Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Riots
The Archbishop of Canterbury seems to blame us for the riots because we have let down those who felt the excitement of the call to riot. But what about the Church? Does not the Archbishop share the blame? The Church exists solely to spread the Gospel of Love throughout the world - has it failed in England? When we moved house 35-odd years ago, our first visitor was the Vicar. He welcomed us to his Parish and hoped we would join his congregation but put no pressure on us. I look at the pictures of the rioters and wonder into how many of their homes a priest has entered - to what extent do our priests and ministers reach out to the uncommitted? Week after week I listen to wonderful sermons in church, but the priest is preaching to the converted - how does his words reach the outside world? Visiting may be out of the question nowadays but the Christian message must be heard : surely it is the job of the Archbishop and his colleagues to devise the ways and means.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
"The Gospel of Love" - I think you're implying a radical re-vision here, Brother. And I think you're right, it needs modeling from the "top", as our Lord modeled it on his knees with a towel and in the homes of publicans and sinners. Do we have to take off the outer garment of importance and important admin which clutter up our waking hours and ambitions and get down to the Gospel of Love? If the Archbishops, Bishops and priests had that as their primary agenda each day, then it would be infectious. Perhaps we should follow the early church's example of choosing people "filled with the Holy Spirit" to serve at tables - i.e. to sort out the admin - and release the priests for their vocation. Maybe we should be ordaining people to different types of ministry.
ReplyDelete