By Julian Mann
The Rev Jonathan Fletcher made a significant intervention at the recent Reform national conference in support of small parish churches. The vicar of Emmanuel Wimbledon and Reform trustee argued that large churches should not merely be looking to grow themselves but to give people away to smaller churches.
It is the case that large Anglican evangelical churches looking to plant new congregations are being increasingly vociferous in claiming to support smaller parish churches, for obvious reasons. To get diocesan backing for their ventures, they must not be seen to be threatening established churches. Here are some suggested ways those protestations of support can be more than lip-service:
• Face the reality that many parish churches, sadly, have become small and unsustainable because they have not been preaching the biblical gospel of the crucified, risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. Playing the ‘diversity’ game, the rules of which are that we should all be celebrating the range of ‘churchpersonships’ in a diocese, is most unhelpful to Evangelical ministers in turnaround churches. But stating clearly your expectation as net-givers that the spiritual culture of an unsustainable church needs to be challenged and changed by the Word of God really does help.
• Try to persuade commuters to your church to support a turnaround situation nearer to where they live. That could be a game-changer for that ministry. A switched-on, clued-up individual or couple can make a significant difference at the prayer meeting, on the PCC, and to the children’s work if they bring a family with them. The northern parish church I am privileged to serve cannot currently sustain a Pathfinders group (11-14s) because there are not enough Christian families with children of that age to support it.
• Become more trusting of evangelical ministries you do not directly control. I recently took a risk with one of your church plants. I invited a guest preacher whom I had not heard before. Reckless you may say, but having gained the permission of the Bishop of Sheffield to invite a ministry trainee I trusted the minister of the church where he is assistant and I also trusted the ministry training course he has done. As it turned out, he was excellent. If we can trust you, why can’t you trust us?
• Pray for ministers in turnaround situations in your diocese at your central prayer meeting. If the excuse for not doing that is that you would have to include all evangelical ministers in your area, the criterion is that you are praying for evangelical ministers in non-evangelical churches.
This support will be costly. Challenging the plausibility structure of ‘diversity’ is bound to lead to problems in negotiations with diocesan authorities over church plants and curates. Giving away people to smaller churches is costly. Raising the reality of conflict in churches in your area at your prayer meeting could be uncomfortable. But if you are protesting your support for small churches in your diocese, the price of not doing these things is your integrity.
Julian Mann is vicar of the Parish Church of the Ascension, Oughtibridge, South Yorkshire – www.oughtibridgechurch.org.uk
Originally posted in The Church of England Newspaper.
You may find this one interesting, St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in North Creek, NY. http://fullhomelydivinity.org/adirondack/S%20Christopher's%20page.htm It's the church where I was baptized. A railroad box car, literally, was put onto a foundation and then various churchy features were added. That was more than 60 years ago.
ReplyDeleteIn my youth, St. Christopher's was low-church Episcopalian and the Rector whom we shared with several other parishes was Evangelical. Alas, today it is Anglo-Catholic, and even though the seating capacity is only about 50, they still can't fill it up even at Christmas. Still, I love that little church, and still go back to visit when I'm in town. Very cozy and conducive to both fine fellowship and worship.
My view is that the ideal church size is between 50 and 150. If properly designed, strategically located and inventively marketed, a facility for such a church has great potential for other kinds of groups. Smallness does not necessarily mean inefficient or ineffective in terms of reaching out to the community. In fact, it's the opposite.