Bill Meischke

Previously, I discussed some of the issues that faced us when looking for a church where we would feel at home. The English evangelical tradition is quite different from the Continental reformed tradition that we have grown up in. When we go to different churches, the first thing that is evident is the ‘packaging’ or liturgy and quite often, the packaging prevents us from properly appreciating the contents. It would be quite unrealistic of us to move to a different culture and expect to find traditions which are similar to the Continental reformed tradition.

The essentials of worship: prayer, confession, bible reading, exposition of the word and praise are all present where we worship. But there is no votum and salutation, there is no offering, there is no benediction (we say the words of the benediction as a prayer) there are only four songs, we don’t hear the ten commandments, in 18 months we have only once used one of the creeds and the number of times we have prayed the Lord’s Prayer together can be counted on the fingers of one hand. We have been here for three Octobers and I have not yet heard a Reformation day sermon. But, if there is prayer, confession, bible reading, exposition of the word and praise does it matter that some of the things that we hold dear and which are ‘traditions’ are not present ? What matters most when choosing a church (and planting a church) is making sure that no-one is prevented from coming to a saving faith in Christ and that we enjoy spiritual growth. Churches are not spiritual and social comfort stops – churches are the places where God allows the process of salvation to continue. Churches are where God is glorified and not primarily places where traditions are perpetrated. Churches are collections of witnesses to the resurrection passionate about sharing the truth.

We have come to accept and even enjoy the packing of the word in our new church it hasn’t had a negative impact on our spiritual lives, in fact it has had quite the opposite effect; it has opened our eyes to different ways of proclaiming the gospel. And, God has blessed this work, my observations in the congregation where we worship is that more than half of the members were not born in Christian homes and more than two thirds have joined in the last ten years.

Having to go through a process of finding a spiritual home forced us to evaluate what is important and what is not important. The church we have ended up in is God centred, faithfully teaches God’s word and administers sacraments (more of that later). There is no outward evidence of discipline as a formal process but then in many Reformed Churches discipline has also faded and is only addressed when there is no alternative. Unfortunately, even then it often only serves to drive people out of the Reformed Church rather than drawing them closer in a loving embrace.

The administration of the sacraments is different to the manner which is ‘conventional’ in Reformed circles. Baptism is administered as a child (either as a baptism or as a naming ceremony) or as an adult.. Baptism can be by sprinkling or immersion and ‘christenings’ are also accommodated. The Anglican tradition of God-parents also continues. Celebration of the Lord’s Supper is usually done at a mid week monthly prayer meeting; this is to prevent those who do not understand from participating and eating and drinking judgement unto themselves. The first mid-week prayer meeting I attended was an immense surprise. After having attended Reformed Church prayer meetings where a handful of people turn up, I was overjoyed to be in a room with some 200 others, at least 100 of whom were under 25. A ninety minute prayer meeting (small groups of three of four praying in blocks of for ten minutes about a preset list of prayer points inter-dispersed with talks on mission and events and a meditation) may not be what is good for everyone but it does bring a congregation together in a powerful way.

It is fair to ask, if we are comfortable in our church. The answer is yes although it has taken time to become involved. It doesn’t take too long for new things to replace what we left behind. I still can’t claim to be comfortable with the process of turning around an talking to my neighbour while children leave for Sunday school but, the way it is used in Dundonald is good, people get up and talk to strangers and make sure that you stay for coffee and that you are ‘captured’.

From the churches that we have visited, we have learned that the most important persons that we will meet are the greeters, the ushers, the person that talks to you in church and the person that takes you to coffee. If this doesn’t work then the preacher has an uphill battle because it appears that the passion to bring people into a faith community is missing - it appears that the faith that is professed is not living in the lives of church members; it makes it appear that the church is for the current members and that reaching out to the lost or to visitors is something for ‘someone else’ to do.

I’d like to finish this discourse with some observations about outreach which are based on our experiences:

• Somewhere in each area there must be a group that can be encouraged to start a church plant; at Dundonald, the original families met in the school hall for three years before they started to attract others;

• Perhaps we worry too much about training and preparation, there is a point in time where we must move in faith, believing that God will provide the necessary skills and resources;

• An other way of looking at this is that someone who is 40 and who has regularly attended two services most Sundays, attended Bible study and reflected on the Word has probably has more training than most seminary graduates – don’t tell me that you haven’t been prepared or trained;

• Outreach starts somewhere simple, a local school and use their buildings. Do some research and find a school that has a Christian head, ideally the core families should send their children there ( I know this conflicts with the ideals of Christian education); Work on hospitality, good greeters could have a greater impact than preaching

• Have a really good web site; websites were our first contact with most churches - churches with no web site didn’t get a visit, churches with poor websites were looked at after the others, churches with no clear statement of belief didn’t make it onto the list; having spoken to a number of people that have joined the Dundonald congregation, I know that my approach is not unusual or isolated.

• Have clear signage, the first time I tried to attend this church I walked right past it because I was too close to the sign.

• Opening church doors for a few hours on Sundays is not evangelism; the three churches that are involved in Wimbledon plan and conduct large outreach activities: last year they hired a theatre in Wimbledon to explain in an exciting way why the Bible’s teaching on the church was different from that espoused in the Da Vinci Code. Preparation takes months and months and revolves around prayer meetings for members and socials that members can invite friends to: wine tastings, darts matches in pubs, golf competitions – anything that will make our friends and non-Christian colleagues comfortable so that we get real opportunities to witness.

• Simplify church liturgies, very few newcomers will have empathy with the preservation of Continental European church traditions.

The extent to which we can compromise when we establish church plants or mission groups is similar to the compromises we can make in ecumenical movements. A three tiered structure was summarized by Martin Luther in 1537 in the Articles of Schmalkald.

1. First there Are the ‘sublime articles of divine majesty’, the Trinitarian and Christological dogmas - they can never be compromised

2. Second are the main articles of our Christian faith that teach salvation through Christ alone, that we are justified through faith alone and the consequences of these doctrines – these differentiate us from false teachings and form the basis of our worldviews, churchviews and peopleviews

3. Third are the articles on which discussion is necessary: law and gospel, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the offices, confession and aspects of justification, forms of church government - where salvation is not impeded we can compromise

This is not to say that anything is unimportant but that we seem to tie ourselves up in knots attempting to plant mature churches full of mature Christians that will immediately fit into our existing structures. Having worshipped in many different churches over the years, I can freely say that I feel most at home in Reformed Churches that use a liturgy based on the Dort liturgy and that think in terms of the Belgic Confession and that have a Presbyterian form of church government and a covenant theology. The sad thing is that more and more Reformed church members don’t know the riches they have and can’t articulate them.

It seems that the history of reformed churches and the culture of our churches has equipped us better to confront heresies than to convert heathens.

While this has been - I also feel that at times our church order has not been the ‘tie that binds’ but rather the ‘cord that chokes’.

I don’t want to offend those that believe that the church order was actually written in fine print on the back of the tablets that Moses carried down from the mountain but I do believe that we have an obligation to remove structural impediments to outreach and perhaps a rethink is necessary and an additional article could be added to the church order. The church order of Dordt was based on an assumption that the whole world was Christian and was primarily focussed on keeping the existing churches pure and working together. In our time when less than 5% of the population have regular contact with a church we need to become more creative in our packaging without detracting from the centrality of the Word of God. The church order should be the ‘tie that binds’, not the ‘cord that chokes’.

So here is something to think about. A simple addition to the church order that can remove a lot of stress and allow everyone to get on with the ‘Father’s business’

There is more coming – next time I will look at Evangelicalism vs Anglicanism – a crisis in the local church.