The usefulness of this
book is as a reminder that the dynamics of contemporary culture are
far more complex that is mostly allowed for.
Too often it is stated
that society is becoming more “secular” - however the decline in
Church-going and awareness of the Christian message is not the same
as secularisation. People exist in, and with, an increasing mix of
beliefs, self-made, borrowed, at times contradictory, but never to be
underestimated.
Those beyond the life
of the Church are not a blank canvas waiting for us, it is one
failing of courses such as, but not only, Alpha – they forget to
begin by asking what people already believe and instead launch into a
pre-packaged download of “Christianity”.
The challenge is that, accepting Hollinghurst presentation, the
future of the Church will be wholly unlike the institutions we have
today, and in particular the “generalist” parochial approach of
the Church of England will be unsustainable. It is a hard message for
those of us whose Christian being and identity has been nurtured and
continues within the parochial. But of course I don't remember Jesus
says it was going to be easy – somehow it reminds me of the
encounter, in Luke 9, Jesus said ‘Follow me.’ The man said,
‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus replied, ‘Let
the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of
God.’
No comments:
Post a Comment