, we are not that different. We may think that the Catholic and Episcopal churches are very structured, and that the reformed churches have done away with all that. In actual fact, we have our own structures, and there will be complaints if the running order changes from one week to the next.. If you want to keep a congregation on its toes, thrown in an extra hymn. What about the independent churches? Well they are roughly the same, and while the music may be more modern, and the songs tend to come in groups of three, you are still prayerfully lead towards a sermon, and remember in prayer those in the world around us. And somewhere, the offering will be received.
Throughout the year, I've been made exceptionally welcome. In a year where the Church of Scotland has continued its debates on sexuality, the fact that I am a part of the CofS has not caused me to be shunned by those I have met. I have had the question "Are you saved???" asked of me a few times, and while I have often been tempted to answer with "Well I'll be fracked if I know. How about you?" I'm pretty confident that I'm not the worst person that will ever approach the pearly gates. Perhaps a couple of people may have seemed a little convinced that their attendance at a particular congregation gets them some extra heavenly brownie points, but other members of these congregations as a whole are not so hard-line in their attitudes.
I have seen some great examples of community action. In a small independent congregation I heard about the mission work they support, but also from within the congregation how they would pull together to give practical help to those in need, in particular with organising a flitting for a young mother who had been granted a housing association flat. I'd like to take the community spirit that often exists amongst smaller congregations and try to ensure this till takes place in larger ones. That people can feel a part of a community, without feeling they are in too big a group to be helped.
Church tea is a bit hit or miss, wherever you go. Honestly, I'm not going to spill it, so please fill my small cup more than half full. And you will need more than one teabag for that gallon teabag. Tea leaves are hand picked by hard working women, so their careful effort should not be vain.
Church pews are often a pain in the proverbials, regardless where you go. I may invest in a comfy cushion.
In general though, it's ben a year of hope. Church attendance may be down, but what is left is a strong core that is a good guide to the local demographics. I was pleased to attend a church the other week that was full of young families, and the church was at the centre of a new and growing community. And that's where churches are and should continue to be God's church should be grounded in fait, at the heart of our communities, while reaching out to those on the fringes of society and giving care. We shouldn't be doing this with an aim to get bums on seats, but instead sharing the love because God first loved us. Fifty acts of worship later has shown that the worship isn't actually the important thing, but instead it's how we take that message out into the communities, and work together as one church for the benefit of all those around us.
The new project starts in September. Watch this space...
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