When I was visiting churches in Larne on Sunday morning, my attention was caught during the notices by an announcement and a flyer about the different services being held around Cairncastle and Craigyhill to mark the Week of Prayer For Christian Unity. There was a service for every night of the week, each one hosted by a different denomination – Presbyterian one night, Anglican the next… A proper tour of the Larne church scene, if you were up for church every night of the week!
I hope the Larnians don’t mind me saying this (because the visit did remind me of how very much I do love them, so I do), but it brought home to me how much is fantastic, and how much is frustrating, about the ways in which the Shared Future is lived out in church life. Because it is fantastic – the different clergy and congregations of each denomination, putting themselves out of their comfort zones to spend the week going around the different churches. Doing so in Larne requires courage – not everyone will be happy. Some of the links, friendships and unexpected connections between the different churches in Larne during my three years working there had a profound impact on me – and I’m sure were formative in leading to The Dock and the whole Shared Medley vision.
And yet… there is frustration too. Given that friendship, co-operation, mutual prayer and sharing can happen between these different churches during the Week of Prayer For Christian Unity (and I’m sure in lots of informal ways throughout the other 51 weeks of the year as well), what are the divisions which still enforce the separate buildings and congregations? Why is it that Christians in the town can worship together in the Larne Leisure Centre this coming weekend, but will then worship separately every Sunday morning that follows?
I say all this not to be critical of the leaders in Larne (or the many other places which have a similar setup). They are acting with courage within a situation they’ve inherited – which makes them a lot braver than I am, with my ‘blank page’. But it was another reminder that in the TQ, we have a chance to fill this blank page with a different story. How awesome would it be if the mix of the Week of Prayer For Christian Unity didn’t look like a special occasion, but an everyday reality?
I was very struck by the words of Bishop Richard Clarke (more here), speaking this week at a Unity service at St Peter’s Cathedral:
‘As different Christian traditions, we cling on to our separate existences, believing that if we let anything go, the Kingdom of God will come crashing down. Actually it won’t. The Kingdom of God is not dependent on the strength of our padlocks. … Of course we cannot let go of what we see as truth, but we can let go of our obsession with survival as we now are… When our specific Christian tradition matters to us more than the Kingdom of God, we have lost touch with Christ himself.’
Hi Chris – great to see round the TQ with you today! Very inspiring stuff – those drawing offices were awesome. I reckon if you asked permission to get a hold of all those H & W plans you could frame them and use them in your new dock-boat! Alternatively you could flog them to Americans on ebay – you could make thousands!
Back to the blog, though – I think what you say is dead right. Doing things separately side by side is like the Drawing Office building – out of a time-warp and a crumbling relic. We need a new beginning together – like the Titanic Signature Building – but who will have the courage to build it?
Roger
Lets wait and see if The Dock is the yeast that works its way through the whole batch! God can take nothing (the blank page) and make it something (watch this space!) with our prayers and willing hearts. It’s amazing what’s already happening.