The Rector Writes – July 2010
Dear Friends
Last month I promised to address some of the eight critical factors for a healthy church outlined in ‘Dry Bones Can Live’ by John James.
The first important feature for health and growth listed was being ‘a learning church’. If you had been one of the crowd when Jesus was teaching in Galilee would you have considered that you were being taught or entertained? Some of Jesus’ parables were word-pictures with no evident meaning. They were memorable and could be recalled accurately, but it wasn’t obvious what his purpose was in telling them.
A good example of this is the Parable of the Sower from the Gospel of Mark chapter 4, which was the subject of our all-age worship in both our churches at the beginning of June. It was only when the disciples asked for an explanation that they understood that it was about how we listen to the Word of God and therefore how we allow it to produce the fruit which God intends. This might take different forms, such as, the virtues of love, joy, peace and patience, or initiatives in art, science or community action, which spring from listening to God, or further under-standing, which may be shared with others in turn.
You can imagine the crowds sharing their reactions to what Jesus said and also sharing any insights about what his words meant to them. A learning congregation does the same when it hears the Word of God read on a Sunday or expounded through preaching. Its members know that the Word of God is not sucked dry in one cursory reading but that our changing circumstances result in even familiar passages taking on new significance.
One learning congregation that I worshipped with off and on for a few years made an impression on me. Its roots were in the Brethren tradition, which was a reaction to poor teaching in the Anglican Church some centuries ago. The earlier part of the service was an opportunity for members to share what they had understood God saying to them from their daily Bible reading during the week. Their contribution would also include reading out the relevant verses and choosing a hymn which expressed some aspect of what they were saying. This practice was evidently a great encouragement to the practice of daily devotions whose benefits are usually directly limited to the individual.
Within the Anglican Church the Bible Reading Fellowship, whose study notes are available from Christian bookshops, was originally intended to encourage its members to literally compare notes when they met together for the purpose every week, fortnight or month.
The local church isn’t the only place to learn from. I have often found it easier to introduce changes when they have been suggested by other members of the congregation who have been at services or training events elsewhere. It was at a seminar on the modern language liturgy of the Church in Wales, at an event organised by the Diocese our Deanery, where some of our members encountered the 2004 version of the Eucharist, and later asked why we weren’t using it regularly. This had been an ambition of mine for some time, but I knew better than to try to impose it myself for fear of an adverse reaction. People who have worshipped in England have mentioned how modern language services are far more common there than here.
We are currently looking at a modern musical setting of the Communion service, and enquiry soon revealed that a significant number of our musicians were in favour of a particular one, namely, that by Patrick Appleford, which I had known when first ordained 21 years ago. Introducing some modern songs has been so much easier because of the people who have become familiar with them through watching Songs of Praise.
One aspect of our liturgy is specially intended to increase our ability to learn, and that is the three-year cycle of readings from the Bible which we have used for nearly nine years. Its intention is to expose us to the most significant passages of Scripture through attendance at Sunday services.
I was fascinated by what a colleague said at one of our Family Service planning meetings. He described these events as ‘teaching services’. Having put a lot of effort into teaching by means of sermons, I was surprised at this, but the lesson may be that preparation in a group ensures communication on a more appropriate level for the congregation.
Yours sincerely
Martin Snellgrove