I'm reading an interesting book (one of several ticking over rather than the one's I am reading seriously - and yes it is rather strange that I always have several on the go at the same time) at the moment which looks at the phenomenon of religion's return to the mainstream - God is Back. In the late 20th century you would have thought that religion had packed its bags and headed off for a sabbatical. But the noughties have brought religion back right into the heart of society. To some extent this explains the somewhat inexplicable wrath of Richard Dawkins and the NSS. They seem to act somewhat irrationally. The NSS website with its vitriolic and often misguided attacks on all things religion and the way that this organisation with only a few hundred or a few thousand (???) manages to force itself onto the news agenda always suggests a slightly unhinged passion - as though they were happily having a picnic in the forest only for the bears to make a sudden reappearance.
Well now the Independent seems to be going all religious by lecturing the Church of England about what should have been on its agenda:
Lord what fools these mortals be. It is difficult for an outsider to look upon the febrile maunderings of the General Synod of the Church of England without a sense of bewilderment and mild irritation. The body which is the parliament of the nation's established church is, all things considered, a pretty poor advertisement for the message of good news which its founder set out to bring humanity.
The Indy is trying to argue that the agenda of the Synod didn't reflect the core values of Jesus' ministry:
The Church ought to stand as a sign of contradiction in a consumerist culture whose focus constantly and unquestioningly narrows on ever-greater individualism and self-interest. But where it ignores the lessons which secular society has to teach it about its own gospel message, and does so with such shrill intolerance, it has only itself to blame if the rest of us dismiss it as a foolish pageant.
Needless to say, I am hugely sympathetic to this agenda. I am not so keen on the portrayal of Jesus that the Indy article gives us. I think it misses the real purposes of what Jesus was about. But the call for a counter-cultural church where consumerism and individualism and self-interest no longer rule the day make me want to cry out "Preach it, sister!"
Within Methodism, I've been impressed by the work of the Joint Public Issues Team who work across a number of the main denominations to deliver some first class work on social justice, ecology and ethics. I was pleased to bits to see the Methodist Council debating Social Media, the Living Wage, Carbon Reduction, Racism and Extreme Views, whether we should review our Abortion Statement and a complex and as yet unfinished paper on Israel and Palestine. We're not getting it right often enough and we are terribly conservative at times - but give the Church a break!
I'd advise the Indy not to look for the heart of the Church in our governance structures. The Indy should come along to church projects up and down the land which are proclaiming the love of God through their actions and through their lifestyle. That's where the gospel burns white hot. That's where the counter-cultural message changes lives day by day. Stop judging us by our governance bodies. After all, would we want to say that Parliament is the very best example of what it means to be British? If Britain can only be understood despite its politicians, perhaps the church can only be understood by looking out beyond its synods?
Pete
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