I have had a rather interesting conversation regarding 'the Church' being more accessible and acceptable to those outside it. Their claim is that the more we become welcoming and accepting the more it will grow. They used as their evidence to support this the changes made in the Episcopalian church which they claim is now inclusive and therefore more acceptable to those outside who no longer find it to be 'phobic' or fundamental. They tell me that this is the way that Church will grow!
Now I had to admit that the more we move ourselves from the old values and standards in terms of lifestyle, attitudes and actions, the more we look like the world and remove the 'counter-cultural' elements that have been the hallmark of the Church since the Old Testament origins *when of course it was Judaism); not only that but the orthodoxy that once existed is lost. The end result of this is not an open and growing Church but a liberal, revisionist and declining one.
Now my viewpoint caused a bit of a kerfuffle as what the other person heard was something akin to the Phelps-like attitudes of Westboro, which was neither intent nor reality. What I heard from the other person was that anything goes and that we should realise that the Bible has to be re-written to work in the society we now live in - the old needs to be put off and new attitudes and requirements need to be added. Inclusive Church is a growing Church because everyone can come in!
Now I don't like Church when it excludes people, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (not mine but Paul's words - Romans 3) and all are welcome because Christ died for them (NT everywhere). I believe that there are certain things that are contrary to that which the Bible calls us to be and do and that these things are consistent and should not be erased in the name of inclusive popularity. I also struggle with those who wish to use the Eucharist as a weapon as much as I do with those who consider universalism and all gods leading to the one true God!
To try and explain the folly in the belief that looking like the world and being 'more acceptable' and inclusive brings people into Church I turned to some statistics (thanks to Not Another Episcopal Church Blog) relating to the Episcopalian Church;
Net Change in Active Membership from Prior Year
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
-50,804 -37,823 -59,457 -51,949 -54,436
ASA
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
765,326 727,822 705,257 682,963 657,831
Change in ASA from Prior Year
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
-21,945 -37,504 -22,565 -22,294 -25,132
So I'll let the figures explain what I was trying to say yesterday. Being 'inclusive' such that we look like the world is not the way to grow church numbers (thinking here of Episcopalian and CofE) - we need to be preaching the Gospel, living the Gospel and remain counter-cultural - why bother to come into a place that's the same as the place you are leaving?
I think the numbers reflect this quite well, don't you?
Pax