I had a little bit of space this morning so have just watched "A Church in Crisis" which was still available on BBCi player.The final image of the programme was of a candle being blown out as Reevel Alderson stated "The Church must change if its light across this nation isn't to be snuffed out " This was dramatic but also poignantly inaccurate. The Church must change - we are constantly changing as followers of Jesus, our faith should challenge us and makes us people on the move, however the "light" of the Church, which is of course Christ shining through His people, will never be snuffed out.
I really want to make another programme, full of the stories of people who have known and know this light in their lives; the child who went to a church holiday club this summer and experienced the love of God through the people who led it, the young person who goes to a Cosy Cafe during their school lunch break and finds a church alive and welcoming, a parent who finds a home at the toddler group on a Wednesday morning when they have spoken to no other adult all week, a broken middle age man who finds friendship and purpose as he chats in the pub with some guys from the church, and an elderly person whose life is touched by the light of Christ as a young person brings her a cup of tea at the end of a church service.
When these stories, and many more, are told the nation will see the light of Christ through His Church. "The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out." (John 1, The Message)
Dear Jen;
ReplyDeleteI've just read your blog about my recent documentary: "A Church in Crisis?" May I make two points? First, the title of the programme included the question mark -- essential to indicate that we weren't claiming there was a crisis. Second, you refer to the final image -- of the candle. Originally we were going to have the light snuffed out, but changed that to a flickering, guttering candle. Is it going to go out, or will it survive the draughts and come back as strong and bright as ever. Taken in that context, it offers the challenge to followers of the Church to ensure the "light" is never snuffed out. Indeed the Minister of Colston-Milton, in the programme, insisted that if membership continued to decline, then people would meet together in houses, just as they had done in the early days of the Church. And we did talk about the initiatives being taken both by the Church of Scotland corporatively and in local congregations such as Drymen to spread the Word in new, possibly more relevant ways. Thank you for your interest in the programme which was designed to mark the 450th anniversary of the Reformation: a signal event in Scottish history which was sadly under-marked by the Church as a whole, and only belatedly by the Scottish Government. Regards, Reevel Alderson.