What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • What people are looking for

    The following search terms have all brought people to my blog in the last month:

    • Lucy Winkett married (I’ve no idea)
    • friendship as sacrament (if only the churches were this wise)
    • Old St Paul’s homosexuality (A number of searches on this one suggesting that people are not finding what they are looking for from their website)
    • health guidelines for thuribles (Keep it clean and use the ethanol to clean the inside. And do it outside)
    • humorous reading for mothers’ union (I’m saying nothing)
    • can you get a 4 berth sleeper on scotrail caledonian sleeper (I think you can – 2 adjacent apartments with an open internal door)
    • evensong gaidhlig (because Evensong is not esoteric enough)
    • believing that god has a plan for us all (Ah, probably best not coming to me for this one, I don’t)
    • can you have a christening during lent in anglican faith (oh yes – great preparation for Easter)
    • he has a unique plan for us (Oh no he doesn’t….)
    • Episcopal churches Edinburgh (I’m probably not the primary source on this one)

5 responses to “Diocesan Synod”

  1. Mary Sue Avatar
    Mary Sue

    I fight this every stinkin’ time I’m in church. The average age of our Vestry is 47, the eldest is 69 and the youngest is 28 (*waves*).

    However, all I hear about is how we are a ‘grey’ church in fear of dying.

    I think it’s too much trust in statistics and not enough in the power of the Holy Spirit. And I will beat that through their heads if it KILLS ME.

    Reply
  2. Eamonn Avatar
    Eamonn

    Conversations about mission that assume the Church is dying are bad enough, but at least the subject is being talked about. It’s worse when the mere idea of having a conversation about mission causes consternation and retreat behind the brocaded curtains.

    If such a conversation is to get going at all, however, we need to be prepared to rethink radically our ecclesiology. It may not be strictly inevitable that decline will continue, but we need to be realistic about the prospects (such as they are) for future provision of ordained ministers and stipends to sustain them. All churches are facing a decline in these areas.

    Reply
  3. Eamonn Avatar
    Eamonn

    P.S. – I’m not leaving the Holy Spirit out of the reckoning, simply saying that sober and realistic thinking is one of the less trumpeted gifts of the Spirit.

    Reply
  4. Kirstin Avatar
    Kirstin

    I was feeling much the same Kelvin, I was starting to believe all the doom and gloom merchants and wasn’t looking forward to another 3 days of it. I didn’t really think it was the case but when the dripping tap just keeps on going eventually you start to wonder. LYCIG gave me the kick up the backside I was needing to stop listening to the negative and concentrate on the positive and there is lots of that about. If we keep talking about decline we will talk ourselves into it, we need to stop it now!

    Reply
  5. duncan Avatar
    duncan

    Mary Sue,

    Perhaps some parts of our church are glad to be grey.

    But seriously, while I applaud the resistance to ‘sociological determinism’ (i.e. decline is inevitable), I think we can also think creatively about our demographics before we chuck out the baby, or the bathwater. It’s time to recycle the grey water.

    Some recent thoughts I had are here:
    http://www.dunc.info/?p=94

    (I don’t know how to do that clever trackback thing…)

    Reply

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