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“The lord added to their number”
HOW people come TO FAITH IN ANGLICAN PARISHES
WITH A LIBERAL CATHOLIC EMPHASIS
Harry Kerr
A paper for presentation at the Australian Missiology Conference,
Melbourne, 26 to 30 September 2005
When I went to the an Easter suburbs parish in Melbourne in 1988. I found a congregation of middle aged to elderly people with a few younger families struggling on the fringe The surrounding community was getting younger. The task was clearly to try and open up the church to younger families. Over the next few years we did the sorts of things one does in that situation, to reach out to both the children and their parents. Six years later I realised that a number of younger adults, who had either no previous church connection or none since childhood had become active in the congregation, and that their lives were changing. As the research project for the Master of Ministry degree, I decided to explore what was happening to them: how they came to the church and to faith, what encouraged them to stay and where they were up to in their faith journey. I thought that if this was happening in one parish it was probably happening in others. Eventually I researched the faith journeys of fifteen people in six parishes across Melbourne diocese.
The decline of church attendance has been a marked feature of the last twenty years, particularly in the liberal mainline Anglican and Uniting Churches. Some have seen this decline as a return to normal after the exceptional boom in participation following the Second World War. This decline has been especially marked in people born between 1945 and 1960, the so-called “baby boomer” generation. In their study: “Vanishing Boundaries, Religion of Mainstream Protestant Baby Boomers,” Hoge, Johnston and Luidens [1] analyse the cause of this decline in the churches of North America and the cultural changes taking place in society. They quote Robert Bellah in Habits of the Heart[2]who argues that the rise of modern individualism weakens ties to community life Bellah claims that prevailing forms of self centred individualism undermine real community. In the realm of religion, he claims this self centred individualism can result in faith without community. People find that it is possible to believe without being involved in the institutional church. Local communities on which churches are based have declined in favour of lifestyle enclaves: networks based on socio-economic characteristics rather than a shared history in a shared place. The expansion of tertiary education produces a generation which questions established authorities and asserts the right to its own opinions and to criticise and re-examine traditional beliefs. It challenges the power and authority of institutions, and loses confidence in traditional leadership. This loss of confidence in social institutions was reinforced by the Vietnam War, which led to a radical critique of society in general.
As traditional morals and ethics were criticised, new patterns of relationships and marriage developed. Many people perceived the church to be irrelevant to the social upheavals, which were taking place. The Women’s Movement and the changes in women’s role in society reinforced this perception of the church. Mainline liberal churches lacked authority in the face of the upheaval. They could not give a clear account of their faith or of what they expected of people and to be tolerant of relativism and pluralism. Conservative churches, which offered certainty and clear directions, grew while liberal churches declined.
Clearly, a movement of “baby boomers” into the mainline liberal church is significant. It is unlikely to be a movement “backwards” to a traditional institution. If people are coming into liberal churches, these churches must be meeting the needs of people who have grown up in the contemporary world. It is important therefore to understand from where the movement is coming.
Peter Berger[3] points out that secularisation and pluralism by themselves do not lead to the decline of religion. He points to the rise of Muslim Fundamentalism and Evangelical Christianity as powerful movements of counter-secularisation. Clearly the movement which we are investigating is different. We are speaking of people who will not accept the authoritarianism of the conservative churches, yet seek a mature faith by which to live. They acknowledge the possibilities and contradictions of a pluralist world and the reality of the scientific world view. They seek a faith community which does not retreat from them. Berger defines the challenge of pluralism as holding convictions without either dissolving them in utter relativity or encasing them in false absolutes.[4] Berger asserts that in a pluralistic world, a person’s worldview becomes a matter of deliberate choice. Faith is no longer inherited from the community of origin but implies a radical decision of the individual standing apart from the community[5].
One question for investigation is whether the movement into the liberal church is an intentional faith decision which indicates a considered choice of worldview and a change in the individual. A further question is whether this choosing involves an encounter with the transcendent, with a spiritual reality beyond the self. “A transcendent experience of reality is that which defines something which exists regardless of our wishes.7” Berger defines the response of faith as:
“… a situation where I trust that which is beyond me to mean well by me. I trust God who is master of all possible worlds, not to abandon His creation[6].”
