Nice and 'simple'

The book I'm ploughing through at the moment is well worth a read. Written by the Bishop of Durham ('don't you know'!), thankfully it is by the pen of Tom Wright (for those who appreciate an easier read!) rather than his more meaty N.T. Wright books (aimed at those who don't mind chewing cardboard!).

Anyway - Simply Christianity is going doing well. Acknowledging that for many people the very word 'church' is itself a turn-off with overtones of 'large, dark buildings, pompous religious pronouncements, false solemnity and rank hypocrisy' (they obviously haven't been to 'croquet church' in Shandy Park), the Bish concentrates on four very contemporary themes, namely the quest for justice, the thirst for spirituality, the desire for relationship and an appreciation of beauty.

But as he writes he challenges the negative view of 'church' and attempts to reclaim a healthy perspective by pointing out that for many 'church'...

'... is a place of welcome and laughter, of healing and hope, of friends and family and justice and new life. It's where the homeless drop in for a bowl of soup, and the elderly for womeone to chat to. It's where one group is working to help drug addicts, and another to campaign for global justice. It's where you'll find people learning to pray, coming to faith, struggling with temptation, finding new purpose and a new power to carry it out. it's where people bring their own small faith and discover that when they get together with others to worship the true God, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. No church is like this all the time. But a remarkable number of churches are partly like that for quite a lot of the time.'

I don't know about you, but I like that, I'd sign up to that description and I'm pretty sure others would too - given the choice. I'm fortunate to have experienced church like this and remain convinced that its the kind of church (what Bill Hybels calls the 'hope for the world') that we here in Stratford are called to be. If you do to, and you fancy a challenge - in the words of Danny Wallace, come and join us.