“The Church is the only organisation that exists solely for the benefit of non-members’

Archbishop William Temple 1881–1944

In his ten years as the supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has shown an extraordinary capacity for embracing fresh expressions for the Christian faith: the most recent of these being his visit to Mongolia, the first ever by a Pope. His praise for their religious freedom is particularly significant in a country bordered by the autocratic giants of China and Russia, and bears witness to an active role seeking intermediation for peace.

In contrast, the Church of England is more than ever lost in confusion as reported in The Times last Wednesday, following a substantial survey of its ordained priests (The Times’ headline: ‘Britain isn't a Christian nation now, say clergy’).

The Church is, of course, not the faith itself: it is the vehicle whose duty is to carry the Christian faith forward from generation to generation. Just now in the United Kingdom it's not doing this task at all well.

Adapting to change is something we all have to do, in all walks of life. It's not an easy process when things, including societal norms, are changing around us faster than ever. A key part of this adaptation is to differentiate core principles from outward expression — and that is also difficult.

But it’s increasingly important, at a time when isolation and loneliness are leaving such scars on society as we reported on 24th July, that the Church doesn’t get consumed with self-pity when it is one of the few organisations where community is paramount and whose existence is primarily for those who are not its members , as stated by Archbishop William Temple.

You would think that the Anglican Church could have embraced the ability for adaptation rather better, having experienced constant change for the past five hundred years. My experience as a member of its General Synod for 26 years is that this is not the case: rather than developing a capacity to adapt to the changing demands of the world around it, it has splintered in all directions, as demonstrated by The Times’ survey. The survey showed confusion and despair from almost every direction, from gender-related issues to the retention of slave-era statues.

Last week we looked back across four hundred years of economics to find John Locke (1632-1704), a political philosopher who said, “I think that people would have lived peacefully in the state of nature. This harmony comes from the fact that in the state of nature mankind follows moral rules given to him by his faculty of natural reason”.

He was significantly influenced by Anglican theologian Richard Hooker (1554-1600), including his natural law ethics and staunch defence of human reason. Indeed, King James I Is also quoted as saying, “I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected language, but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason, and that backed with the authority of the Scriptures …”

If only the Anglican Church would learn more from Richard Hooker’s 3-legged stool of Scripture, Tradition and Reason: but in practice its ‘Tradition’ leg is about ten times higher than that of ‘Reason’.

The core principles of the Christian faith are based on the clear understanding of unconditional love as set out by Jesus in the two great commandments, and his teaching shows how we should best do the first — loving God — by doing the second: loving our neighbour (that is, the person least likely to be our neighbour) as ourselves.

However, the Church so often interprets this essential scriptural teaching in its beautiful traditions but not through the application of logic and reason. Challenged by both events (such as the 2005 tsunami) or by changing cultural norms (e.g. same-sex marriage), it clothes itself in traditional mystery and hand-wringing rather than applying logic to find the answers.

And yet children and young people grow through modern educational systems invited all the time to ask the question ‘Why?’. The answer ‘It's a mystery’ is simply not acceptable in the present day: so, no wonder they look elsewhere to find answers.

That focus on asking ‘Why?’ is also the principle reason why society is changing so fast, and indeed it is also the main driver behind technological change. It will not disappear — there is no going back to the blind obedience of the mediaeval era.

This is why fresh expressions are vital in helping people to understand the Christian faith. It was Rt. Revd. Steven Croft, now Bishop of Oxford, who originated and developed Fresh Expressions in the Church of England, as a movement of Christians who establish and grow new Christian communities where they don't yet exist. They are defined as:

  • focusing on people previously outside the worshipping community;
  • doing something different in order to engage those outside the Church in Christian community;
  • enabling people to experience the initiative as ‘their church’; and
  • contributing to Christian following as a whole.

Although only 18% of respondents to The Times survey said they want to see more spent on new forms of church, it is inclusive activities such as these which help to build a bridge between the continual call for logic and reason and the core principles which underpin the Christian faith: something clearly understood by the Pope in his fresh expression in Mongolia, and by so many people showing love to their neighbours through community action.

Will we see such a positive outlook emerging from the confusion in the Church of England?

Time will tell.

Gavin Oldham OBE

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