Not fit for purpose? Just imagine society without the Church
By Andy Walton, Christian Today:
We all get annoyed with the Church at times. Either our local congregation or the whole institution. If it was up to us things would be different and better.
It’s not just those inside the Church either. There are those outside who find themselves poorly treated or who simply want to be a critical friend and offer some suggestions for improvement.
These kinds of critique can be good. We need to be constantly looking to improve the way we serve people and honour our calling. In fact, as I wrote recently, we also need to heed voices of wisdom that come from outside the Church.
So in this spirit I read an article entitled, ‘Is The Church Of England Fit For Purpose?‘ with interest. As an active member of the C of E, I was keen to see what we could do better.
The author, Casper ter Kuile, is someone whose work I’ve found interesting in the past. He makes some good points, but in some ways I feel he’s failed to see the wood for the trees.
Let’s leave aside the lack of nuance in the critique about the Church’s treatment of minorities, (“absurd and cruel… a hateful force in society”). The main argument is that the Church is punching well below its weight – and needs to radically alter its vision.
“The Church no longer knows what it’s for,” says ter Kuile. He then goes on to list things the Church should be doing such as, “building community… and [helping us] make meaning in our lives”.
If this sounds a bit like motherhood and apple pie, that doesn’t make it invalid. He lists a number of people and organisations he feels are helping the Church fulfill these missions in a small way – whose work should be built upon. That sounds great.
I’ve got two concerns, though. Firstly, the Church exists primarily to worship and bear witness to Jesus. What follows on from this is a radical manifesto to change the world, but we never do the latter without the former.
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