Hear What the Spirit Is Saying To The Church

I promised some further reflection on Fresh Expressions. In part that can be found here and here.

Careful reading of both will show that I commit to nothing about future action more concrete than listening to the Spirit and discerning the signs of the (cultural) times. My mind tends to work in practical ways, so much of my thinking in the last week about Fresh Expressions has been 'what if we did this ... or this?' Of course the Spirit may be speaking to me, and through me, via such thoughts. But likely (on the basis of assessment of my life story) I am running ahead of the Spirit!

So, a week on from +Cray's two Christchurch conferences, the primary reflection I offer is to be serious about listening to the Spirit. Should not be hard, after all in modern liturgies we commit ourselves to doing that reading by reading.

One picture in my mind lends some urgency to this task. It matters not where or when the picture formed, and many readers will easily recognise the picture ... whether in NZ or other Western countries. It is a picture of a congregation at worship. Everything is done well. True devotion to God is expressed. Warm hospitality is shown to one another and to any strangers in their midst. The gospel is proclaimed and the sacrament administered. But apart from one family with children, the congregation is aged 60 years and above.

What is the Spirit saying to such congregations, and (speaking as an Anglican) to the dioceses in which such congregations live their inter-dependent lives?

Keep going ... eventually things will change (e.g. secularism will fade away) ...

Change the way things are being done. Doing what has always been done will always succeed in the same result. Thus ...

Keep going with what you have and start a new thing ...

Take the wider view. Celebrate what the Pentecostals/Catholics/New21stCenturyChurch are doing in the next street over ...

Install a webcam and feed services live on your new Facebook page (having first Tweeted news of this new development) ...

Ignore the above. That is me trying to second guess (again!) what the Spirit is saying to the church. But do not ignore the Spirit.