I’m sure many of us, if not all of us, will have seen the recently reported figures regarding religion from last year’s census. Those figures show that, for the first time since census records began, those who regard themselves as Christians, are now a minority in England and Wales. But if we look a little deeper into these figures, I think they really do beg the question, what do people really mean when they say they’re Christians?
According to the census, 46% of the people in England and Wales say that they’re Christians. That is a minority, but it still relates to 27.5 million people, and we know that church attendances are nowhere near that high. Whilst it’s quite easy to find up to date statistics about church attendance, it’s not easy to find actual figures for church attendance, the number of people who are going to church on a regular basis. In 2019 church attendance in the C of E is reported as having been just over 850,000 per week but it’s also reported that post-pandemic attendance is about 2/3 of pre-Covid figures and if we spread that across all Christian denominations, we’re probably looking at church attendances of around 1.8 million per week which only equates to around 3% of the population.
That probably doesn’t mean very much, it’s just a lot of statistics, but let me put those figures into a local context. Looking at the figures I could find, and taking the demographics of this benefice into account, the population of the parishes, the number of people who may be of other faiths, of other Christian denominations or of no faith. If all those people who say that they’re Christians actually came to church we could have congregations of around 250 at St Mark’s and over 900 at St Gabriel’s. The reality is, we have average congregations in both parishes in the 30s. Those aren’t great figures, but they’re somewhere near the average for C of E attendances these days. So where are all these other people, the other 43% who say that they’re Christians but don’t come to church?
I think what these figures show is a number of different problems that all come under one overarching problem. One problem is that of people who used to come to church but don’t or won’t anymore. I’m not talking here about people who can’t come to church because of ill health or work commitments and so on, but those who could come to church and don’t.
I’m sure each and everyone of us knows more than one person like this. I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve met since I’ve been vicar here who’ve told me that they used to go to one of the churches in this benefice but don’t anymore.
But when I’ve asked them why they don’t come to church anymore or why they don’t come back, I’m often met with silence or evasion. I don’t get an answer, people change the subject and on the few occasions I do get an answer it’s almost invariably to do with something that’s gone on in church in the past; an argument with another member of the congregation, or with the vicar, and because of that, they’ve stopped going to church. And even though the other person or people involved very often don’t go to that church anymore, the person I’m talking to still won’t come back. And yet, also almost invariably, these people still consider themselves to be Christians.
There are 3 problems here. One is the absolutely appalling, un-Christian way in which Church members can, and at times do, treat one another. Their lack of love for one another. Another problem is the un-Christian bearing of grudges against other members of the Church. Their lack of forgiveness. These things really show a complete failure of members of the Church to take to heart the kind of thing we read in our Epistle this morning when St Paul urges the Church in Rome to
‘…live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.’
Yet another problem here is that these things feed belief in that old chestnut, that you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. Really? Says who? Says people who don’t want to go to church but who still want to regard themselves as Christians, nevertheless. Well, I’ve got news for those people; yes you do have to go to church to be a Christian. Who says so? Jesus Christ himself says so. If we can be a Christian without going to church, why did Jesus call a Church into being in the first place? For the sake of it? Because it seemed like a good idea at the time? No, he called the Church into being to carry out the Great Commission he left his disciples to go out into the world, teach people all the things he’d taught them and to baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The very name ‘Christian’ means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, to follow his teaching and example and don’t we read in the Scriptures that it was Jesus’ custom to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath? So, to those who say you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian, I say, you are not a Christian if you don’t go to church because, you’re not only failing to follow Jesus’ teaching and example, but also, by your words and actions, you’re saying that Jesus was wrong.
Speaking of baptism brings us to what I think is the biggest group of people who say that they’re Christians but don’t come to church.
In fact, most of them have never come to church on a regular basis and those are the people who believe themselves to be Christians simply because they’ve been baptised.
Most people call baptism, ‘Christening’ don’t they. But the word ‘Christening’ gives the impression that being baptised makes someone a Christian, and that’s simply not true. Being a Christian means to devote your life, every day of your life to at least trying to live according to the teaching and example of Christ. Being a Christian isn’t something you suddenly become, ‘Hey Presto’ as if by magic because you’ve stood or been held over a font while a priest has poured water over your head in church. Being baptised, being Christened, makes someone a member of the Church, and it’s as a member of the Church, in church, where people learn to become Christians by learning about Jesus, his teaching and his example of life. Unfortunately, I think the C of E itself undermines that understanding of what baptism is about, and itself feeds the misunderstanding that you can be a Christian without coming to church.
At baptism, people promise, or parents and godparents promise on behalf of children to repent of their sins, to turn to Christ and follow him. They promise to take their place within the life and worship of the Christ’s Church. Those who can answer for themselves promise to continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship and in the breaking of bread and prayers. In other words, at baptism, people promise to become and remain members of the Church, in church. And yet on the C of E’s own website we see a distinction between ‘Adult Baptism’ and ‘Christening’ which is for children too young to answer for themselves, as though these were two different things. But there is only one sacrament of baptism whatever the age of the person being baptised. And in the section about ‘Christening’, regardless of the promises parents and godparents will have to make to be part of the worshipping community of the Church, in church, we read that ‘Christening ‘ is, in part, about helping children
‘… to learn more about their Christian faith, through their church and in other ways.’
And in other ways? Is it really any wonder that people think they don’t have to come to church to be a Christian?
So we have all these problems when it comes to getting those who call themselves Christians to actually come to church. But I think there is one problem that overarches all these, and that is the problem of what it really means to be a Christian.
I’ve already answered that question in part when I said that to be a Christian means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to try to live our lives in accordance with his teaching and example. But that means asking some soul-searching questions of ourselves about how well we do that. It means being completely honest with ourselves about how well we do that. And it means being prepared to put in some hard work to amend our lives accordingly so that we can put ourselves right with God and having the discipline to do that each and every day.
But people seem to think they can be Christians without doing this. People want to live their lives on their own terms and still call themselves Christians. They don’t want to live their lives on Christ’s terms because that means they’ll have to admit their faults, their sins, and change. They’ll have to repent as John the Baptist called people to do in preparation for the coming of Christ. And perhaps they don’t want to come to church and won’t come to church because they know that they might hear there that they must do these things if they really are going to be Christians.
To be a Christian means to live, in so far as we can, in the same way that Christ himself lived, and to strive to do that each and every day of our lives. So, as we prepare for Christ’s coming, let’s look at our own lives and ask ourselves what more do we need to do? What do we need to change about our lives so that we really can call ourselves Christians? Let’s try to be more loving towards one another and more forgiving of each other. Let’s be more willing to accept our faults, to confess our sins, and to repent so that we can be the Christians we claim to be. Let’s do this so that we can proclaim our Christianity with confidence because we’re good examples of what it means to be Christians. Let’s do these things so that we can call people to the church by saying that this is where we learned to be the truly Christian people we are. This is where we learned what it means to call ourselves Christians and to be those Christians in our daily lives. And let’s do these things so that we can help others to learn how to be Christians too. Not just for our good because it’s what we’re called to do as Christians, not just for the good of our churches, so that we can keep them open, but for the good of everyone who does come to church and for the good of the world, as Christ intended and commanded the Christians who make up his Church to do.
Amen.
The Propers for Advent 2 can be viewed here.
Parish Church of St Mark Chadderton 