What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • The Best Questions in the World

    We offer a course at St Mary’s every now and then called the God Factor. You may have heard me mention it. It works like lots of church courses in that folk gather around food and have a conversation. In our case we gather around the best pizzas in town which come from just across the road and most of the courses have chosen to meet on a Sunday lunchtime.

    However, the God Factor is different from a lot of courses that churches run because I can’t tell you what will happen exactly from one course to the next. I can’t give you the book. I can’t give you a plan for what those on the God Factor will all learn. Why so? Well, because the participants set the agenda. The first meeting is all about collecting questions from the group. Those questions are then grouped and tackled by the group over about eight weeks. The idea is that they get to use those running the course (clergy and laity) as a resource to try to find answers to the questions that have been logged at the beginning.

    For those who want a bit of pedagogy, this arises out of a situation where the Vice Provost is into Paulo Freire and the Provost is known to read Ivan Illich in the bath, but let us not be too technical and get too distracted by methodoloty right now. Because the exciting thing is that we’ve just got the questions for the course that is beginning at the moment.

    I think these are the best questions in the world to get a group to try to answer. See what you think below. Oh, and if you want to join in with this course and engage in trying to find the answers to these then get in touch with the Vice Provost using this contact form.

    The Questions – God Factor – March 2014

    Bible

    • Is it OK to disagree with some bits of the Bible?
    • Do I have to believe everything in the Bible?
    • What is the best way to read the Bible?
    • If the Bible was written in approximately 400 AD, how accurate is it?
    • Why are only some Gospels used today?

    Church and churches

    • How does the Scottish Episcopal Church choose its clergy?
    • Who are Episcopalians and how do they differ from Catholics and other Protestants?
    • What is the Church for? Couldn’t we do without it?
    • Why are there so many different denominations?
    • So few people go to church these days; will it change or simply die out?

    Doctrine

    • Is God male or female? Black, Chinese, White?
    • How will I know that God has accepted me? Forgiven me?
    • Can you lose your faith, find it and lose it again in your one lifetime?
    • Is there such a thing as condemnation?
    • Is ‘God’ a male?
    • Reincarnation – does it exist?
    • Do you think suicide is a coward’s way out?
    • Spiritual ‘dry spells’ – what to do during them.
    • What ‘sins’ cannot be forgiven?
    • How do we define sin?
    • Is there an afterlife? If so, what does it look like?
    • Is there a hell?

    Ethics

    • Why is the Church obsessed with sex?
    • Why does a message of peace and love end up causing war, suicide bombings and so much hatred?
    • Why so many different rules and regulations, e.g. on birth control and same sex marriage?
    • The Vatican = corruption? Wealth? I struggle with their beliefs – no birth control, third world women dying etc.
    • Was there any truth in the Da Vinci Code book?
    • Why do the different denominations of the Church always seem to be at odds with each other?
    • Is faith just for sad people and those who need a crutch?
    • Why are so many religions intolerant of different people, e.g. gay people, and contraception?
    • Should the Church be involved in politics?

    God and Jesus

    • Is Jesus God or just a way to God?
    • Why did Jesus allow himself to be crucified?
    • Will Jesus return?
    • Was Jesus God or human?
    • Does God exist?
    • Why does God not intervene on issues of poverty/hunger etc?
    • What does God look like/feel like?
    • Was Mary really a virgin when pregnant?

    Other faiths/religions

    • Why is Christianity different to other faiths?
    • Why are there so many different religions?
    • Why has religion caused so many wars?
    • Why is the Jewish religion so feared? Hated?
    • How should we respond to people of different faiths?
    • Relationship between Christianity and other faiths.
    • Is the Christian faith the only way? What about good Buddhists, Muslims and Humanists?
    • Is war and bad weather judgement from God?

