Alternative community
- Mike Flynn (Vicar)
I have been reminded this week of the gift it is to meet as Christ’s new community. To encourage each other in the task of being distinct and apart from the world while working for the good of the world. What a relief to meet face to face (and not only on Facebook), to be concerned for the health of each other’s souls (and not in a war of comparison over our net worth), to pray and be led in prayer together (and not be drawn into fear or criticism by divisive media), to value quiet and resting in God (and not the status symbol of work related exhaustion), to take the time to love actual people (and not to rush away into more convenient relationships).
I was reminded of these things this week during a retreat where I was an examining chaplain interviewing people who were putting themselves forward for ordained ministry. Their openness about their ministries was a window into how much the church is changing as our culture changes. We now live church in a place where people are exhausted and time poor, where we have turned Sunday into an extension of Saturday and Saturday into an extension of Friday. Teens are raised by their devices and community is mostly online or in specialist networks and not neighbourhoods.
Thank God then for his alternative community, the church. For our times of worship, our small groups and our cups of tea together. Thank God for our friends in Christ and his alternative community given for the sake of the world. (John 17)
- Mike Flynn (Vicar)
I have been reminded this week of the gift it is to meet as Christ’s new community. To encourage each other in the task of being distinct and apart from the world while working for the good of the world. What a relief to meet face to face (and not only on Facebook), to be concerned for the health of each other’s souls (and not in a war of comparison over our net worth), to pray and be led in prayer together (and not be drawn into fear or criticism by divisive media), to value quiet and resting in God (and not the status symbol of work related exhaustion), to take the time to love actual people (and not to rush away into more convenient relationships).
I was reminded of these things this week during a retreat where I was an examining chaplain interviewing people who were putting themselves forward for ordained ministry. Their openness about their ministries was a window into how much the church is changing as our culture changes. We now live church in a place where people are exhausted and time poor, where we have turned Sunday into an extension of Saturday and Saturday into an extension of Friday. Teens are raised by their devices and community is mostly online or in specialist networks and not neighbourhoods.
Thank God then for his alternative community, the church. For our times of worship, our small groups and our cups of tea together. Thank God for our friends in Christ and his alternative community given for the sake of the world. (John 17)
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