Gary Bouma[7] examines the social phenomenon of religion and suggests that people construct their image of Godfrom their experience of the world around them. This construct is part of a wider framework of meaning, which seeks to define what is important, what is worth celebrating and who people are in relation to each other. In many societies this is expressed in shared myths about the origins of the community. At the same time the transcendent, which is beyond the world has to speak in human language. It must describe itself in images understood in particular cultures. There is therefore a tension between religion as an expression of a particular culture defining itself and the encounter with the transcendent. Berger points out that modern evangelical Christianity may reflect the revival of the Protestant work ethic in an entrepreneurial culture. More liberal expressions of Christianity may reflect the ethos of the so-called “New Class” those involved in education, the helping professions, the arts and academia as opposed to those involved in the production and creation of wealth. We must attempt therefore to evaluate what is happening in the encounter between people and the liberal strand of the Anglican Church. Is it a movement of a particular group in society to seek d a community of shared meaning or is it an encounter with that which is beyond the world? Is it an attempt to map the individual’s own experience and uncertainty? Or is it a discovery that
“that which is beyond me means well by me and that God, who is master of all possible worlds, will not abandon His creation[8].”
My research attempts to map journeys which lead to the point of interaction with the faith community. It will trace and describe that encounter. It explores the nature of that encounter and the nature of the relationship which developed. It attempts to describe and assess the changes in people’s lives. It is research into subjective experience which attempts to reach objective conclusions. It involves listening and participating in the telling of stories and the exploring specific areas of experience. It means generalising and analysing while respecting the uniqueness of each person’s encounter with the transcendent and attempting to explore it with them.
The research itself becomes a pastoral encounter, which explores the boundaries of meaning.
I formed a hypothesis: that a church
- Where the liturgy is celebrated creatively
- Where preaching is biblical but is sensitive to the questions which people are asking
- And the nature of the world in which they live
- In which there is a sense of engagement with the modern world and the community around it
- Where there is an open invitation to participate regardless of where people are at in their faith journey
- Where people are appreciated for who they are
Will attract people who are searching for meaning and community and enable them to move towards faith. This is a hypothesis and not a formula. We will see how it works out.
I interviewed the people under three headings:
1 Formative influences, background, critical moments and turning points
2 Their encounter with the church, who was involved, what happened.
3 Moving towards faith and the nature of the faith at which they had arrived
The fifteen people ranged in age from 28 to 71. One is single, two married, six divorced, two divorced and remarried. Three men and twelve women. Ten Australian born, four born in UK and one born in Ethiopia to Indian parents.
Eleven came from secure family background. For seven the church and its activities were a part of a secure family and community environment. When they moved out of home the influence of church faded. Parents or clergy weren’t answering their questions. Some lost contact as a result of a critical event such as death of a parent of marriage breakdown. Four came from secure and loving families with little of no church contact. Others have negative memories of growing up. One felt her parents didn’t really want her. One grew up in a setting disturbed by the war. One was a child of single mother who moved a lot.
Six reported a sense of something missing in their lives: A negative relationship with father, family life which disappeared after a mother’s death, extreme shyness which inhibited social contact, authoritarian parents who did not encourage questions. Two felt the lack of a mature faith despite a church background.
Critical moments positive and negative, interrupted and marked turning points in their lives: death of someone close, a disastrous first marriage, a later marriage breakdown, a child born disabled, a child drowned. On the other hand two reported meeting their wives or a period spent living overseas as the real turning points in their journey. Some had to re-think and rebuild after acute loss. For others new experiences open new possibilities and new relationships.
Experience of the world led to questions about meaning. Eleven of the fifteen express strong views about political issues, about suffering and why things are the way they are. Several are deeply committed to the environment. Two were involved in the anti Vietnam War movement. One was influenced by living close to Aboriginal people in Northern Australia and by travelling in third world countries. One was marked by the precariousness of life in England during the second world war.
Most had some contact with church or Sunday School. For some it was minimal and made little impact. For others there was a real relationship, which raised questions, which wouldn’t go away, or gave them a base, to which they were able to reconnect later in life.
