New Beginnings, Autumn Letter

After the Bank Holiday weekend last August, we arrived home as a family from the Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival, to a front garden (and more specifically a front garden hedge) that had been pruned, somewhat enthusiastically, by some helpful parishioners! We were, to say the least, a little taken aback. Where were our beautiful rosehips and our hedge that provided some privacy from the neighbouring cars and residents? All gone!! This summer the beautiful rosehips have flowered again magnificently, thanks to the pruning; but it took us some time to get used to them not being there.

It is always hard to cope with things being cut back and things being taken away: what we focus on is what we are losing. But what we need to have eyes to see is- what will be, what will grow in its place. Jesus often used horticultural imagery to describe the kingdom of heaven and in St John’s Gospel, the extended imagery of God as the vine grower is utilised: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit.’ (John 15) Through these metaphors Jesus teaches us how we must cultivate the kingdom of God.

Our cultivation takes place in a particular time, place and context. Like a good gardener, if we are to be successful at growing, we need to be aware of the conditions and materials that we have been given. None of us can be unaware that we live in a secular age, one in which (despite the continuing existence of faith schools), most children will grow up without any knowledge of the Bible, Christian values or tradition. Children today will only come to that knowledge through the effective, outward-looking mission and vision of the churches. We also know that secularism and all it evokes and describes is the major and dominant truth-narrative of our day; there is a bias towards secular values and ideas. These include equality, inclusion, tolerance, diversity and the individual’s absolute right to choose (i.e. right to choose how to die). Along with this our age is fantastically technologically advanced, with a dependence on computing and modern methods of communication, a revolution comparable to that brought about by the advent of the printing press. Our age is also suspicious of absolutist claims to truth and is largely materialist, leaning towards scientific reductionism. This is the environment in which we are collectively called to ‘proclaim the Gospel afresh in each generation’ as the ordination rite expresses it.

How can we cultivate new growth in this environment, using the goodness and positive values that are part of contemporary culture, whilst challenging and cutting back all that prevents human flourishing? None of us can stand still; there is no room for complacency. The Family Service, Sunday Club and Baptism Ministry are three (but not the only) ways in which we as a church are grappling with how to communicate, nurture and inspire children, young people and their families today. We are duty bound to take up this opportunity. Hundreds of people are choosing to come through our church doors, willing to sit and listen, ready to engage, have a coffee, light a candle, attend a concert, book a wedding; that is the heart of our church and the heart of our mission. It will only bear fruit if more of us are willing to: reach out of our comfort zones and offer someone else what we have been blessed to receive; let go of forms that we have valued in order to let new ones flourish. God will always surprise and never disappoint us if only we have the courage to take that leap of faith.