Despite all its frustrations, and sometimes worse, I do love the Church of England. People sometimes ask me why I feel so strongly about it and I want to link my answer to an initiative we are having in September.
I have loved the way in my lifetime the church has understood it is there for the whole community. As a starting point, it accepts people where they are and understands people come to church or love the building (or both!) for many reasons. In this way it reflects the generosity of God and his love for all. St Paul writes: “God was in Christ reconciling the whole world to himself.” As a parish priest, in my calling to visit, support and pray for people, I make no distinction between any group – my pastoral calling is to everyone who lives in the parishes I serve. As I have said before, anyone living in the parishes can ask for instance for a baptism, a funeral or a burial in the churchyard. The vicar has no choice but to say yes – and rightly so.
Also, the Church of England, within the parameters of the basics of Christian faith, allows a lot of variety in how we talk about or understand faith. I love the way village churches hold that together and with respect. Of course, it can lead to some difficult conversations and the breadth of views the church lives out can also be seen as a weakness. But in a world that seems increasingly polarised on so many issues, the Church of England in its understanding of respectful diversity, has, I think, such an important role to play.
I love, too, its understanding that we are part of something so much bigger than our local churches. We are part of the Diocese of Chichester, which gives huge practical support to local churches both in ministry and in terms of property. (At the time of writing the Diocese has agreed to completely reroof the lovely old coach house at The Rectory and the scaffolding is up). The Diocese is one of 42 in England and then we are just a small part of the worldwide Anglican communion – Lionel’s link with the orphanage we support in Kenya comes about through that worldwide link – and, through the World Council of Churches, we are closely linked to other denominations. In our matins church service on the day of writing, we used a prayer written 1,400 years ago by St Basil in the Eastern Orthodox church in Greece! A full circle: in our small village of Slindon, it is so lovely to have a Roman Catholic church also – and the arc meets again with both involved at the World Council.
And finally, looking through the other end of the telescope as it were, I love it because it is still committed to local rural ministry and a living church in almost every village. There are over 16,000 churches in the Church of England, the vast majority serving villages. Almost no sane business would try this! They would instead close 75% of them and say if you want to go to church, go to Arundel or Chichester. Yet here we are, in these three villages – churches cared for by local people, having a priest appointed by the wider church and supported by the Diocese.
In September, St Mary Slindon is going to launch a Stewardship programme “preserving our past, providing for our future.” It will involve inviting people to help financially, but it is much more than just about finance, which is why we will also be asking people to help with their time and talents so that we can continue serving the whole community.
And on that note, because the Church makes no distinction between people, everyone living in our parishes will receive an invitation to take part and, if you would like to, all you need do is respond to the letter that will drop through your door at the end of this month.
Peter