People’s accounts of their initial contact with the church are very diverse. One person met the vicar through a local peace group. Later she went to the outdoor carol singing. She says: I was really moved by the carols that night. I had this strong feeling I should go and tell Fr. X. So I did. I went to him and said: “ I just have to tell you that I was really moved to-night. I’m not religious.” And he said: Oh don’t be ridiculous.” And I thought: “Oh I should look at what is happening.” I suppose there was a sense in which he was seeing something there that I’m not looking for. So I went and had a couple of chats with him. Then at Easter he said: “ Would you like to come to the Dawn service on the beach” And I did, and he was preaching. I remember him saying: We are asked to say yes to life. That immediately clicked with experience I had in Greece, my response of saying: “Yes to life”
Another was sitting in a tram and heard a voice saying: “Go to church on the third.” She looked in her diary andthe third was a Sunday so she went. Another had been searching for many years. When she had to call the local vicar to a dying friend she was so impressed by his transparent spirituality that she began to go to church. Another called into the church on her way home from kindergarten. It was Holy Week and there were International Year of the Homeless posters around the walls in preparation for the Good Friday Liturgy. She was taken by surprise by a church that seemed to have a concern for social justice that she began to explore further. Another was drawn in because of his children’s participation in a kid’s club. Another brought her child to be baptised and the reception she got encouraged her to stay. Two were introduced by their partners. In each of these encounters there is a sense of a search reaching a point where it could be actively pursued.
What did they find in the church? They find liturgy and through the liturgy a faith involves the whole of their being. One describes An Australian Prayerbook: “I though the green one went deep. It had much deeper meaning…like Hildegard’s, sung to be deep, to resonate. Another describes being drawn to the Eucharist by a feeling that was beyond reason. She said: When I have these experiences of God’s presence with liturgy, It’s a sort of quietness like when you are given a small glass of water in the desert. It isn’t very much but at first it’s all you need.
Liturgy is not a barrier. It opens up new and unexpected dimension to believing. Things are happening about which we do not know. When we take liturgy seriously and do it creatively people know that it is important and worth struggling with when its unfamiliar.In Robin Green’s words:
“Liturgy is able to bridge the gap between corporate ways of believing and the individual’s struggle to believe. If liturgy is an environment of believing it is a space where people are sustained, guided, healed and reconciled.[9]”
The churches and the clergy who lead them are right to take liturgy seriously and to celebrate it creatively. The language, the music, the symbolism, the atmosphere and the occasion as well as the person of the celebrant and the intention of the congregation are all identified as important in the respondents coming to faith.
People find that preaching is important. It represents a gateway into the realities of the faith. People appreciated preachers who show that they understand what life is like for their hearers, and see it through their eyes. The humanity of the clergy authenticates people’s spiritual search. On the other hand people appreciate preaching which opens up the scriptures, leads into the deeper things and faces the difficult questions. What stands out is the discovery of a priest of a priest and congregation who are open to people and who are willing them to invite them to participate regardless of where they are on their journey. One person went to a parish camp. She said: The God discussion was a marvellous experience because it made clear how many people have very varied ideas about the existence of God and very varied experiences of God and a very varied sense of certainty of God’s existence and the way God revealed Godself. I found it very encouraging. I felt far less on the outer. Being able to ask questions no matter how naïve or outrageous is very important. This sense of acceptance is confirmed when people are invited to share in the ministry of the parish at an early stage.
For all respondents it is clear that a vital factor in their coming to faith was the attitude of the congregation and the priest in particular towards them and the willingness to accept them where they are. Their faith is not imposed upon them or prescribed for them. They are trusted to make their own journey to faith but they are given encouragement and nurture to develop a relationship which is their own, to God,.
People spoke positively and movingly about their relationship with God and Jesus. They found the official formularies too limiting in describing experiences and understandings, which were real and profound. None of them described God as Father and most found difficulty with the notion of Jesus as Son of God. One put it: “I haven’t got God in my pocket. It’s just that God is and I am.” Another said: “God is mystery. I feel very strongly part of that. It’s a feeling I have that, yes there is an excitement that the more I am trying to be with him and be present with God, that’s a stronger feeling to me than what God is. Or what about this: God is much the same as what Luke Skywalker and friends were talking about in Star Wars when they talked about the force.”
People were more focussed about Jesus. The humanity of Jesus attracts them. They find it challenging that he is a real historical figure. This challenges their humanity. They have difficulty with the notion of Son of God, but they see Jesus having God in him and showing God in a unique way; Certainly I believe in Jesus as an historical figure and a very important one who expresses God more than anyone on else in history. For some the love of Jesus was the key which points to God: The absolute message is God’s personal and intimate care of each one of us that Jesus was able to let us have an idea of. Or. Jesus is love, utterly God filled.