    Worship

    • How can I learn to pray?
    • When during services do people ‘cross’ themselves and why?
    • Would Scottish independence be good for the UK?
    • Does God really love everyone? What about those who reject him?
    • How does prayer work? Is there a right and a wrong way to pray?
    • Why does it feel so incredibly peaceful in a church?
    • Why is incense used?
    • Why is the Eucharist important?
    , ,

24 responses to “Good Vicar, Bad Vicar”

  1. Josh Avatar
    Josh

    Being a good vicar to stony, unreceptive hearts might require a pickaxe to reveal gemstones within. It must be tough to minister to jerks and meanies, no? We lose faith in people easily – I certainly do. But a good vicar – a loving parent – doesn’t give on up one’s children.

    A good vicar might depend on the eye of the beholder. Whether you believe vicars and congregations are intrinsically good or evil might get you called a Pelagian or an Augustinian depending on who you ask. Faith in the work of a vicar or the reception of the congregation depends on good faith and co-operation – what then do we place our faith in? Hardly Protestant thinking, when faith is dependent on work, manifestation, and epiphany. A bad vicar might be sent to good people. A good vicar might be sent to bad people. Whether a vicar or congregation is subjectively or objectively good is a difficult question to answer.

    It is then that I prefer to see both the vicar and congregation not as “good” or “bad” but rather as equally “beloved”. However large the congregation, or even the vicar’s skill shouldn’t matter then. But that raises the question: Who then do we love if we are so beloved by God? Perhaps love might be the answer. A vicar and congregation who sees and knows themselves as equally and lavishly beloved of God will love each other. Love makes congregations meaningful and precious, no matter how small they might be.

    Reply
  2. Josh Avatar
    Josh

    And if I might add to my previous comment – And love also makes vicars meaningful and precious, no matter how small the congregation might be.

    Reply
  3. Rosemary Hannah Avatar
    Rosemary Hannah

    Yes – things which make the practicalities of small congregations include:
    the laity in most senior positions find it hard to see the inclusive love of God and to see the value of prayer and spiritual exercises, a shortage of laity with administrative abilities, a tiny handful of parishioners prepared to insist on unhelpful things all the time (the oldest liturgies every week, the kind of behaviour small children cannot sustain all service long, particular dress in those at church on Sunday to name but a tiny selection). In a larger church these things can be contained (one nasty comment for lady x outweighed by five or six lovely ones or simply finding somebody to be treasurer who can cope with the job). In a small church, however good the vicar, the nasty comment carries more weight, and the sorting out of the finances may take days of clergy effort. It is always hard to get from a tiny congregation to a large one.

    That said, I have sat through sermons so mind-numbingly boring and inappropriate that I have actually moved to another church.

    Reply
  4. Paul Waddington Avatar
    Paul Waddington

    If one looks at the larger picture, the Archbishop’s optimism seems misplaced.

    According to the 1851 census, about five million people attended a Church of England service on the census day (a Sunday). The population of England and Wales at the time was about 17 million. These are round figures and I know that there were difficulties with the religious census, but they are good enough to demonstrate my point. Roughly speaking, about 30% of the population attended a CofE that Sunday.

    Recently published figures estimate average Sunday attendance at CofE churches at about 900,000. That is about 2% of the population of England. Wales is now excluded.

    So taking the long view, the trend is rather depressing for the CofE. Compared with 1851, fourteen out of fifteen no longer attend church regularly.

    As an aside, the 1851 census indicated a church attendance for Catholics of about 350,000. That is about 2% of the population. I understand that the current figure is very similar for Mass attendance is also around 900,000 or 2% of the population.

    Other recent research has indicated that the age range of CofE congregations is skewed towards the upper end. Certainly in my local parish, it is unusual to see anyone under the age of 60. I do wonder how many there will be in, say, 15 years time.

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      Thanks Paul – I find that bishops generally tend to accentuate the positive when it comes to thinking about numbers in church. Whether that is because they only go to events that are comparatively well attended or whether it is actually because it is their job to be upbeat about possibilities is not clear to me.

      Reply
  5. Pam Avatar
    Pam

    It is complicated – ‘good’ and ‘bad’ – poor adjectives. The rector is the leader of the congregation and needs support and trust. But, I think, no longer is the vicar held in such esteem as not to have to earn that support and trust. A good thing, mostly. Churches grow for all sorts of reasons – the level of involvement with non-believers, a prominent noticeboard and outstanding bikke and slice-makers all help.

    Reply

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