Day 5 - What happened to the Church?
Today I went to two church services: a baptist in the morning and an Anglican one in the evening. They were both very different from any I have ever been to in the U.S. (and I've been to quite a lot).The Baptist church had a relatively small building and a congregation of about 50. What was most unique about it is that there was nobody my age. I think I was the only one there between the ages of 13 and 35. The vast majority of the congregation (80-90%) were well over the age of 60. The people were nice, but I felt a little out of place.
The Anglican one was a giant, old, beautiful building, with a 164-foot spire. The inside was amazing. But what was even more amazing was the lack of people inside. The church could easily fit 500 people, but only 13 (including myself) were in attendance - not including the choir, which may have had more people than the pews. Of course, this was a Sunday evening service. I'd expect more people on a Sunday morning.
Large (especially non-denominational) churches in America often are criticized for conforming too much to the culture. But on the other hand, those churches tend to be full of young people. Now I know Reading has a large number of high school and college-aged people -- I saw hundreds of them at the pubs last night. But why are there none in the churches? Is it just the two particular churches and times I visited, or is there something bigger going on here? This country has a lot of history in Christianity. In some superficial ways, it is even more "Christian" than the U.S. (for example, Christianity is still the established state religion -- that could never happen in the U.S.) So what happened?
I don't have the answers to this one. But I'd love to hear your thoughts about it.
6 Comments:
Wow, and I don't even have to register!!!
Hey Matt,
Katie S. said I could find you here. :) It sounds like you are well and at least able to get around easily enough to various things. Are you using public transportation or is everything walking distance, or what?
You've pointed out an interesting correlation between "relevant" services and youth attendance. However, I have to admit that I'm rather surprised at the number of older folks that go to those "relevant" services here in America. The people who've convinced me to come along with them have all been older--not to say that was the general state of their church. Even so, correlation is not the equivalent of causation, as you would surely affirm. Would it not be safe to say that the drive (grace bestowed) within our culture that prompts us to draw more and more people into church (proof perhaps that we still consider church attendance to be something worthwhile) may be lacking in England? I’ve heard that is the case but have no firsthand knowledge. Could that drive (or it's absence) and the attitudes behind it be the cause behind this phenomenon?
I think what surprises me is the lack of older people in the churches you visited. Are all the churches that small? Are there a lot of churches? Going on very limited data, I’m wondering if the problem isn’t that the youth are unreached but rather that there are so few of their parents who would care to reach them.
Adios for now!
~erso [rose]
Aghh, I read your blog a little bit more and answered my own question.
Matt,
I trust that you are well, I guess I'll know as I read more of your blog (just found it!). I went to an Anglican church in Oxford, St. Ebbe's(http://www.stebbes.org.uk/), and it was packed full! Not just old people, either, there was a pretty decent range of ages, including many college-age. And the service itself actually reminded me a lot of RUF--a fair amount of singing, a period for prayer, and a rather meaty sermon (good, sound teaching, too). I wonder if cultural relevance is really the relevance that many churches there lack.
It was probably the churches you visited... you'll find a lot more life, people and action at churches like
Greyfriars Anglican (town centre)
Carey Baptist (town centre)
Reading Family Church (whitley)
Wycliffe Baptist (newtown)
But its an issue - we have lots of churches but we're not doing great at reaching the vast crowds of people who live in Reading.
In england the uk and europe Christianity has been on the decline since ww1. In England it's very uncommon for young people to go to church. We look at america and other countries that are very religious and all the problems they've got and thing what's the point?
Post a Comment
<< Home