Authors: Bridie Boyd, Jess Hall, Tepene Marsden
Jess Hall, Bridie Boyd and Tepene Marsden are presenting short talk on Hope in Church. The lack of numbers at Sunday Services has represented a dwindling hope for many in fate of church. These three offer an alternative perspective, suggesting a different view on goals and outcomes might highlight that hope is here and faring well!
Virtual Theology Chat Thursday 20 March 2025 7pm. All welcome to Zoom in https://anglicanchurch-nz.zoom.us/j/94599431152
Many people are looking for hope for the church in current expressions of worship and traditional outcomes, but what if hope lies in doing something different? According to the 2023 Faith and Belief Study, commissioned by the Wilberforce Foundation,https://www.wilberforce.org.nz/ though affiliation with religious institutions is on the decline, interest in spirituality is increasing in Aotearoa. As young adults in the church, it is striking to us just how few of our generation there are attending Sunday services. Many have been wondering: in a climate where people are longing for genuine connection and explorations in faith, are our services effectively meeting this need? Thinning numbers may indicate not, and some feel increasingly stuck about how to proceed. Could it be time to try something different?
In this paper we explore how we found hope for our community through reinterpreting Sunday service success metrics and outcomes. This has enabled us to develop thinking and tools which our community has trialled over the last year, in the form of an intergenerational discussion-based service, at the Anglican parish of All Souls, Christchurch. https://www.allsouls.org.nz/Through the 11.30 ‘Faith Discussions with Brunch’ service, we have witnessed deepening faith engagement, seeing people grow in wisdom and in relationship with God.
Our presentation will include a description of how our service is run, reflections on the current cultural backdrop of Christianity in Aotearoa, and practical tools which other leaders and layfolk might engage in their own contexts. Through our korero, we will demonstrate that there is hope for the church when we trust God and are bold and creative. We are built for this, because we serve a creative God, and we as God’s agents can exercise that creativity. It is our firm belief that the church can meaningfully engage people on their spiritual journey if we are prepared to respond to the invitation of different pathways.
Suggested Bibliography:
Brown-Taylor, Barbara. Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2012.
Comer, John Mark. Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become like Him. Do as He did. London: SPCK, 2024.
Goheen, Michael W., and Craig G. Bartholomew. Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008.
Harper, Brad, and Paul Louis Metzger. Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2009.
Johnston, Alex, and Susan Gill. Living Your Life God’s Way: Finding and Using Your Unique Gifts. Nelson: The Copy Press, 2022.
Lawerance, Brother. The Practice of the Presence of God. Trans. E. M. Blaiklock. Great Britain: Hodder & Stoughton, 2009.
Mackenzie, Alistair, and Wayne Kirkland. Where’s God on Monday? Christchurch: NavPress, 2002.
McGrath, Alistair E. Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.
Wilberforce Foundation. Faith and Belief, Te Patapātai Whakapono: Exploring the Spiritual Landscape in Aotearoa New Zealand. Wilberforce Foundation, November 2023.
