I was delivering a speech last night to a
community group here in Vancouver, about the
restoration of Christ Church Cathedral, and
the current project that's underway, a nine
million dollar capital project to replace
the roof, and build a bell spire, expand the
kitchen, and so forth. The evening went pretty
well, it was an amiable group, mainly non-religious
folks. At the end of it, standing around chatting,
one of the participants in the evening came
up and said, "So, why would you be spending
all this money on a church when institutional
religion is in decline?"
I said, "Actually, I welcome that question,"
because it seems to me that, we all know about
the decline of denominational religion in
North America and in Europe. There was a Pew
research study that came out last year in
the US that showed that across the US, attendance
in churches over the last seven years has
declined nine percent a year. Similar studies
have been done across Canada, I think Canadian
Anglicans know about the decline issues in
the church, generally.
The one group that is actually growing are
nones, N-O-N-E-S, folks non affiliated with
religions organizations, that group is in
the ascendancy. Lots of people, these days,
are identifying themselves as spiritual, not
religious. Very troublingly, and I wrote this
down, just so I could get it accurate. In
England, in 2013, 41% of 18-24 year olds agreed
that religion is more the cause of evil in
the world, and only 14% saw that it was a
cause for good.
It begs the question, is there actually a
social usefulness to organized and institutional
religion? I believe there is, and I've started
a beginning list to identify what I see as
five socially useful things that organized
religion, at its best, Christian denominations,
the Anglican Church of Canada, can provide
to Canadian society.
This is a beginning list, and the reason I
share it isn't because I think this list is
comprehensive, but to encourage people in
congregations and parishes across the country
to have these reflections themselves, and
add to this list, or maybe disagree with some
of it. The goal would be to say, "How are
we useful to the world?", rather than to cry
in our beer about decline. Here's my beginning
five list.
First, it seems to me that churches can provide
an experience of safe, inclusive community.
One of my friends, a predecessor of mine at
Christ Church Cathedral, Bishop Jim Cruickshank,
often refers to the church as the "community
of unlike minded." Not the like minded. There's
lots of places for us to meet with people
just like us, but in churches, congregations,
those with whom we disagree, and people from
all ranges of life, young and old, rich and
poor, straight and gay, women and men, can
find a way to be together.
Thank God that our churches have taken seriously,
in the last few years, the importance of making
communities to be safe, as well, by working
away at codes of conduct, and ways that we
can learn to be with each other. Particularly
in a digital age, where it's really easy to
get focused on our smartphones and our computers,
making a very individual experience. Organized
religion can provide a place for people to
come together for safe, inclusive community.
The second on my list has to do with beauty,
cherishing the arts and culture. Music, the
performing arts, the visual arts, all those
things, beauty speaks to us of the divine.
The whole aesthetic world. Remember, always,
that the opposite of aesthetics is anesthetic,
things that put you to sleep. Aesthetics are
things that wake us up. Wake us up to the
beauty of creation, to the beauty of human
ingenuity, to the beauty of music. Often I
think, at out best, the music can draw people
into the life of God, the life of the Spirit,
an inclusive community, probably way more
than even the best sermon in the world.
Churches, religious organizations places that
cherish beauty, the arts, and I think it's
one of the ways that we're socially useful
in the world. I mean, after all, where else
to people get together and sing. Folks struggle
through a national anthem at a sports event,
maybe, but other than that, singing together,
that way of being together around music, churches,
religious organizations provide that.
Number three, churches can provide, religious
institutions can provide, places that make
the world a safer place, around peace through
justice. How do we do that? By really telling
our foundational stories. I find it very interesting
that all the great social movements of the
twentieth century, and some into the twenty-first
century, and I'm thinking of Gandhi and Desmond
Tutu, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and
Oscar Romero, take their cues from the story
of Moses leading the children of Israel out
of the bondage of slavery in Egypt, into the
promised land.
That archetypal story has informed the leaders
in our world, who have taken strong stands
for justice and for human dignity. We tell
those stories, with as much imagination and
creativity as we can muster, not because we're
trying to resurrect something from the past,
but because it has direct relevance into the
real lives of people who continue to live
under conditions of oppression, and longing
for freedom. Churches can be that kind of
place.
Number four, churches can create cultures
of non-violence and compassion. I'm thinking
particularly of the foundational story within
the Christian message, of the resurrection
of Jesus. He, on his return to his disciples,
after he had been betrayed by his friends
and abandoned by those closest to him, and
cruelly executed on a cross. When he returned,
his only message was one of peace and of forgiveness,
breaking the cycle of violence. Not participating
in a world of revenge, but instead, calling,
calling into being a community that regular
seeks to break cycles of violence with words
of compassion and hope.
Finally, and this one, I've struggled to express,
to figure out exactly how to express it, but
here's the thought. In all of the life passages
that we have, births, deaths, marriages ... I've
been to lots of naming ceremonies for kids
in secular society, to funerals in funeral
chapels, to weddings in fields. What they
miss, for me, is connecting the great passages
of our lives with the archetypal stories that
come to us from our tradition. This roots
our experience, and helps us receive the wisdom
of the ages, as we walk through the celebrations
and the griefs of life. I think it enhances
those moments of our lives and brings a fuller,
richer expression of faith.
Those are just five that have occurred to
me. Gifts that I think our churches, our religious
institutions can offer to the world. My hope
is that you take this on, too, develop your
own lists and see how we might be a greater
resource to the world. And that's it from
me.
