tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366621735995057721.post8459646851831152092..comments2024-03-17T09:17:01.454+00:00Comments on Vic the Vicar!: Church Building Reviewed and condemned?Vic Van Den Berghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09581156515370131898noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366621735995057721.post-62649032203459786102015-10-19T07:58:40.244+01:002015-10-19T07:58:40.244+01:00The death knell of the Church lies in keeping the ...The death knell of the Church lies in keeping the (often un)faithful people happy. I have met clergy who have stopped growth because the people who were the 'growth' weren't popular with their own nice and comfortable membership!<br /><br />Pah!!!<br /><br />Thanks as ever for the comments - as usual, find myself agreeing :-)<br />Vic Van Den Berghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09581156515370131898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366621735995057721.post-65487722650153806022015-10-19T07:56:36.053+01:002015-10-19T07:56:36.053+01:00I too think we get too bound up by bricks and mort...I too think we get too bound up by bricks and mortar, losing sight of the living bricks that are Church, but for some people they are the visible sign of God's presence and place to which they are drawn in times of trouble and joy (yes, they do still come when it's going right!).<br /><br />But regardless of the prettiness of the box it's what's goes on in it that carries the real weight.<br /><br />Thanks for the comment.Vic Van Den Berghhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09581156515370131898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366621735995057721.post-670891965309569172015-10-18T14:49:28.234+01:002015-10-18T14:49:28.234+01:00Piloti, the architecture column in Private Eye, ha...Piloti, the architecture column in Private Eye, has long irritated me by summing up a lot of the problem that the Church of England faces in the matter of its buildings: The view that the CofE exists primarily to maintain that part of our heritage which comprises its ecclesiastical architecture, and woe betide any congregation that attempts to alter such buildings to better meet the current needs of congregation and/or community.<br /><br />But, it is all very well saying that "Church is about serving the people in all communities", when the reality is that many churches, and it does tend to be the ones with smaller congregations, appear to be about serving the desires of that congregation - which in turn has contributed to why it has become so small in the first place.<br /><br />I agree, though, with your concerns about the managementisation* of church leadership. I have noted before the parallels between the NHS and church hierarchy: I have watched with despair how doctors in local NHS management, as they have been trained in management, have become indistinguishable From the managers they were supposed to have replaced in the last-but-one reshuffle. And, like those managers, their concerns now revolve around budgets and other management things, and not the patients that a doctor should be concerned with, and who, after all, are meant to be who the whole shebang is about anyway.<br /><br />I fear, then, for the future. But I can with relief mention that the very nice lady from the new Bishop's office who spoke at our service this morning, although her topic was mainly to do with money, didn't give a hint of that attitude.<br /><br />Rather like our music, and many other things, learning from the world may be valuable (Paul appears to have done so in Athens), aping the world is not.<br /><br />Thanks as ever for the food for thought.<br /><br /><br />*I thought that that is a suitably horrible management-speak term to coin.JonGnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5366621735995057721.post-67946577439570696612015-10-18T14:15:58.947+01:002015-10-18T14:15:58.947+01:00Buildings are a red herring in many respects. It&#...Buildings are a red herring in many respects. It's what happens in and around them that matters.<br /><br />I had recently a chance to experience some multi-sensory worship. What struck me was that the related bible passages spoke remarkably clearly despite the distractions. I did a story-telling course a while back (after many years playng with powerpoint) and discovered that story-telling really did require a lot of care and thought compared to bashing out a few jazzy bullet-point slides. Maybe we just need to be better at telling the story? Otherwise a church conversion experience will become largely archetectural rather than theological. Mind you, story-telling works best when there are some listeners..............how do we get some of those into play? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com