Where do we start?

There are a lot of smaller churches. Once they stood out as pinnacles of the community. People would attend at least for those hatches, matches, and despatches (baptisms, marriages and funerals) throughout the year plus the Easter and Christmas series of services. Now, it can be very different. The recent results of the England & Wales ONS Census for 2021 revealed that, for the first time, the religious views of the countries were held by less than half of the population. So what now, where do we start? and how might Dr Who be relevant?

Time to put on that scarf, fiddle with the sonic screwdriver, and get moving.

Go binary?

There is always a desire to jump to a conclusion which is the binary opposite of what we have now. From ‘come into the church’ we could leap to ‘totally being with the community’. Many folk, especially within the LGBTQ community, may well struggle with the invitation to come back to church, especially with past trauma, and the mixed messages from some aspects of the Church. Many folk may well find that the proclaimed message is ‘just no longer relevant’ today. Hey, where does Dr Who come into this?

NP4NP?

There is a drive to reconsider ‘church’ as “New Places For New People” or NP4NP. Is this the answer? Is this “where do we start?” Here, a brand new location is found which meets the desires of the community. From here, a context sensitive programme is organised which caters for a specific need. It could well be a recovery centre for those addicted, a place for bikers to hang out: where the language was common to the need, and not church. Where the focus wasn’t a liturgical service but that faith was the backbone to why the helpers were there. It underpins, like the skeletal structure, but the skin is contextual to where they are. No long scarves are mentioned but still Dr Who applies here. That isn’t to say that this is a disguise.

We are all driven by something, whether than be money, career, an altruistic attitude and/or faith.

So what’s wrong with this?

The concept has to be contextual. It has to meet the needs of that community. Therefore, it can’t be hard wired in terms of location or that particular need. Like a business, it needs to be dynamic and responsive. How many church buildings do we see which are located in what were areas of deprivation. However, due to changes in housing policy or gentrification, the churches can now become isolated and lack that capability to be community hubs.

Secondly, our financial model is one where the ministers’ pay is drawn from the income, very much like the directors of a company. However, in the lean years, the directors forego some of that income. I wonder whether the constant moving of staff across the country, yes offering diversity and a wealth of contextual understanding, comes at a great cost, especially in lean times.

So, if the need changes, our capability to meet that need also has to change. There can’t continue to be a #warmspace after, hopefully, the energy crisis has moved onto the next crisis. That next crisis will bring a new challenge. Lastly, when corporate initiatives suggest that there is always room in the venue for anyone, we need to carefully consider whether we can sustain that work beyond the short period of time originally envisaged. If it is room for Christmas, what happens 2-3 months down the line? How many people are able to commit for that sort of timescale? How will it affect what else we are doing then? Our response has to be contextual.

So?

So where do we start? Can the church be prepared to reconfigure itself periodically both in time and space. Just as Dr Who would regenerate themselves as and when needed, they would retain their relevancy to the need in question. They would be rejuvenated. They would also, through the power of the Tardis, move through portals to the location where they were needed. What did someone once say? “Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can”. We can’t remain fixed anymore.

We, as church, have to be ultra mobile, capable of being flexible and not rooted to our traditions in such a way that they given our support and love for others.

Time to put on that scarf, fiddle with the sonic screwdriver, and get moving.