In talking to someone today about the future of the Church, I recalled this powerful sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury - Rowan Williams

“Well, then, I suspect, it’s a lot more chaotic than we have usually assumed. We used to, in Wales, talk about the ‘mixed economy’ Church – that is, one which is learning how to cope with diverse forms and rhythms of worshipping life. Tearing up the rule book and trying to replace the parochial system is a recipe for disaster and wasted energy. In all kinds of places, the parochial system is working remarkably. It’s just that we are increasingly aware of the contexts where it simply isn’t capable of making an impact, where something has to grow out of it or alongside it, not as a rival (why do we cast so much of our Christian life in terms of competition?) but as an attempt to answer questions that the parish system was never meant to answer.

At present, we stand at a watershed in the life of the Church of England – not primarily because of the controversies that have been racking us (much as they matter, much as they hurt) but because we have to ask whether we are capable of moving towards a more ‘mixed economy’ - recognising church where it appears and having the willingness and the skill to work with it. Mission, it’s been said, is finding out what God is doing and joining in. And at present there is actually an extraordinary amount going on in terms of the creation of new styles of church life. We can call it church planting, ‘new ways of being church’ or various other things; but the point is that more and more patterns of worship and shared life are appearing on the edge of our mainstream life that cry out for our support, understanding and nurture if they are not to get isolated and unaccountable. These may vary from the classic church plant model – a new congregation generated by an older one – to the Thursday night meeting for young people once a fortnight, the Sunday evening Songs of Praise in the pub, the irregular but persistent networking with the people you met at Greenbelt or Spring Harvest, the mums and toddlers event on Tuesday morning or the big school Eucharist once a term which is the only contact many parents and friends will have with real worshipping life. All of these are church in the sense that they are what happens when the invitation of Jesus is received and people recognise it in each other.

Can we live with this and make it work? This is where the unexpected growth happens, where the unlikely contacts are often made; where the Church is renewed (as it so often is) from the edges, not the centre. We need a positive willingness to see and understand all this – and to find the patterns and rhythms and means of communication that will let everyone share the benefits. That’s to say we need ordained leadership which is capable of making and servicing connections between lots of different styles of ‘church’ – leadership which is therefore very clear about theological priorities, not protective of its status, skilled in listening and in interpreting what may seem very different language groups to each other. That’s why, incidentally, when I’ve been asked about my priorities as Archbishop, I have regularly mentioned both the encouragement of new styles of church life and the need for theological education. And all this needs to be firmly in our sights as we discuss the proposals around ministerial education before us at this Synod.”

I love this concept of a ‘mixed economy’ as it is exactly what we have attempted to do at nccc. More and more I am convinced that we need to throw away the language of competition, or what is the future and what is the past, who is right and who is wrong and move beyond that to an acceptance of differences. Crtiique is important yet when it stops us relating it has become a problem.

Today, I had lunch with an inspiring senior minister who leads a church who is on the ‘missional’ journey. She and I are very different in theology and our experience of Church. Yet, there is a commonality around the mission of the people of God - our praxis is what we have in common even if our style is different.

I think the emerging Church gift is that it bring together people like her and I, who perhaps in the past would have had little contact. Bring on our mixed economy I say…

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2005 at 5:20 pm by phil and is filed under challenges for the church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.