Let us know what YOU think!

Occasionally someone makes a provocative statement that really challenges people to think again about something they have previously taken for granted. Peter Riddell, a well known journalist and Christian writer said this:

“The greatest barrier to the Gospel in contemporary Western culture is the Church. The forms of the church, its life and pronouncements: these act to prevent people from hearing the liberating story of Jesus.”

By continuing with what to regular churchgoers is a familiar form of church are we actually keeping people away? Are they put off by the church of their childhood or that frequently presented by the media? Is it true that as the President of the Methodist Conference said “It is as if we are trying to preserve telephone kiosks in the age of mobile phones.”

Is the church, as it is, now perceived as being irrelevant by many? I am sure it is! That is not to say that what we have is of no value. Clearly there are many for whom the “status quo” is what they want, and it is that which feeds and sustains them spiritually. The idea that the church is declining everywhere is untrue. It still has a lot of vibrancy. “Traditional church” is still good news.

However, we must recognise that there are many people seeking spiritual things who do not believe they will find it in the Christian church. There are probably now 3 generations (anyone under 60yrs) for whom church has not been part of their upbringing. During that time life has changed dramatically whereas in many cases the church has changed very little. Just spend a moment or two reflecting on what life was like 60 yrs ago, or 50, 40, or even only 10 yrs ago! Then reflect on how much the church has changed in that time. Think about music, liturgy, robes, styles of presentation, facilities, etc.  Is the current church something that the new generation will see as likely to meet their needs?

Through contact with people in connection with funerals, baptism and weddings I am aware that for many there is a belief in God, but often little understanding as to how they can best express and develop that belief. Today few people know any hymns, or the Lord’s Prayer, or know anything about baptism or confirmation, or the church year. Few attend anything at which they are expected to sing or speak together. As a result traditional forms of church will be quite alien to them. They will struggle to see how they can fit into that culture. What can we do to serve people who are searching in this way? If we are to be a church for the whole community it is a question we must ask and try and answer.

Many churches are looking at ways to communicate the story of Jesus Christ in the 21^st century to the new generations. While affirming what we already have, what sort of things might we consider at St Gregory’s?

Discuss this with people you know who don’t come to church – friends and family – ask what might appeal to them. Make it a topic of conversation.  Don’t dismiss anything they say! We may need to be very creative and radical!

Revd Gregory J Webb

Just after midnight on Feb. 3, 1943, an act of extraordinary unselfishness by a group of men became a legend of martyrdom and sacrifice.

When the Army ship Dorchester was torpedoed by the Germans just south of Greenland that night, its passengers and crew had 25 minutes to get off the boat. As 902 people went for the life jackets, it quickly was discovered there weren’t near enough. Of the 13 lifeboats, only two functioned.

In the ship’s final minutes, Methodist senior chaplain George Lansing Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Dutch Reformed minister Clark V. Poling and John P. Washington, a Roman Catholic priest, were helping passengers leave the vessel. Then four men appeared, all of them without life jackets.

The chaplains quickly gave up their own vests and went down with the ship, perishing in the freezing water. Survivors saw them, locked arm in arm, praying and singing the Navy hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” just before the ship dove beneath the waves.

It was a night as dramatic as the sinking of the Titanic but without a blockbuster movie to record the drama.

“The Four Immortal Chaplains,” as they are now known, have been honoured many times, including on a stamp issued in their honor by the U.S. Postal Service. The first Sunday in February is known as “Four Chaplains Sunday.”

In 1954, Warner Bros. planned a movie about the chaplains, with Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Charlton Heston and Glenn Ford slotted for the main roles. How the West Was Won screenwriter James Webb already had a script.

The film was shelved because the studio feared there were too many World War II movies.

Ken Wales, a film producer who co-wrote a 2001 book Sea of Glory about the sinking with David Poling, a cousin to Clark Poling, still thinks the event deserves a movie. Mr. Wales’ father was a classmate of Clark Poling’s at Yale Divinity School, so he feels a connection to the deceased chaplain, who left behind a pregnant wife.

