Over the last seven Sundays we have had six Baptisms in Glencraig and we’re delighted to have had Alana Elizabeth baptised today. It’s wonderful to welcome young families and their babies into our Church; it’s the best thing we could do!

It was even suggested to me recently that we could baptise, perhaps, two or three or babies at one time, instead of having one nearly every Sunday, and this reminded me of the Clergyman who, because of demand, introduced a new font at the front of the Church so that from now on he could baptise babies at both ends!

It’s wonderful how we can welcome so many young married couples and their young families to Glencraig, and that they want their children baptised here. I hope it gives out a positive message of welcome, and although we are unashamedly a traditional Church, there is plenty of room for creative worship and a slightly different approach to church, particularly at our Family Service on the first Sunday of each month.

This is all the more interesting if you would ever get round to reading Bishop Harold’s recent letter to his clergy. No one ever wants to talk of decline, least of all someone like our Diocesan Bishop, Harold Miller, but he cannot help but quote the facts; that Sunday School numbers in the Diocese of Down and Dromore have dropped by more than 50% in the last ten years. The figures he quoted for Baptisms were these; that in 2005 the number of baptisms was only 40% of what it was in 1965.

I hope you know about our young people’s Church attendance cards and the board that holds them in the Church Porch. I’ve just counted the number of slots this morning, and it can hold 42 Church Attendance Cards, and then we give out prizes, well, actually, not just to the best attenders, but to all of them. There must be a dozen unclaimed book prizes still sitting in the Vestry. But the point I was just going to make is that when our dear friend Mr. John Scroggie made for me that board to hold all those cards, many moons ago, it was too small! Now take a look at it as you go by! So, things change and certainly attitudes change and, perhaps most of all, ‘Church going’ habits have changed dramatically.

I would love us to change our use of words, and instead of saying you ‘go’ to Glencraig, I would much rather we say we ‘belong’ to Glencraig. You belong to Glencraig; you are a part of our Church family just as much as you are part of a family when you go home. Together, we rejoice at a baptism, or even at a wedding, as we did yesterday, and together we cry at a funeral. That is what being a part of a family is all about. Even when we have wayward sons and daughters, as any family has (and I have no one particularly in mind!) we have to make sure that the door is always open; the door is always open.

Today has been designated Disability Awareness Sunday and, however much I’d like to avoid it, it would be churlish to do so. This is the third Disability Awareness Sunday and it is, among other things, an opportunity to raise awareness of the issues which face many people with a disability who are often isolated and marginalised by society.

And also, we have been provided with a Briefing paper produced by the Centre on Human Rights for Disabled People, and yet also ‘Roofbreaker Guides’, a document produced by an organisation called ‘Through the Roof’ which seeks to serve churches and community organisations by helping them be inclusive of disabled people in every area of their activities.

Now I could quote figures at you from that briefing paper such as 20.5% of the working age population have a disability, but I want to concentrate on what it says at the very end of the paper; “In short, a person who is socially excluded is at greater risk of becoming disabled, and someone who becomes disabled is at greater risk of being excluded”.

I’m sure you think I’ve gone off on a completely different tangent from where I started, but really we talking about the same thing. If a Church is not welcoming to every aspect of society, then it is not a Church.

What I find in the New Testament and what I find in Church practice, however, is often quite incongruous. Sometimes I find Churches which are finding reasons to exclude people, rather than finding reasons to include people. They often have the veneer of welcome, but, after a while, if you don’t measure up, you’ll find yourself (to use the vocabulary of the day) ‘isolated and marginalised’.

We’re getting conflicting messages, I find. How will some Churches honestly respond to yet another survey I have with me this morning being carried out by the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland? This is to do with the churches’ response to social diversity in Northern Ireland. To quote, “It asks about their relationships, attitudes and practices towards three minority populations: (Listen to this!) minority ethnic populations, minority religious populations and populations with minority status because of their sexual identity.” All in all it is a very detailed survey and it is not out of synch with what we have been talking about.

Relationships and attitudes towards Minority Ethnic and Religious Populations may seem more straightforward in certain ways, but what about relationships, attitudes and practices towards people who are bi or trans-sexual, lesbian or gay? Here’s a question: “Would you object to an event celebrating lesbian or gay identity taking place in your local area?” Or, “As a church leader, would you pray with someone who is lesbian or gay?”

I know you may think I’m off my trolley, but I assure you this is all of major concern within Anglicanism, especially with the Lambeth Conference coming up next year for all Bishops within the Anglican Communion.

The real point is that I think a Church has to make up its mind whether it is truly a welcoming Church or not. Let’s forget about the veneer, let’s be truly up-front! Let’s be honest and warm and sincere about our welcome. Because I cannot get out of my mind those wonderful words of Jesus, “I will never turn away anyone who comes to me”.