A new book hitting shelves this week flies in the face of gloomy predictions of church decline by setting out exactly why so many people still head to their local churches each Sunday.
What Am I Doing Here? is the latest offering from Church House, the publishing group of the Church of England. It brings together cartoonist Dave Walker and author Hilary Brand to give readers a fresh but no-nonsense explanation of the Anglican faith.
The pocket-size book uses the main weekly communion service to not only explain why people go to church but also what happens once they are there.
Spread across 72 pages, it begins by explaining the “wonder and wow factor” of worship before moving on to repentance and forgiveness, and ends with an explanation of the renewal that comes through the re-enactment of the Last Supper.
What Am I Doing Here? has already won acclaim from Ian Hislop, broadcaster and Private Eye editor. He said, “Most books nowadays explain why people don’t go to church anymore. It is good to find one that explains why people still do.”
The book’s simple approach makes it an ideal resource for newcomers to church that can be used especially in emerging church initiatives, Back to Church Sunday or other mission initiatives.
The Church of England’s Sunday services bring together around 1.7 million people each month. The Bishop of Croydon, the Rt. Rev. Nick Baines, said that the book’s down-to-earth and jargon-free style would help explain exactly what happens when they join a service.
“Written from the perspective of an ordinary ‘person in the pew,’ this book is a wonderfully direct, simple and informative guide to what goes on in church and takes us on the brief journey we make when we worship together,” he said.
“It debunks some of the myths about church – for example, that only ‘self-righteous’ people go to church,” he continued. “Church is for all people – the ragbag of saints and sinners that we are – and Hilary Brand’s simple clarity and Dave Walker’s cartoons should make it a more welcoming place particularly for those who don’t go to church, but might like to.”
The book was put together in response to recent research from Tearfund revealing that 3 million people, or 6 percent of the adult population, would come back to church if they received a personal invitation.
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We are "the church", certainly, and our modus operandi is to assemble together each week on Sunday [or Saturday] to worship.We can also just gather together in street corners, restaurants, airports, sports stadiums and anywhere else that suits our fancy. But assemble we must, and for me, nothing beats the church each week.
I put on my Sunday best, pick up my bible and hymn book and walk to church. There I meet all the people who are dear to me and whom I hope to spend eternity with in heaven!
Other times, we go visiting the poor, the unchurched, the sick in hospitals, the drug addicts and the prostitutes - but come Sunday, we're in church.
When a disaster strikes, we're there doing our bit distributing food, clothing, blankets, school books etc., but on Sunday we gather joyfully to worship the Lord together in a beautiful church.
My point is, the world has moved on since biblical times when there was no money to build churches where we could be together as God's family once a week.
It's not about "going to church". Christ followers ARE THE CHURCH. It's perfectly clear in Scripture. Going to church is not biblical.
People are leaving "church" to actually be "the church". We don't have to go to be united with Him. We do need to gather together but not necessarily in the way it's been done for 1500+ years, especially the way we do it in the West!
"In the last days I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh..."
3 million souls, created in the image and likeness of God who have an innate desire to be united with Him every week, every day, every moment. Lord, kindle within us the fire to see the eternal consequences of our very simple actions of asking someone "would you like to come to church with me this weekend?" In Jesus' name, Amen.