Giles Fraser explains in The Guardian Why the writing could be on the wall for the Church of England in the inner city.
Ian Paul writes on his blog about adverts for leaders in church organizations: Searching for Superman.
Paul Vallely asks in the Church Times: Is tweeting in church bad manners?
Richard Chartres writes for the Anglican Communion News Service that In the beginning was communication.
I have two problems with the idea of tweeting in church and they have nothing to do with manners. A church service is a moment of collective focusing on God. It is something we have to actively participate in for it to be meaningful. Tweeting removes us from actively worshipping and makes us an observer and reporter of the Service rather than a participant. I’m also concerned that tweeting excerpts from a sermon while it is being delivered stops us from concentrating on what is being said or sung or prayed. I don’t believe that many people can genuinely listen… Read more »
I second your thoughts, Erika. As a preacher I know that I would not want people to tweet as I went along, since a sermon is (or should be) a sustained argument. The tweeter wouldn’t know how the preacher was going to develop the thing they were tweeting about until the end. They might have had some strong reaction at the time which was entirely transformed by the things that were said later. It is perfectly fine to note privately your reaction to some point that is being made, but unwise and unfair to the preacher, it seems to me,… Read more »
Used to work in a parish like the one described by Giles Fraser in a midlands city. The tiny group of people who made up the church were some of the most generous I have encountered, giving away 20% of their income in one church. There must be ways to refocus the collective mind of the church on the dilemma Giles outlines so well. We cannot abandon large swathes of the urban population.
Dr Fraser’s piece is interesting – not least because of what he writes about finance. I have only been to a midweek evening service earlier this year at St Mary’s Newington (Newington Butts), so cannot really vouch for the weakness of the parish to which he alludes. There were only five of us in the congregation, but that was hardly unexpected. Although I have no sense of smell, I did not notice any undue grubbiness by the tower. Perhaps I was there on a good day. The church did have a slightly tired air to it, but not more than,… Read more »
It is certainly disrespectful to tweet in church. In the Kingdom of Blog, however, perfectly ok – there’s a disclaimer!
How can the CofE just cease to exist in the inner city? I don’t understand. IF establishment is worth a d@mn, it would seem to be to ENSURE it remains there.
*IF establishment is worth a d@mn, it would seem to be to ENSURE it remains there.*
Establishment doesn’t provide any income, does it? For example, listed building orders on CofE premises have to be funded by the CofE, not the state.