The return of the lapsed Anglican

Recently I posted a blog encouraging us to carefully consider how we might change the substance of our Sunday gatherings in order to accommodate outsiders who may find our formalities to be a barrier to them joining the congregation.

In the midst of the debate that unfolded, one of the commenters drew our attention to a Sydney Morning Herald article from a few months ago, entitled “'Our father'? More like oh, brother”.

In this article in the ‘Heckler’ section, (which regularly publishes rants and tongue-in-cheek contributions from readers), author Louise George told her candid, outsider’s perspective on how she visited an Anglican church that had become far more informal than what she had previously experienced when she attended as a child.

In her entertaining, and often raw-nerve-hitting piece, she gives a voice to many of the silent visitors who lament the loss of the traditional forms of worship she found familiar and comfortable.
In essence, her main objection is that by removing the form and structure of the traditional Anglican service, we have lost the sense of importance and occasion.

In other words, she felt like the people at church didn’t really care about what was happening because it looked like the whole event was not properly planned and presented. Read more

Thom Rainer in his research found that what attracted the unchurched to the worship of a church was not the style of worship or the style of the music used in the church's worship gatherings but the attention given to these worship gatherings and the music used in them. To  visiting unchurched individuals and families it conveyed the message that the worship of God was a priority in the church they were visiting. It mattered.