Re: The family of God?

On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 21:34:36 +0100 Paul Roberts wrote :
Go along to
the little chapel with four old ladies and the retarded grown-up son
of one of them, where the singing is from Hymns Ancient and Modern
(with the emphasis on the ancient) and accompanied by a badly played
harmonium, and where everyone has been attending since the chapel was
founded in 1887.

1. You will receive a warm and hearty welcome.
2. You will find a real field for ministry.

Your 1. is quite correct - I have been to such churches and they're
always delighted to see me. It's not what I'm looking for,
unfortunately: why would I want to join a church which will be dead in
10 years?

Why assume that it will be? Back in the late 1920s the situation in my
church was such that the Church Secretary wrote to the Moderator saying
that closure was now inevitable. Within ten years the church was as alive
as ever it had been. It may be no coincidence that the minister who
started the revival was a 72 year old retired missionary who had spent
his life in India and thus was attuned to seeing possibilities rather
than problems.
--
Tony Bryer
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Happy clappy hymns and their role in wrecking Britain
    ... innovations like Hymns Ancient and Modern) ... How unlike our beloved forebears: ... Church should appeal to all ... aimed at the younger set, and included visual images on a screen, recorded ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: The family of God?
    ... The church doesn't know ... common or even in the majority, but just as common ... where the singing is from Hymns Ancient and Modern (with the emphasis on the ... been attending since the chapel was founded in 1887. ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: The family of God?
    ... The church doesn't know ... common or even in the majority, but just as common ... where the singing is from Hymns Ancient and Modern (with the emphasis on the ... been attending since the chapel was founded in 1887. ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: The family of God?
    ... people are common or even in the majority, ... the church because their marriage partner does not share their faith. ... where the singing is from Hymns Ancient and Modern ... and where everyone has been attending since the chapel was ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Lesbian Minister Defrocked By United Methodist Church
    ... without prescriptive force" and had no bearing on church laws. ... Stroud had not resumed ordained ministry since the original trial. ... fortune for the Rev. Edward Johnson, pastor of South Hill United ... Because of a changing geographic formula, conservative Methodists from ...
    (soc.retirement)