I just wonder, with the current turmoil in the Church of England and the difficulty in attracting young people in their twenties and thirties, whether a perceived lack of commitment is becoming a stumbling block.
I wonder whether there's a perceived lack of spirituality, open-ness and possible "humbug" seen by the unchurched public.
Maybe there is a place in the Church for a Lay order of some kind - that people can commit to, can commit to a Rule of Life that may just re-vitalise the Church?
Gordon Burgess-Parker's occasional ramblings on Life, God and important stuff like that
Gordon, from the opposite side of the Atlantic, I only occasionally get any real sense of the crisis (or crises) facing the C of E, being more aware of the Episcopal Church's recent controversies and difficulties. But I have seen some of Al Jazeera English's God's Business series, particularly this episode on C of E / Anglicanism, which mentions the Alpha groups and classes that are bringing some young people back to some level of engagement with the Church. Is their success ongoing or waning?
ReplyDeleteIt may be that Alpha is more about marketing than substance (?), whereas a Rule of Life in a Lay order could be something, shall we say, deeper (?). So I guess the question is, as you ask, whether people are up for the kind of commitment inherent in accepting a Rule of Life.
My closest friend is a Trappist monk (Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, RC). And through his experience I have become aware how demanding a Rule of Life can be, even when supported by Brothers going through the same experience behind the walls of a monastic enclosure. So I wonder if you are talking here about something similar to RC oblates, who commit, for example to praying the Divine Office and other such "monastic duties" while continuing to live a life engaged in the contemporary world as it is? Or are you talking about something more akin to the New Monasticism? ...in which the members live, without vows, in loose but supportive community with other, frequently with a common social service ministry at the core of communal life, or who live apart from each other even across a country or other wide area, joined together in mission but not in daily communal life?
The question seems to me to come down to balances struck between transcendence and immanence. When fully participating in the world, how can one structure daily life to accommodate spiritual endeavors when even dealing with this-worldly mission can demand more of one than many feel they have to offer.
Well, from my rambling, you can see you hit a topic that feels important to me - even though I am studying to become a minister (that is, clergy) in a denomination that has never had religious orders.
Blessings,
Paul
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
Alpha is still on-going in quite a major way in the UK, but I have reservations with it. Firstly it doesn't teach anything about the Trinity, secondly it's a BIG commitment, being 16 sessions plus a weekend. Thirdly from what I've seen it seems to be very much directed at the YUPPY middle-class literati rather than what I might call the "commom" people. It's a sad but true fact that 60% of the population of UK are totally unchurched - ie have NO Christian background whatsoever.
From my experience in a group of rural parishes it does seem that there are strange levels of commitment - yes we get a good (for the size of village) regular congregation on a Sunday, and the special events are well supported (Carol Service, Harvest, etc) but I do wonder about the day-to-day week-on-week prayer and scripture reading. There doesn't seem to be any sort of desire to grow, as if they are just "comfortable" where they are, which as we both know is a dangerous place to be!
I think that there could be two things here: firstly a lay "group" who do have some sort of commitment to saying at least one of the Daily Offices, and secondly the possibility of groups committed to more than that and who indeed have the support of a fully-professed Order.
The second does exist as there are Oblates of Benedictine Monasteries, and Companions of places like the Community of the Resurrection and the Third Order of the Franciscans, but these are NOT well advertised or publicised or well-known - you have to really search them out if you don't know anyone who is in these groups.
Perhaps Dan Brown should write a book that mentions them! Everyone has now heard of Opus Dei!