Check out this amazing reflection from Simon K on radical openness in Norfolk, UK, along with pictures (the text of the photo: Welcome to Threxton Church. The door is never locked. Please stay as long as you wish and enjoy the peace.)
It is very rare for a non-Christian to suddenly decide to start going to
church services, and turn up at 10am on a Sunday morning. Far more
likely, they will wander into an empty church building to sit in the
silence, to be touched by a sense of the numinous, and to immerse
themselves in a deep, ancient peace. Only later may they decide to
attend a service, and they may never do so - but still, if they
have been touched by Christ's peace then the church building, and the
Church of England, have served their purpose. Some churchwardens tell me that they keep their churches locked because
of vandalism and theft. But this is complete nonsense: Ecclesiatical
Insurance, the main church insurers, pay out the vast majority of money
on claims for damage caused by break-ins, not for items stolen or
vandalised. Statistically, a church which is kept locked all the time
is far more likely to be vandalised, far more likely to be broken into,
and even slightly more likely to have something stolen from it. Above all else, though, protection of property is not a Gospel value. A locked church is a dying church, however the Sunday club may choose to smugly comfort itself.
Read the rest here.
Read the rest here.
Anon, and peace,
Chris
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