St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

On our Questions page we will attempt to answer anything you throw at us, so keep your questions coming, folks ...

Sunday no longer the Sabbath?

Q. I hear on the radio that the Church of England may stop holding its church services on Sundays, because society no longer holds the sabbath day special. What do you think?

A. This news item is about a small part of a report for the C of E called "Mission-shaped Church", which is for discussion (it's not policy yet). The writers hope it will make us think about the best ways of making Church more relevant to people in England. And I hope they're right.

It doesn't say "stop having church on Sundays", and I think there will always be church services on Sundays. It does say: "think about other ways of having church as well as Sunday services".

When John Bavington (vicar of St Clement's Barkerend) spoke to our Mothers Union about his childhood in Pakistan, he said he used to go to church on Fridays. The regime at that time had moved the weekend for the Moslem majority, so Sunday was an ordinary working day. The Church did hold services on Sundays, but the main service was on Friday. That's when John went, seeing as his dad was in business and worked on Sundays.

The report asks us to face the fact that most people don't treat Sunday as a day for Church. People work longer hours than they did in 1970, and Sunday (for those who don't work on it) is a day for the family, visiting elderly relatives, sport or relaxing. It's often the day when a separated parent can see a child who lives with the other parent during the rest of the week.

Besides this, people live more fragmented lives. They work away, they shop at malls, they move house with jobs - so they often don't know neighbours. A local church which has a focus on a "parish" is not so relevant - an internet church may be more "real" than a bricks-and-mortar one, because networks have replaced neighbourhoods.

In one way this is deeply pessimistic. Gone are the days when you could expect people to come to church as a natural part of life. To be honest, those days had gone before I was born! But I hope this report will help us to find new ways of doing church, so it is fresh and exciting in a society which still craves meaning and purpose.

John Hartley

	*St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - The Link* magazine** The Link is published monthly at 40p (Senior Citizens 35p), and we deliver free within the parish and post copies (at the reader's expense) to those who request it. Please contact us if you would like a free copy for a trial period. March 2004, Page 13.
Home Page. Index of articles: by subject, by date. In this issue: (March 2004) Vicar's letter, Lent Course, New Hospital, Church Survey, Not the Sabbath? Annual Reports. Questions to the clergy Mission Shaped Church - Summary.	On our Questions page we will attempt to answer anything you throw at us, so keep your questions coming, folks ... Sunday no longer the Sabbath? Q. I hear on the radio that the Church of England may stop holding its church services on Sundays, because society no longer holds the sabbath day special. What do you think? A. This news item is about a small part of a report for the C of E called "Mission-shaped Church", which is for discussion (it's not policy yet). The writers hope it will make us think about the best ways of making Church more relevant to people in England. And I hope they're right. It doesn't say "stop having church on Sundays", and I think there will always be church services on Sundays. It does say: "think about other ways of having church as well as Sunday services". When John Bavington (vicar of St Clement's Barkerend) spoke to our Mothers Union about his childhood in Pakistan, he said he used to go to church on Fridays. The regime at that time had moved the weekend for the Moslem majority, so Sunday was an ordinary working day. The Church did hold services on Sundays, but the main service was on Friday. That's when John went, seeing as his dad was in business and worked on Sundays. The report asks us to face the fact that most people don't treat Sunday as a day for Church. People work longer hours than they did in 1970, and Sunday (for those who don't work on it) is a day for the family, visiting elderly relatives, sport or relaxing. It's often the day when a separated parent can see a child who lives with the other parent during the rest of the week. Besides this, people live more fragmented lives. They work away, they shop at malls, they move house with jobs - so they often don't know neighbours. A local church which has a focus on a "parish" is not so relevant - an internet church may be more "real" than a bricks-and-mortar one, because networks have replaced neighbourhoods. In one way this is deeply pessimistic. Gone are the days when you could expect people to come to church as a natural part of life. To be honest, those days had gone before I was born! But I hope this report will help us to find new ways of doing church, so it is fresh and exciting in a society which still craves meaning and purpose. John Hartley
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