Well said John.. Of course I heard it at Leicester but it's good to have it in writing.
Especially with you on research project 2 on the intersections of class and race... There must be many parishes like ours which are at the junction between being an "estates" church and a multicultural / intercultural church (in a neighbourhood which fits the same description with a large (poor) Muslim and East European community around us) . And our worship (and community activities) are attracting people across the board. But our GMH people are either refugees / asylum seekers, carers, or Windrush generation pensioners with very low incomes.
But unlike many of the more "successful" churches who were at ANIC (I guess because they have lots of GMH geaduates and professionals) , we are fragile and under resourced, weighed down by responsibilities for buildings that are impossible to use, tiny income especially from giving, lots of people who need huge inputs of pastoral support, keen to reach out in God's mission. Currently at crisis point without clergy, ageing lay leadership, in the middle of a botched and delayed parish re-organisation...
So research is needed.. that looks at different types of churches to establish the intersectional patterns of race/class/ income / gender / generation in church congregations across the country, in different regions and types of parish. It needs also to look at why some people end up in Anglican parishses as opposed to other denominations and diaspora churches. It needs to identify faactors that lead to growth and flourishing healthy churches (with some critical thinking about what these terms mean). Finally it needs to develop and implement strategies which will positively impact and revitalise parishes such as ours.
Well said John.. Of course I heard it at Leicester but it's good to have it in writing.
Especially with you on research project 2 on the intersections of class and race... There must be many parishes like ours which are at the junction between being an "estates" church and a multicultural / intercultural church (in a neighbourhood which fits the same description with a large (poor) Muslim and East European community around us) . And our worship (and community activities) are attracting people across the board. But our GMH people are either refugees / asylum seekers, carers, or Windrush generation pensioners with very low incomes.
But unlike many of the more "successful" churches who were at ANIC (I guess because they have lots of GMH geaduates and professionals) , we are fragile and under resourced, weighed down by responsibilities for buildings that are impossible to use, tiny income especially from giving, lots of people who need huge inputs of pastoral support, keen to reach out in God's mission. Currently at crisis point without clergy, ageing lay leadership, in the middle of a botched and delayed parish re-organisation...
So research is needed.. that looks at different types of churches to establish the intersectional patterns of race/class/ income / gender / generation in church congregations across the country, in different regions and types of parish. It needs also to look at why some people end up in Anglican parishses as opposed to other denominations and diaspora churches. It needs to identify faactors that lead to growth and flourishing healthy churches (with some critical thinking about what these terms mean). Finally it needs to develop and implement strategies which will positively impact and revitalise parishes such as ours.