Today’s Church: The Challenge of Remaining Relevant

A report commissioned for the Church of England by the Bishop of Hulme, the Right Reverend Stephen Lowe – with support from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Drs. Rowan Williams and John Sentamu – was published on 9 June 2008, and it stated that the New Labour government of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown has facilitated the onset of a spiritual, civic and economic crisis in Britain.

In the report titled Moral, Without a Compass, the government was challenged for its policy of favouring other faiths at the expense of Christian churches which are discriminated against, and was described as ‘lacking any convincing moral direction’.

According to the authors, in spite of the fact that the Church has led the way for centuries on such topical issues as health care, education and welfare by pioneering hospitals, schools and institutions of higher learning - many of which are now commonplace in the United Kingdom today - Christian charities and communities are consistently excluded from crucial discussions and consultations which occur prior to policy making.

As a result of this ‘positive exclusion of people of faith’, the report says that the government is failing society and leaving it bereft of a national identity, with the Church of England being consistently and relentlessly marginalised, excluded and neglected.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to hear of this report, for two reasons.

First, it is not often that the Church of England makes a bold, cohesive statement on what it believes its role and influence in wider society should be. Other faiths seem to be much more savvy in this regard, and have consequently gained ground in making their voices heard and being taken seriously in the political terrain. Sadly, the only times the public hears from the Church is on divisive issues where its own members remain in hot disagreement, such as female ordination or homosexuality; or in what can appear to be negative connotations such as denouncing abortion, where such views are mistaken as a vote against women’s rights.

Second, the contents of this report concern issues which, to my mind, are not the exclusive preserve of the Anglican synod in the United Kingdom. They apply to the Church as a whole regardless of denomination, but it is fortunate that this report has brought these issues out into the public domain, where they can hopefully be examined and addressed.

It is clear that ethics and morals are in decline, and if you live in the United Kingdom in particular you may wonder, as I do, where exactly society is heading.

Over the years there has been a steady flow of increasingly liberal and frankly, outlandish policy statements in some spheres of family and public life. On the surface, they appear to make us freer and more open-minded. But in the long run, we all face the consequences of not drawing the line where and when we should, or even admitting that there are lines to be drawn in the first place!

We see the blots everywhere on our landscape: the lenient re-classification of certain drugs leads to their increased acceptability, purchase and consumption. Bans on smacking (by parents) and the removal of tools with which to instill discipline (in schools) means we risk having a generation of misguided youth who are blissfully unaware of the fundamentals of being respectful, law-abiding citizens. Maintaining a welfare system which is open to easy abuse by criminals at the expense of the hardworking majority rewards a culture of indolence and deception. A softly-softly approach to crime and its root causes at all levels of the criminal justice system has meant that knife and gun crime – and the involvement of young people in such activities – is on the rise. Throw in teenage pregnancy and abortion rates which easily outstrip the rest of Europe, and I think it is fair to say that the report does not exaggerate when it points to a spiritual and civic crisis in this country. Regardless of whether one is a person of faith or not, the evidence, some of which I have described, does not lie.

But even in the face of all this, I must confess that I do not think the Church is entitled to have the government’s ear, neither does it have an automatic right to have its views propagated and upheld by the state.

The United Kingdom - and the world as a whole, for that matter – has changed. Mass movement of people from different racial, cultural and faith backgrounds in and out of the country has meant that over the years, a lower proportion of the population professes Christianity than did so half a century ago. Of those, fewer still are practising. Society is increasingly reluctant to openly discuss issues of faith especially where that faith is Christianity, and is impatient with those who do. These and other factors mean that the Church may not wield influence on government and society in quite the same way it did a mere fifty or hundred years ago.

However, I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing. I am a big believer in people weighing up the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ themselves and arriving at a logical conclusion of their own accord, as opposed to either being ‘Bible-bashed’ by right-wing evangelical Christians (as is often the case in the United States) who cannot explain their beliefs when challenged; or being forced to conformed with godly standards, as was the case in centuries gone by when the Church effectively was the government.

You ask what the logical conclusion is? I think the one most will arrive at on reflection is that a godly lifestyle – whether or not they choose to refer to it as such – will impact positively on our youth, crime rates, abortion rates, family breakdowns, corruption, poverty, homelessness and all the other ills that are a blight on society.

The challenge the Church faces is to prove that its message still has a place in people’s lives. It has to ensure that it remains relevant without falling prey to the twin dangers of diluting that message, or pandering to the dictates of popular culture.

It must be prepared to lead the way on issues, regardless of how difficult they are, while acknowledging that a smorgasbord of differing views exist out there and indeed, even within its own fold. On such issues, the answer is not to stifle discussions but to facilitate meaningful debates, taking the time to research and put forward sound theological arguments based on the truth of the Gospel, where we have previously heard Church leaders expounding on their own personal opinions, misinterpreting Scripture for selfish ends, or worst of all, sitting on the fence and saying absolutely nothing.

I am certain the Church can show that abiding by godly principles in all spheres of private and public life delivers immense benefits not just to the individual, to wider society as well. But to do so it must remain on top of issues of the day, proclaiming the truth and throwing its weight when required behind any public servant brave enough to speak those truths to the people, regardless of his or her political affiliations.

Once the Church can do this, it will have found the kind of relevance and influence that the government and populace will constantly seek out and court.