The last decade hasn't been kind to us. The congregation fell, the building aged, and there were one or two issues which caused problems. At one point last year we had to take a formal vote to continue meeting.
Over the last few months we have been working hard to regenerate the cause. We have also been crying out to God.
Ideally we wanted all our problems to be sorted out in one go. That hasn't happened. One of our biggest problems was heating the church. We were getting gas bills in the region of £2500-£3000 a year. Part of the problem was that we weren't really sure how to run the central heating effectively. We now seem to have it under control.
But another part of the problem was that we were meeting in a large hall that cost a fortune to heat. Sometimes our congregations were struggling into double figures and we felt marooned and distant from one another.
This was a real dilemma. We all have great memories of the wonderful things that had happened in that hall (for example I met and later married my wife there) but the gas bill was our only variable cost and the one that we had to reduce.
After a great deal of heart searching, we decided to meet in the foyer area which is much easier to heat and considerably less costly.
I have tried to work out why I found the move so difficult.
Firstly, it was step into the unfamiliar. We would effectively be sitting cafe style and I wondered how this would impact on worship. I think the discussions reminded me how fearful we can be of change.
Secondly, I was worried that somehow we would cease to be seen as a real "church". I know that outsiders and other Christians often have an idea of what church should be. I had a feeling that we may put off potential recruits. We may even put off some of our existing members.
Thirdly, we wondered how it would be for preachers working within such a confined space with the congregation just feet, rather than yards, away. Would it lead to a greater informality, something that we moved away from in the declining years?
Fourthly, and I find this difficult to admit, there was - at least on my part - a huge element of pride involved. Retreating from the main hall felt like an admission of defeat, a sign that our church was in its death throes.
Well eventually in January we made the change. Given the recent weather it was probably just as well.
It has taken us a few weeks to settle down. Trial and error eventually located the musician and preacher. Our elderly members have worked out where they are most comfortable and we've sorted out the heating.
During January the weather took its toll: icy pavements were not encouraging for our more elderly members.
But spiritually and socially things seem to be stirring. Instead of twenty people strung around a hall the size of a tennis court we are all sitting close together.There is much more face to face contact There seem to be more conversations before and after the service. Many of our members seem to coming more regularly so the average congregation is bigger. No one has left because of the new arrangements.
The services have changed. We are more intimate and there is a creeping informality. There is more interaction between preacher and congregation.
But there seems to be an additional element creeping in - the Holy Spirit seems to be present in a way that He hasn't been in recent years. This morning we sang some wonderful hymns from Songs of Fellowship which seem to suit the new arrangement well. There was a point when I wondered if we would burst into tongues!
For all our anxiety about change we have been reminded that "church" isn't a particular place or a particular set of activities. It is about people meeting with simple hearts, confessing our sins, worshipping God and waiting upon the Holy Spirit.
If you live in or near Birmingham, or are visiting the West Midlands, and would like to be part of something new, please feel free to join us one Sunday just before 11.00 am.
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3 comments:
Hi david
Blessings to you all as you struggle through change. We have also undergone some considerable changes at our Church in South Africa, and today we meet in our new Sanctuary (the old Hall). It will take time, but soon people will find their feet.
God is good - hold unto that promise.
Living in grace,
Delme
Buildings are difficult. I've often argued that what should be tents have become temples, and thus millstones around our necks. We exist to serve them, rather than the other way round. I have a modern chapel, which has 18th C pews, because someone thought it would be a good idea to buy them from a Baptist church which was closing - so instead of a modern comfortable flexible worship setting, we have something as fixed and formal as it ever was.
Another congregation voted to rebuild after major structural problems - despite the fact that the building was a 200-year old listed barn of a place. Those who resisted the scheme, who wanted to replace the old building, warned that if it were rebuilt, it would be a millstone around their necks in a decade or so. They were right.
And yet...
It's very easy for ministers like me to say things like that. We never establish the same sense of loyalty to a chapel as our members. We may know the history, but we haven't lived it in the way some of them have. I had a rural chapel in Northumberland, which could seat 200 but had 10. They sat fairly well spread out around the building. They were friendly enough, and chatted freely before and afterwards, but they never sat together. Then someone explained - that old lady sat where she had sat with her parents, and then her own husband and children, all now dead or moved away. She was still worshipping with the generations of her family. Others had similar stories and testimonies.
All right, sometimes you have to let go of the past and journey on. Sometimes the past journeys on with you, and moving to a new place (or even a new part of the old place) is the right thing to do. Sometimes it isn't. I think I have learned that there isn't one right answer, but the answer may vary from place to place, and even from time to time in one place.
In all cases, though, I think my earlier point was mostly right: our buildings must serve us and our needs, rather than the other way round.
our buildings must serve us and our needs, rather than the other way round. Amen.
There is a piece of popular wisdom which says it's always better to meet in a space which is appropriate to the size of the the congregation and I think it's largely true.
Well done to everyone in your congregation for thinking and acting creatively. May the Spirit continue to be with you and guide you as you witness to God in that place.
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