In a fast moving, complex, mobile and multi-cultured world, the old and simple certainties have long gone, and with them the assumption that our country is a Christian one. My wife is a deputy head teacher in a primary school on Merseyside, and every year she gets a graphic picture of an unchurched society. As Christmas comes around, she often finds that only a very small handful of five-year-olds have any concept of what the word ‘Jesus’ might mean at Christmas time. As she builds relationships with their families, she sees again and again that it is not only the parents who have never been to church, but the grandparents who form the first generation of completely unchurched people.
For them, their children and their children’s children, their response to faith and to Christian liturgy could be summed up in the words of a four-year-old child who was overheard by a friend of mine saying her own version of the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father, who shouts from heaven, hello, what’s your name?!”
Frankly, we have to come to terms with the fact that many people in Britain today just do not understand church traditions, hymns, symbols and customs, because they have never been in contact with them. This is why we are joining a growing number of churches who are not only beginning to take what they do into the community, but also completely re-imagining it for those who don’t do church. We invite you to join us and help make it happen as we begin to meet every fourth Sunday in Bowdon Church School. You will also be able to follow the ‘Go4th’ journey through regular updates in the Bowdon Church News.
Phil Potter, Associate Missioner