If I were in charge
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‘I’ll tell you what I would do if I were in charge of a church – I’d open it up every day and get a fast internet connection which I would then offer free to anyone who would like to use the premises. I’d make sure there was good coffee and comfortable seating available and I’d create a sort of ‘third space’ where people could hang out and meet their friends or work on their laptops. But I’d also lay down some ground rules and tell people if they wanted to use this place they need to participate in a 5 minute meditation or reflection every hour – that’s an environment I would love to work in, somewhere with a sense of community, somewhere that combined the spiritual with the everyday, somewhere that just gave space to run against the culture that drives my life – if I were leading a church that’s what I would do.’
No these are not my musings but the words of a high flying business executive I met last week who, as far as I know, has no specific church or faith connection at all. Which makes it all the more interesting as a comment on the place of church in 21st Century Europe.
In his article ‘Post-Christian and Post-Secular Europe’ Martin Robinson refers to the shift that is beginning to be seen away from secularisation and towards spirituality. Many of us have spent years urging the church to find ways to relate to and connect with 21st century culture – or even that of the 20th Century in some cases - and I am personally committed to continuing this quest. However, many people from non churched backgrounds are saying that what they are actually wanting are opportunities for some sort of spiritual engagement, this of course doesn’t necessarily mean Christian but it demonstrates there is a new openness to the sacred. The question is where can people go to experience the sacred spaces, the quiet reflective opportunities in our high tech, fast paced lives where time is often the most valuable commodity we have?
In one sense our western world offers a vast range of choices on almost every level while globalisation ensures that we are never too far away from a MacDonalds, Starbucks or Pepsi Max and you can pretty much find the same products on every high street in Europe. So while the church must absolutely engage with the culture that surrounds it we must not be so immersed that we loose the ability to offer something that does not exist elsewhere – space to discover and opportunity to encounter the living God.
The coming years will see significant changes in our work environments as the use of gathered work places become less important and less financially attractive and for many working on their own will become the norm, one of the greatest needs then will be for people to connect relationally with others. Already in many contexts across our continent the church is one of the only viable organisations in the local community so here is an opportunity for us to re-think and re-structure our role in terms of offering an environment where people can have a sense of belonging as well as an opportunity to explore faith – in fact it sounds pretty much like the church my friend said he would create - if he were in charge!
Rev Chris Stoddard
Eurochurch Team Director – Lead Academy |
