As many church-goers reading this blog will be aware it’s not just the high street hit by the ‘recession’ but churches have felt it too. During our last PCC meeting the intent of the diocese to have less clergy in each area was mentioned.
Alongside this 40% of the clergy in the diocese of York are due to retire in the next 10 years and fewer people are coming forth for ordination.
Into the struggle and the potential lack of church leaders you can add into the mix that generally speaking church attendance is dropping, many smaller villages churches barely have a handful of regular attenders…but suggest closing the church and the locals cry ‘What about our Christenings?‘ ‘What about our weddings?‘ but buildings are an expensive business!
Interestingly in the midst of this crises some churches have deemed their building ‘too expensive’ and moved into a local school and others have joined with other churches.
As I sat in the PCC hearing this I couldn’t help but wonder if now is the time to break down the denominational barriers? All Saints’ here in South Cave is part of a partnership between the Anglicans and Methodists who worship together each week and work as one….and it seems to work!
For many older folk in a church denominations are a big thing, I can think of some very ‘baptist’ baptists in Peterborough who would say that like a stick of rock has text running through it they have baptist and there’s many people of other denominations who feel the same but I don’t think this applies as much for younger Christians.
When I was a teenager my parents went to an Anglican church, I did sometimes but I also went to a youth group at a ‘pentecostal-bordering-on-cult church’ and also went to an evening church at a lively church in Norwich…when I was 17 I made the move to attend a Baptist church on Sunday mornings and not once in all of that did I think ‘argh what denomination am I?’ but I called myself a Christian and still do. I work for an Anglican church partnership (with a hint of Methodist) but that doesn’t mean I’m Anglican…nor has my time in Peterborough left me a Baptist.
So as individual churches shrivel and die is it time to hang up the denomination banner, put aside the differences (which if we’re honest are pretty small differences) and come together for worship the trinitarian God that we all worship? I hope so…bring on Church unity!
