dwindling congregations c of e

Thank you for answering my question Jacky.

I have long wondered why this should be given the fact that we profess to be a Christian country, especially when sounding aghast at the number of Muslims in the country now. I constantly read posts on social media platforms from people who are worried that we’ll have Shariah law here soon, yet those same people wouldn’t dream of attending church regularly. It’s a puzzle to me.

In the Bible, it says, those who are against us are not for us. And those who are for us are not against us.

The answer is in the last sentence. There are many in that second category. Many are not against us, even if they rarely step inside a church.
And they seem to understand and realise, what could happen if our numbers drop further.

What do you mean when you say the priest asks you to say the Lord's prayer the way He taught us JackyB and you refuse to speak in tongues.

I mean that when everyone around me says the Lord's Prayer in German, I say it in English because that's how I was taught it.

Mof M Bs wrote what do u mean Caleo please ?

(sorry new mouse cant handle it).
By "myths " I mean the foundation stories that back up any religious or other belief system.

For instance I myself can make sense of the Christian foundation story only when I interpret it symbolically.

What do you mean when you say the priest asks you to say the Lord's prayer the way He taught us JackyB and you refuse to speak in tongues.

The minister often tells the congregation to pray the way He taught us when introducing the Lord's prayer, but that has nothing to do with speaking in tongues.

Apologies if I've misunderstood.

Nannytopsy

Our Benefice has 9 churches and one minister. We have a service once a month and a congregation of about 10. The village is about 250 people. Some of the churches have smaller congregations than ours. People want the church to be there, to provide a graveyard for their relatives and to be there for funerals, christenings and weddings but contribute nothing to the upkeep. Who do they think pays for the heating, the roof repairs or cutting the grass? I am PCC secretary but also doing a lot of the church warden’s job as she resigned. At 67 I am the youngest on the PCC by over 10 years. Is it worth raising the money to repair the roof?

This is so true.

Non churchgoers expect the building to be there when they want it for their wedding or whatever, hoovered, dusted, brasses shining, churchyard neat and tidy, grass mown, path weeded…..

Where are they the rest of the time?

So, as implied by my previous posts. I attend a local Catholic church and sing in the choir. C of E myself, of course. I refuse to speak in tongues. The priest asks us to say the Lord's prayer the way He taught us. So I say it in English, as I do all the responses, the way I was taught. For the sung responses I join in in German.

Callistemon21

^When we first started learning it I found a YouTube video of Elvis singing it and sent it into the choir WhatsApp group. I am not a fan of Elvis but his version is very moving^
I shall look for that, JackyB

How Great Thou Art

We sang it this week at a funeral, it is a very moving hymn.

When we first started learning it I found a YouTube video of Elvis singing it and sent it into the choir WhatsApp group. I am not a fan of Elvis but his version is very moving
I shall look for that, JackyB

I wento to church this morning - Welsh Methodist, huge church in large town 33 attended, nobody under 70 I reckon.

Our Benefice has 9 churches and one minister. We have a service once a month and a congregation of about 10. The village is about 250 people. Some of the churches have smaller congregations than ours. People want the church to be there, to provide a graveyard for their relatives and to be there for funerals, christenings and weddings but contribute nothing to the upkeep. Who do they think pays for the heating, the roof repairs or cutting the grass? I am PCC secretary but also doing a lot of the church warden’s job as she resigned. At 67 I am the youngest on the PCC by over 10 years. Is it worth raising the money to repair the roof?

Speaking in tongues - win, if you don't understand what you're saying, how does it build your faith? And how will it encourage others to believe? I'm a Christian, I just don't get it.

mumofmadboys

What do you mean Caleo please ?

I don't understand either.

Well they could always give the ancient churches back to the Catholics.....

What do you mean Caleo please ?

Grandetante, you say "religious beliefs are dwindling" . Some religious beliefs such as the Christian moral tenet , the Golden Rule to do as you would be done by, are as strong as ever. However as long as ministers continue to preach Christianity based on miraculous events there will be few believers among educated classes. People like me are crying out for reasonable religion!

