There are two types of people in this world: those who like change, and those who don’t. Those who prefer the status quo are in the majority (about 75% of the population) and so change happens slowly most of the time. I admit to being in the minority, I like change and I get bored easily if everything stays the same for too long.

For centuries the life and ministry of the church has changed very little. In fact from 1662 up to 1980 the Church of England used and maintained the same authorised liturgy for all it’s services, thats 318 years with no change! But in the last 30 years lots has changed, and I believe that the pace of change in the life and ministry of the church must increase and not slow down, as uncomfortable as that is for many!

Why?

Well I did some statistics for a recent service at St Paul’s:
Our Parish has a population of approximately 9,000, our average Sunday Attendance is 70 = 0.8% of the population
Being generous on average approximately 140 people attend services each month = 1.6% of the population
But I hear you say, we’re not the only church in the area! The population of the Western Wards is approximately 35,000. I have guestimated average attendance at church services on a Sunday at 1,100 = 3% of the population
Say each month double that attend at some point = 6% of the population
That means that 94% of the population of the Western Wards have no meaningful connection with the Church

Now I know that every Church has a fringe of people that know us and may be exploring the Christian faith at any time. BUT that still means that the vast majority of people in our community today have no meaningful connection with the church or with a Christian who is introducing them to Jesus.

We need to realise that the vast majority of the people who today are outside of the Christian faith in our community will never connect with the Christian faith in the ways that it has traditionally been expressed. Apart from baptisms (and there aren’t really many of these), weddings (these have reduced greatly) and funerals (even these are less common today), people in our community see little point in attending a service in a Victorian (or even a modern) church building, especially on a Sunday morning, there are far more attractive things happening most Sunday mornings!

If our friends, neighbours, work colleagues, those we meet in the Co-Op or in the bus queue are to have the opportunity to meet Jesus in a way that is meaningful to them it is us who must change not them! But how?