A senior clergyman has spoken out against the trend for people to describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious”.The Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral also criticised the “disdain” expressed by those who maintain “you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian”.
Canon Mark Hocknull said that spirituality should be seen as a gift to a whole community rather than a personality trait.
His comments come after academics identified the rise of the “fuzzy faithful” in Britain – people who have a vague belief in God but do not necessarily belong to a particular denomination or attend services.
Only half of Britons now consider themselves Christian, a recent report showed. The deference shown to traditional religious institutions has declined in recent decades while more and more people, inspired by celebrities, self-help books and therapy sessions, have developed individual beliefs about a divine being.
In the current Chapter Letter to the congregation at Lincoln Cathedral, Dr Hocknull wrote: “Any member of a church community will have heard it hundreds of times: ‘I’m spiritual but not religious,” or ‘You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian’.
“A Google search yields 1,360,000 results for that sentence. The statement is revealing, not just for its implied disdain for the life of religious communities, but also for its reduction of ‘spirituality’ to a personality trait.
“To say that ‘I’ am ‘spiritual’ here is on a par with saying that ‘I’ am patient or thoughtful or generous; it is a description that is all about ‘me’.”He went on: “In the context of the biblical tradition, spirituality, instead, is a gift poured out by the Holy Spirit.”
Dr Hocknull pointed out that the reading from Romans in the Cathedral repeated the word “we” rather than “I” and added: “Far from being our possession or an individual personality trait, Paul’s ‘spirituality’ is a gift, a gift to the community and a gift that does not exempt believers but plunges them right back into the world’s sufferings and pains, empowered and confident in the future God is bringing about.”
5 comments:
I, and a few others in my session who are now 'formers', all describe ourselves as 'spiritual but not religious'.
The above article makes the assumption that God is found in church, and that the church actually worships and follows God. I don't accept that assumption. All the evidence that I have seen points to the fact that the church is in opposition to God, and has nothing to do with worshiping God. I admit, there are a few people within the church who do worship God, but they are, form my experience, the extreme exception.
From my experience, I believe it could be said that the majority of society are not allowed to become part of the church - by the church. The church actively excludes the majority of people. Those who love all people, who have compassion for all, who accept that all can worship God and that God is for all people, who believe that God is too big for human doctrine or human mind are all quickly excluded from being part of the church. It is right for this trend to exist - otherwise we would have a nation of unbelievers - in other words - the church. Yes, the Bible does talk about fellowshiping with each other - but that does not mean organised church - it means simply fellowshiping with other believers. God did raise up the church, but the church quickly abandoned God in favour of human concepts of deity, and human doctrines etc. The church now simply exists to remind people that there is a God somewhere - but they don't have it - so we find God in our own way. After all, God is an individual, personal God, who is far too big to be reduced to a single, one-size-fits-all deity.
Yours in Christ,
Graeme.
Former Australian East.
Churchgoers live longer
The common believe that churchgoers live longer tuned out to be true. A new study finds people who attend religious services weekly live 1.8-3.1 years longer. Researcher speculated that the social aspect of religion could play a role in the results; religion can decrease people's level of stress in life or increase their ability to cope with stress.
Source: Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine,
Former
Canada
I can't believe the arrogance of this clergyman who is unable to comprehend that people might have simply said no to the (ie formal, denominated) church because of what it's LIKE to be part of it, because of its often toxic cultures, and the kind of wake it can leave behind. It has to be the fault, entirely, of those who do not take part? I mean he really has displayed the reason so many people don't connect - unapologetic, unselfconscious, often aggressive, institutional arrogance.
Former Canada, interesting concept that church goers live longer. I wonder if that depends on what church / corps you go to. There have been some corps that I have been to that I have been left with the belief I have never been anywhere where so many people dislike each other. Sadly, also the concept of the Corps Council which for some in some places is megga stress. 'See how they love each other' has certainly escaped some people sadly!
Active UKT
It's funny how so many churches (not just TSA) say they are all about church growth but then fail to welcome people in (and I'm not talking about the public intro the first time you attend somewhere where they make you stand up in front of everyone which I personally despise). A few weeks or months pass and they disappear and everyone goes about there business. I know the new peeps coming in have some responsibility but I think the greater onus is on us. I watched how the old timers made it uncomfortable, how they closed doors. Maybe they felt threatened. Maybe they felt uncomfortable. But whatever it was the new ones are gone. It takes time, lots of time, and work, lots of work, and lots of getting over ourselves and dealing with that uncomfortableness to really grow a church. No one ever said it would be easy or painless but that seems to be the path oft taken.
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