What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • 25 More Questions for people who want to make their churches grow

    A lot of people seem to have been sharing my 25 Questions for people who want to make their churches grow on social media.

    So, here’s 25 more…

    1. If you didn’t have to go to your church on Sunday would you still go?
    2. Are the clergy happy?
    3. Are the musicians happy?
    4. Does the congregation have a stronger ethos than that of its denomination?
    5. What one thing could you change this week to make the worship better?
    6. Why didn’t you make that change last week?
    7. What steps are you taking to make the phrase “All are Welcome” come true?
    8. Do you do church business on a Sunday after church or is there a better time for that?
    9. In the next month are you more likely to spend time on ecumenical activities or church growth activities?
    10. Do people who leave become ex-members who have disappeared or do they still contribute to the life and ministry of the place?
    11. What is the noticeboard like?
    12. What is the first thing you see when you come through the door?
    13. Did you implement the recommendations of the last “mystery worshipper” you asked to give you a candid assessment?
    14. Which church events in the next six months will be newsworthy locally?
    15. Which church events in the next six months will be reported in the local media?
    16. Do you have enough staff and who decides this?
    17. What would your clergy really like to do that they can’t because of the laity?
    18. What would your laity really like to do that they can’t because of the clergy?
    19. Which would attract young families more – a bible-based week long summer activity for children or letting it be known that gay people are welcome in your church?
    20. Can you email those members of your congregation who want to receive regular updates?
    21. Do you email those members of your congregatio who want to receve regular updates?
    22. Has someone done the work required to make sure emails sent to large numbers of people don’t end up in spam boxes?
    23. Who in the congregation has gifts that could be better used doing a different job in the congregation than what they are currently doing?
    24. Who is your volunteer co-ordinator and is it obvious how to contact them?
    25. Can you volunteer without being a member of the church?

5 responses to ““Issues” is no more”

  1. Cedric Avatar
    Cedric

    Oh I well remember the day ‘Issues’ landed with a loud thud through the letter box. I had been ordained for over 10 years by then. And I reeled in reading it.
    Before then the general culture of conversation about sexuality in the Church was ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’. And most bishops acknowledged that among their most able and effective clergy many were gay men, some in relationships, and often deployable in parishes where others would not contemplate living and working.
    But remember the context. This was also a period when AIDS was an international emergency and in Britain the Thatcher government sought to outlaw the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality through section 28 of the Local Government Act. And for sure, ‘Issues’ was a direct consequence of the passing of the amended Tony Higton General Synod private members’ motion declaring all ‘homosexual acts’ as sinful. The consequent noise of the shutting of closet doors was deafening.
    In my diocese the bishop asked one of the archdeacons to convene regular confidential meetings with a few gay clergy to offer them an opportunity to talk about the effects of all this on their lives and ministry. Some would not trust the Church to participate in such enterprises. Understandably. And huge numbers of vocations were thwarted and lost. And are to this day, as the toxic debates continue in the C of E in a social context which has changed beyond imagining.
    So thank you Kelvin, as ever, for your insightful questions.

    Reply
    1. Beth Avatar
      Beth

      Cedric, I recall you speaking to the LGBT Network at the Cathedral about Issues and that it was reaffirmed by the C of E around about that time too. I wasn’t so aware of it when it was published (being about eight years old at the time and also a Roman Catholic), but I remember so clearly from what you said how devastating it had obviously been and still was. I remember thinking at the time of that reaffirmation, “oh, I can never go home”. It became so clear to me that the Church of England wasn’t somewhere I could feel welcome as long as it was allowed to stand.

      Reply
  2. Ian Paul Avatar
    Ian Paul

    Kelvin, I can understand why you are glad that the offensive language of Issues has gone. Ironically, it was actually a statement written by liberals of the day; the main author was Richard Harries.

    And conforming to Issues was never the real question. The real question is conforming to Canons B30 and C26, so that the pattern of life of clergy should reflect the doctrine of the Church ‘according to the teaching of Jesus’. All Issues did was make that clear and unambiguous (though in an unhelpful and obsessive way) with regard to sexual intimacy. Ironically, it was the liberal ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy which cemented Issues in place as a response.

    And of course, with Issues gone, the Canons remain in place, and the demand is the same. The good thing about GPCC is that it sets this one issue in the context of many others, which is much healthier.

    But on the question in hand—nothing has changed. You seem to have missed that.

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      No Ian. It isn’t that I’ve missed that. It is that I don’t believe that.

      Issues was a massively offensive document that coloured absolutely everything the Church of England had to say about sexuality. Changes to Canons will look significantly different in the light of its removal.

      A great deal is changed by its removal.

      Reply
  3. Mike Burnett Avatar
    Mike Burnett

    Jesus preached love, but he also forgave sins with the instruction ‘to sin no more’.
    Deciding not to sin when the sin in question is something that we enjoy so much that life may feel miserable without it, is a real sacrifice. It really is ‘bearing your cross’ to follow him. But that is what Christians are called to do.
    We may wish to question our translation of the Bible, or quibble over the exact meaning of a phrase we find challenging, but Christianity is not a ‘pick and mix’ faith where we just have to accept the bits we like and can ignore, or condemn, the bits we don’t like. We do not get to negotiate – we must take it or leave it.

    Reply

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