I moved to a small village with CofE Church and started to attend weekly, as I used to where I lived before. Unfortunately, the Church was"run" by one particular churchwarden. She has single-handedly destroyed the church, making families and newcomers, such as myself, feel unwelcome, refusing offers of help where needed and generally making people feel that church isn't the place to be. I eventually stopped going after an incident with a young mother who needed a little help and friendliness at the Remembrance Service. The church was, soon after, put into the equivalent of special measures with an outside church taking over. The congregation is literally dying off. This particular churchwarden has finally been replaced, but the damage done is so great that a recent special afternoon family activity church had an attendance of zero. It will take a huge effort to get the church back on it's feet.

The Bible says, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” —Jude 20. Speaking in tongues stimulates faith and helps us learn how to trust God more fully. For example, faith must be exercised to speak with tongues because the Holy Spirit specifically directs the words we speak.

'Often the preaching in such churches has little or nothing to do with Jesus, God or anything else' I take exception to your sentence Mirren . My DH has been a vicar for the vast majority of his working life. He is not an evangelical. He took considerable time and effort to write sermons while following the C of E's lectionary for the weekly readings. All traditions have their riches and we need to open our eyes to what other Christian denominations have to offer. God cannot be put in a box! No one has all the answers.
Most priests/ ministers are very hard working. If they are not preaching about God as revealed in Jesus Christ what are they talking about Mirren?

our local medieval church has choral evensong on the second Sunday at 3pm, rather than the traditional 6pm which we would all be delighted to attend rather than have the afternoon cut in half
there does not seem to be any pastoral care although five missions in underdeveloped countries
I am old enough to remember moving to a new house and the vicar calling wihin days to welcome us, off to Sunday school we duly went.

An attractive vicar, rector, local smiley church wardens, choir,
would ensure our devoted participation in Church. The commercialisation, push to online, indifference to local concerns and hostile notices on the boards means that once the handful of very elderly ladies attending afternoon church die off, our beautiful historic church will be increasingly redundant.
A happy, loving, embracing vicar with local connections and preferably a young family would be so well received, make such a difference, alas, as has been said here already, we are stuck with a lacklustre incumbent.

Mallin

There was a trombone player busking somewhere near the weekly market. Sitting there drinking my coffee at the council run community cafe, I recognised the hymn “How great thou art” and was taken back to my childhood. Morning assembly at my combined Infant and Junior School back in the 40’s consisted of three hymns and a few announcements. 15 hymns a week for some years and I still remember the words to all of them. A young couple nr me started saying what a beautiful tune he was playing but they didn’t recognise it and that it must surely be a newcomer to the charts.
Enough said.

Our choirmaster translated it into German and arranged it and we actually sang it last Sunday. It even got spontaneous applause - the service was very informal as it was on the fairground and an ecumenical service so not structured in the usual way.

When we first started learning it I found a YouTube video of Elvis singing it and sent it into the choir WhatsApp group. I am not a fan of Elvis but his version is very moving.

Our local Roman Catholic church is full to bursting every Sunday. It no doubt has something to do with an excellent primary school in the vicinity 😂

If you look around, the churches that openly speak the Gospel , the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his gift of grace and salvation are thriving.
The good news is attractive.
These type of churches , sometimes termed evangelical , are growing all over the country. Ours is thriving with members of every age , different nationalities , young men etc
Sadly , those more traditional churches such as the old Cof E , that stick to liturgy and rote aren't doing well.
Often the preaching in such churches has little or nothing to do with Jesus ,God or anything else.
Many older people do enjoy the comfort of the service they have attended for many years and hate any change.
Sadly ,as they age ,they are not replaced because the cultural norm is no longer that everyone should attend church on Sunday.

That’s no longer a church. I don’t know what it has become - maybe a good book club?

The reasons you have given for its demise are sorrowful. Unless you can bring in and recruit younger members (good luck with that!) this congregation is pretty much over.

I’m sure you’re grieving what was a stable, spiritual, grounding ritual for your life. I have not attended church in 22 yrs but it has not diminished my beliefs and the power of prayer - I live my life on a “wing and a prayer” everyday and still feel connected to my faith. You’ll be satisfied too if you have to go that route.

Nothing wrong with a book club! 🙂
USA Gundy

Caleo

different needs, some need a friendly community, some need moral guidance, some need church rituals, some need a place for calm and reassurance, some need a reasonable myth devoid of supernatural going on such as miracles

And some want to meet with other Christians for worship and prayer.

Grandtante I think many don't want to be seen as forcing their beliefs on others. I will offer to pray, invite to church but that's it.