Dear Friends,
From time to time I get asked what the different seasonal
colours use in church and on the vestments of clergy mean. It’s like so many
things in church life. We take it for granted that things that are
familiar for us are obvious to everyone, when in fact they’re asking what is
going on and why.
Every now and then, it’s a good exercise to think about what
church must be like for someone who has no previous knowledge or experience of
it. For example, at some of our baptism preparation sessions, I show a short
Youtube clip of the old Cadbury’s Smash advert with the plastic aliens laughing
at the primitive earth people peeling and cooking potatoes.
Then I pose these questions: What would the aliens make of a baptism, and how might we explain baptism to them? (Best answers on a postcard to…)
Then I pose these questions: What would the aliens make of a baptism, and how might we explain baptism to them? (Best answers on a postcard to…)
You might prefer to think about some of the technical
churchy language some of us can find ourselves using. For example, can we all
identify an aumbry, a ciborium, a chasuble, or even a vestibule? Some church
people, when talking about a communion service refer to the Gloria, Sanctus and
Agnus Dei, so we’re speaking Latin even though our services are in English. And
then we refer to the Eucharist, which contains the Kyrie Eleison, and all of a
sudden we’re talking in Greek. No wonder newcomers can be confused.
In the middle of June, we’re being asked nationally in the
Church of England to regard June 17th as a Sunday to invite people
to come to a church service. That’s great – and I hope you do. But moments like
that are a reminder to us all that to be truly welcoming to newcomers, we need
to go further than just a friendly smile at the door. We also need to be
befrienders, interpreters, and go the extra mile to ensure that people are
enabled to participate as freely and as fully as possible in every aspect of
our church’s life. Otherwise if we confuse people with words like legilium*, they might be making their
escape through the narthex**, never
to return to share in our koinonia***.
With all good wishes
Mike
* a legilium is a folding lectern or bookstand, often used
by priests for the first part of a service, before being packed away
** the narthex of a church is a lobby area at the west end
of a church building.
*** koinonia is the Greek word for fellowship, sharing or
participation.
No comments:
Post a Comment