Sermon for the 5th Sunday after Trinity

Sunday 26th June 2005

Preached by Rev Paul Hewitt

So Harry Beale is a granddad! And he’s living with his wife Jesse who has assumed the role of ‘Granny Beale’. Jesse, you’re now Granny Beale! That’s the way it goes. One minute Claire Beale is singing in our Junior Choir and the next minute she’s married to Philip Legge and along comes Harrison Finley. By the way, yesterday was Claire and Philip’s Second Wedding Anniversary, so congratulations on that also.

Last Tuesday was our Diocesan Synod. It’s one of those things that you kind of have to endure. One of the major themes of Bishop Harold Miller’s address was his visitation of the entire Diocese after Think Again. It has all been such an event that it has produced this book. It’s not even a booklet; it’s 434 pages of a Report. It has hundreds of statistics and pie charts and histograms, and, no doubt, it will be an important historical document in years to come. It gives a picture of the Diocese of Down and Dromore in 2005, and it gives a picture of major trends since 1995. There are many positives, of course there are, but it’s not all pleasant reading (not that I have waded through it all). And, to be truthful, numbers and statistics have never really been particularly inspiring. And what such a comprehensive report is actually going to do, I’m not sure. I hope it doesn’t cause a kind of melancholy in some parishes, where parishes are vied against each other. There is a definite overall decline. However, the Bishop claimed that 50 out of 120 churches in Down and Dromore are actually growing, which is wonderful, especially if you’re one of the 50, but what if you’re not?

Baptisms are down by something like 20%, which seems staggering. Today, we’re having our third Baptism this month. I know every month isn’t the same, but it’s a nice comment to make anyway.

How about some of these statistics that are not in the Report? If the population of earth was reduced to that of a small town with 100 people, it would look something like this:

There would be 57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 Americans (north and south)
8 Africans

There would be 52 women and
48 men

There would be 89 heterosexuals and
11 homosexuals

6 people would own 59% of the wealth of the whole world. All of them would be from the United States of America

And think about this:

This morning, if you woke up healthy, then you are happier than the I million people who will die this week

If there is food in your fridge, you have shoes and clothes, you have a bed and a roof, you are richer than 75% of the people in the world

If you have a bank account, money in your wallet and some coins in a moneybox, you belong to the 8% of people in the world who are well to do.

Do you remember the au pair whose first language wasn’t English, and once she shouted at one of the children in the family, not, ‘what on earth are you doing?’ But, ‘What are you doing, on earth?’ Isn’t that a good question for the church? What are you doing, on earth?
What is the Church meant to be doing? Sunday Schools are in serious decline. A high proportion of our worshippers (59%) is over the age of 45, commenting on a Church Growth expert in England who suggested that that the reason why younger people are not there in some of our churches, is that we are there! A rather cruel observation. But it’s as if we’ve turned into a self-preservation society.

I have no lack of confidence in the Church per se; there is no lack of new followers. It might not be the same kind of that we all know now, but there will be a church.

I’ve said it before at Easter Vestries and the like, but with all our plans and strategies and goals and statistics and everything else, I think we’ve forgotten the most basic message of the Church, and that is how we look after each other, how we love each other, and how we serve those in desperate need.

We read a strange couple of verses from Matthew this morning, but that was the gist of it. The kind of chain reaction of those who serve their fellow human beings out of love for Jesus. Give a cup of cold water to one of Jesus’ least significant followers, and you’re giving it to Jesus himself.

Today is not a day to waffle on. Just to lastly mention that Chapter 7 in the Report is called ‘Ten Good Ideas from Parishes in the Diocese’. Number two: “Interactive Website – Glencraig Parish
The parish has a very up to date and interactive website. It includes a virtual tour of the church, animated stories and a version of the site can be accessed from a WAP enabled mobile phone.” And, by the way, our website address is on your service sheet!

How about that?

In all our statistics and our strategies and our goals, let’s never forget what the Church is really for!