- A rocky road to the enthronement of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
- Further turmoil and scandal in the Anglican Episcopates of the United Kingdom.
- No progress for those hoping for Equal Marriage in the Church of England.
- More talk about the Quiet Revival which will continue not to show up in denominational statistics.
- Success for BBC Farage TV as Reform make great gains in the May elections
- Despite its record in government, the SNP get about 60 seats in the new Scottish Parliament.
- Because of its record in government, the Labour party gets terrible results and there is an attempt to remove Keir Starmer as leader.
- Despite its record both in and out of government the Democratic Party does well in the November elections in the USA.
- Stock market has another volatile year but ends up on this year, but not by much. FTSE is 9,931 at the start of the year.
- 2026 is the hottest year ever recorded.
6 responses to “Turning Up”
-
It’s a hard one, that. There’s the constant need to keep churchgoing a joy rather than a huvtae – not to put barriers in God’s way, so to speak. And that is true, I think, for the bums on the pews as it is for the providers.
-
A priest I once knew always cheerily said ‘See you on Sunday!’ whenever he said goodbye to a parishioner, even if it were at the end of morning tea after Sunday mass. By being genuinely keen to see people again, most did come weekly as they were genuinely keen to see him again too.
-
When – or perhaps where – I was young it was folks talking about the benefits of daily prayer and Bible-reading (and the upper-case was significant)…
If it’s true that Christianity has become something one fits into one’s way of life, then I contend that’s a good thing.
Christianity-within-life helps convey a sense of authenticity – if I can mention church into conversation with a random stranger, naturally, without worry that they’ll think I’m any more of a freak than usual, then something’s going right.
There’s a parallel: I never liked in-church sub-groups based on age (“20s & 30s”) because if that’s all I’ve got in common with people, well, tough. OTOH if folks with which I have something in common are within +/-10yr of my age then so be it. It’s a matter of which is the driving force – not mistaking cause and effect. This generation says: first the inner reality, then the regularity of bums-on-pews will happen anyway.
-
I like this, Tim. And I enjoy the fact that I can share a church-based giggle with someone I used to teach, someone who is the same generation as my children. But there needs also to be the regular dose of magic …
-
-
My congregation is, mostly, an older age group. We have a youth service, a family service and Communion service at our bigger church in the district. This year I think I’ve probably attended three-quarters of the Sundays – all my children live out of town now and visits happen. Illness happens. Holidays happen. I do feel a joy and connection to my church family – but I’m fortunate to also see them around the town. Importantly, they’re friends as well.
-
Mr B has just offered the thought that regular church attendance is rather like marriage – you can’t just give up when you feel like it. Strikes me as a pretty accurate comparison …
Previous Posts
-
Fake Pope Quote Posts
One of the more bizarre developments in social media has been the rise in fake quotes from popes appearing online. One might think that Roman Catholics would be particularly at the forefront of this kind of activity, but that’s not necessarily the case. Anglicans seem to love a good fake pope quote. I’ve seen them…
-
In just three days…
Every year I make a promise to people. I say that if they keep the triduum with me at St Mary’s then it will change their life and change their faith. I think that keeping the Triduum helps make sense of all that we do in church for the rest of the year. In just…
-
A man had two sons…
Jesus make up the story of the Parable Son for Lent 4 and maybe it isn’t about repentance at all. So what was he on about?
Leave a Reply