This week we are meeting at the Tynemouth Castle at 7:30pm – everyone is welcome along. It is a big bar area so please look around if you can’t find anyone (if you are the first then you can choose where to sit) We don’t want lots of groups meeting in different places around the bar.
This blog is based on something I have reflected on over the past 6 months and continue to do so.
Leonard Sweet* reflecting on the growth of the Pentecostal church across the world wrote an article titled The Church’s Relationship to Christ: Why Pentecostalism Thrives. The main thrust of the article was that the Pentecostal church placed an emphasis on the present day experience of Jesus at work in peoples lives against churches where Jesus and his work was focussed on in a more historical and distant context. The following quote sums up the focus of the article.
“”In my old church,” says Thomas, a convert in Nairobi, “we learned about what Jesus did two thousand years ago. In my new church, we experience what Jesus is doing today—right now, among us.””
Earlier this year the Bible Society released its report entitled The Quiet Revival**, In the report it notes shifts in church attendance, particularly by those in Gen Z and men and particularly in attendance of Catholic and Pentecostal churches. There was also increased openness to spirituality and exploring deep questions as well as evidence of increased Bible reading amounts most age groups. The below quote from the opening section sums up much of what is said within the report.
“We found that the Church is in a period of rapid growth, driven by young adults and in particular young men. Along with this, the Church demonstrates greater ethnic diversity than ever before. Both within and outside the Church, young adults are more spiritually engaged than any other living generation, with Bible reading and belief in God on the rise.”
There has also been other articles which have noted other trends. Alpha believes it will welcome over 200K guests in the UK, the most ever in a 12month period in its 50 year history and nearly double its last peak in 2021. SPCK are also noting Bible sales have nearly doubled in the last year or so as well.
Tom Holland*** in a number of interviews with the likes of Glen Scrivener**** and Nicky Gumbel***** was asked what Christians should be speaking about. His response was that they should talk about the weird stuff. What he meant by this was all those bits of the Bible that are a bit strange like incarnation, the Holy Spirit, angels and demons, miracles and so on. His reasoning was because these are something unique to the church.
Finally, at a local level people keep turning up at churches. Not because of clever outreach programs or big advertising campaigns. They just turn up.
So the question and the reason for writing this blog is to ask the question what does this mean for us? What difference does it make?
The above quotes, reports and stories seem to suggest that in the UK and elsewhere in the world people are looking for something bigger than themselves that connects with them in a way that goes deep. They want to ask big questions, explore emotional and spiritual connection and for many they are looking at the way of Jesus to do this. For someone who is tasked with helping guide traditional churches through this I need to encourage them to ask how can we help those who may turn up with those questions? To challenged us to ask if we create space in which that emotional and spiritual connection people are searching for can be explored? To ask what are we maybe shying away from and what weird stuff do we maybe need to look at some more.
These questions and more need to be asked of our community as well.
If we are a community that explores spirituality and what life in its fullness looks like how do we make sure that the faith that we have is not just a theoretical conversation but is something that we feel in the here and now. Something lived out and experienced in who we are. How do we make sure we don’t just stick in our safe lanes but tackle some of the weird things we may not want to look at. What would it look like for us to enter into the mystery and wonder of Christ alive in the world?
Maybe this mystery and wonder, this experience of something bigger and deeper and greater than ourselves is where life in its fullness is found.
Questions
– What’s the weirdest thing you have ever seen in your life? (Could be a weird animal, fish or just something random you saw once)
– If you could witness one “weird” Bible moment in real life (talking donkey, parting sea, tongues of fire, etc.), which would you choose—and why?
– Do you think people are searching or more open to God more than in the past? Do you think there is a reason for this?
– Life in its fullness—what does that phrase mean to you personally? Where have you glimpsed it? And what might help you enter into it more fully now?
– What would it look like for our community to create more space for mystery, emotional, and spiritual depth?
*Leonard Sweet is an American theologian, semiotician, church historian, pastor, and author who grew up in the United Methodist Church.
**Probably a blog for another time but I think this mis-represents what we are seeing in the UK. A Quiet Awakening would probably be a better title.
***For those that don’t know him he isn’t the English actor who plays Spiderman in the recent franchise. He is an agnostic historian most well done for his podcast The Rest is History and his book Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind
****Glen is an ordained Church of England minister and evangelist who preaches Christ through writing, speaking, and online media.
*****Of Holy Trinity Brompton and Alpha fame
Image Photo by Francis Seura: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-looking-in-binoculars-during-sunset-802412/
Has been a part of BeachcomberFX since his arrival in the North East in 2014. He is well travelled (at least in the UK) having lived in Manchester, Nottingham, Derbyshire, Southport, Doncaster, Berwick and Edinburgh. Supporter of Newcastle United, will watch any sport.