#194 – Changing Times

PDF Version

As we come to that time of the year when the thought of holidays take priority over the normal routine of daily life and Ministers prepare to move to new churches and circuits, it made me reflect on how different life is today compared with just twenty or so years ago. Nick Clegg was reported as saying that voting patterns in the UK will be radically different from now on as some in his party are asking, ‘What’s the point of voting Lib-Dem?’ I attended the leaving ceremony for Graham Horsley and Derrick Norton at Methodist Church House this last week and felt a strong sense of a new era dawning in the realm of evangelism in Methodism as these two long-standing and highly valued servants of the Church move on. Wes Blakey, chair of the Nottingham & Derby district says goodbye at his leaving service tomorrow. He will be sadly missed and fondly remembered.

My mind goes back to the Bob Dylan classic - The Times They Are A-Changin' – which poignantly begins with the verse:-

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Bob Dylan (1964)

Let’s ponder some of the changes which are upon us in 2010.

Political and Denominational Loyalties

As Nick Clegg and David Cameron know only too well, the days of being a die-hard Tory, Socialist or Lib-Dem are fading. The electorate are more concerned about policies and the penny (or lack of them) in their pocket than which party the MP stands for. The same is true in the Church where young people don’t say, ‘I’m a Methodist’ or ‘I’m a Baptist’ but simply say, ‘I’m a follower of Jesus Christ’. The upsurge of new stream churches is symptomatic of the decline in denominational loyalty.

Retirement and Financial Security

We are about to wake up to an era when people can no longer look to the age of 60 or 65 as the transition between work and retirement. Any thoughts of switching off and relying on a pension to pay the bills will be replaced by a sense of insecurity and a fuzzy divide between working life and retirement. In these difficult financial times, I hope that Skegness and Blackpool are gearing up to becoming the new Maldives and Marbella. Those in work have long recognised there’s no such thing as a ‘job for life’ any more.

Women Bishops and Gay Rights

The two topics which are guaranteed to raise the hackles of the traditional wing of the Church are the appointment of women bishops (currently under debate at the Church of England General Synod) and Gay Rights. Society has moved on from traditional values and the Church is painfully aware of how counter-cultural it has become with a clear divide within her ranks as to how we should respond.

The Age of the Internet

Probably the most profound change in recent years has been the dramatic rise of the Internet. Facebook and Twitter have become the standard way of communicating for people of all ages. Wesley Owen bookshops have fallen victim to the might of Amazon. Photo albums are now collecting dust and fading fast as Picasa and Flickr become their electronic equivalents. But just as important is the move from vocal to visual. No longer is it customary for people to sit placidly in pews listening to the oracles of the preacher for 20 minutes (or 45 minutes in a Pentecostal Church). Information is available at the click of a mouse and is in visual form. Congregations in Victorian church buildings are wrestling with the problem of installing a screen somewhere under the balcony, away from the organ pipes and pulpit, so that projection can supplement, or even replace proclamation.

So, where are we heading?

These are just some of the changes which are taking place all around us and are affecting not only our everyday life, but the way we do church. As ministers move on to new churches and new challenges, the words of Bob Dylan, written in the 1960s, will be as relevant now as they were then. I have often asked the question, ‘Does the future have a Church – and what will it look like?’ We see around us a number of churches with ‘a great future behind them’. Could this be the ‘sink or swim’ time for some?

And yet, for all its foibles, the Church is a place of security and stability for so many. Yes, it’s the place where we hear the words, ‘it wasn’t like this in my day’ but it’s also the place where comfort and support is provided to those struggling to make sense of life. Continuity with the past is just as important as gearing up for the future and yet we feel the tension caused by the shift in the tectonic plates of society.

As followers of Jesus, let us remember that the kind of changes he was advocating in his time were far more radical than anything we face today. Imagine a world which affirms the poor, weak and submissive and outlaws retaliation in all its forms. Imagine a world without lust, greed or jealousy and in which all people will submit willingly, and joyfully, to the lordship of Jesus.

Let’s be thankful that the future is in God’s hands, not just ours.