Weekly Thoughts

What is the Church for? What do you think? Is it some sort of social club with spiritual overtones, or possibly a divine social care agency, or possibly a philosophical society. In fact, it is all of those things, and none of them. The prime purpose of the Church is to worship God. We look around us at beauty and wonder of our planet and of the universe of which it is an infinitesimal part and our hearts go out in love and our minds in wonder at what made all this possible. And that is worship. And that is what the Church is for. 

Of course, we need people to do the loving and the wondering, the Church is above all people. But faced with stagnant or falling church attendance we are overwhelmed by a need to increase numbers, and that in turn leads to a distortion in the purpose of the church. The Church is not a recruitment agency and shouldn’t behave as though it was. Sometimes we seem to chasing a miasma that we could bring about Church growth if only we could find the right way of doing it. That leads to all sorts of gimmicks which may seem to work in the short term but fail to produce any permanent change. Too often the way services are conducted reflects the idiosyncrasies and anxieties of those organizing it.

We forget what Jesus said: ”I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12.32). One of the Church’s tasks is evangelism and the liturgy (the formal worship of the Church) is a powerful evangelistic tool, used rightly. The Church’s worship is a communal activity, not a spectator sport, everybody needs to feel that they are playing a part, not just being amused or entertained. Obviously, there will be specialized roles which need to be carried out by those best qualified to perform them. Presentation is a vital concern, people today through television have become used to a very slick sort of presentation, and the way we organize our worship must reflect that.

We may want to see more people in church, there is nothing wrong with that, the Church is a universal society in which everyone can be involved but for the present we are one who are here. We are the ones who have got to make the best use of the resources we have been given, including our human resources. It is our duty to produce worship of the highest quality of which we are capable knowing this is the way to draw more people into the Kingdom of God. It is all down to us.

READINGS AND PRAYERS 

21 JUNE - THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY – Matthew 10.24-39 - I have no come to bring peace but a sword – that we may fight the good fight

22 JUNE – Alban, first Martyr of Britain c.250 – 2 Timothy 2.3 – 13 – if we have died him we will live with him – all who suffer for the Faith today

23 JUNE – Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678 – Matthew 25.1-15 – the foolish bridesmaids – that we may always be ready to serve the Lord 

24 JUNE – THE BIRTH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST – Luke 1.57-66, 80 – his name is John – the evangelistic work of the Church

25 JUNE – Thursday - 2 Kings 24.8-17 – the fall of Jerusalem – the people of the United States of America

26 JUNE – Friday – Matthew 8.1-4 – Jesus heals a leper – the Church’s ministry of haling and wholeness

27 JUNE – Saturday – Lamentations 2.2, 10-14, 18-19 – famine in Jerusalem – the work of Christian Aid