“It is considered by the military as the most fascinating and deeply moving stories of self-sacrifice,” Mr Wales said. “They chose to give up their jackets to those four men. They didn’t have to. No one would have criticised them for not doing so.”

Will such a movie go over in a time when the American public is sick of war?

Yes, if sacrifice is made a major theme, said Mr. Wales, who has a script and is looking for a production company and financing in the neighborhood of $25 million.

“That’s a common element among the faiths “Protestant, Catholic and Jewish,” he said, quoting John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Mr Wales also is writing a script for a sequel to Chariots of Fire, the 1981 film portraying two runners, one Jewish and the other Christian, who compete in the 1924 Olympics. The movie, with a working title of “Wings as Eagles”, will tell how the Christian racer, Eric Liddell, becomes a missionary to China and ends up dying there in a Japanese concentration camp.

“Anybody in the military,” he said, “has a resolve to do their duty and sacrifice their lives if that will achieve the goal of their mission. The most significant example of that is Christ, who gave his life that others might live.”

(This article appeared in the Washington Times earlier this year. It was written by Julia Duin in her column Stairway to Heaven. Duin is the Washington Times’ religion editor. She has a master’s degree in religion from Trinity School for Ministry, an Episcopal seminary.)

The views of contributors are their own, and do not necessarily represent those of CTiS.

The latest artistic obscenity is to desecrate the Bible. This is the extent of the creativity of two resident artists at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Glasgow! An open Bible is a central part of their exhibition titled ‘Made in God’s Image’ and visitors are encouraged to deface the Scriptures. A note beside it says: “If you feel you have been excluded from the Bible, please write your way back into it.” Pens are provided.

While Christians have been horrified by the puerile and sexist comments scribbled on the pages the artists – Anthony Schrag and David Malone – have defended their act of defamation. Schrag says: “If we are to open up the Bible for discussion, surely we have to invite people to speak out. Art allows us to discuss difficult things, and GoMA allows difficult discussions to take place — that is why Glasgow is at the cutting edge of contemporary art.”

How can defacing the Bible, or for that matter fouling any book of knowledge, be contrived as a discussion? And what is ‘cutting edge’ about obscenity?

For me, one person aptly summed up the exhibition. Andrea Williams, director of the Christian Legal Centre, told The Times: “This is symbolic of the state of our broken and lawless society. We have got to a point where we call the desecration of the Bible modern art. The Bible stands for everything this art does not: for creation, beauty, hope and regeneration.”

Has society sunk to such lows we no longer know how to respect faith and people?

Matt George

(The exhibition is scheduled to remain on display until August 22)

Spiritual care is an intrinsic and holistic part of a patient’s recovery. Personal experience has taught me how comforting it was for my wife when in hospital to know that a chaplain was just corridors away and could drop by to chat and pray even at late evenings and night. The society also fails to comprehend that chaplains offer spiritual comfort to nursing staff through religious services, counselling and hospital choirs. Nursing staff in many hospitals now come from the Philippines, India and Sri Lanka and significant numbers are committed Christians. Scientists too are starting to realise that spiritual support and prayers help to defeat illness by energising natural killer cells; research into this phenomenon is being undertaken. How sad that Christian foundations and faith are again under attack – Matt.

What do you think?

He asked us to acknowledge the facts that there was evidence of an increase in temperatures in the Antarctic over the last fifty years with resultant rise in sea levels and melting ice caps. Earth’s resources were finite and we had to accept responsibility. The slogan ‘Make Poverty History’ has a new meaning – climate change will make poverty permanent. For those who live in the richer nations it is a quality of life issue – others should not suffer for our over-indulgence. We should act to avoid waste – eg by using public transport, reducing heating, and being more aware of reusing and recycling.

The full text is available to read as a PDF document.

Climate & Conscience, Keith Horton