THE NEED FOR REFORM

Essay 6

Most western societies are based on Christianity. The support OF their churches is declining, this undermines their moral foundations.
My disappointments of worship were in an established church for many years (Essay 3). They are individual experiences and may appear to be trivial. Sadly they are part of a much wider malaise. There is a clear trend of decline in the support for established churches.
In UK about 400 churches are reported to close annually! Most of these were built long ago when the population was probably half what it is now.
I cannot vouch for a claim on TV that more Muslims in Britain attend daily prayers than Anglicans.
A 2006 survey of only 1000 people by the BBC indicated that 66% believed in Christianity, but only 17% practised it, and that percentage is falling steadily. A sample of only 1000 is not statistically significant but the findings are consistent with what we can see.
The underlying beliefs are there. For instance, a recent service in a cathedral, led by a bishop, was held to commemorate the victims of the London bombing. It was attended by senior politicians and other dignitaries.
Locally there are many examples of well attended services to support the bereaved after a tragedy.
The problem is why they do not worship the rest of the time because their churches do not meet their needs. For instance, a large increase in church attendance in USA after the attack on the Twin Towers did not last. Churches blamed lack of faith, but perhaps it was their own manmade worship which did not meet the needs of modern discerning peoples.
The USA was founded by Christians whose faith was universally accepted. A preacher on TV alleged that about four churches close every day in USA. Now an anti-Christian lobby is increasingly vocal. They challenge the display of the 10 Commandments in public buildings, prayers in school and even the celebration of Christmas. The now urge to wish each other “Happy Holiday” instead.
It has gone so far that the president, who is a professed Christian, ended a speech in December 2005 wishing his listeners “Happy Holidays”. Politics are taking priority over professed faith.

A WAKE UP CALL
We must revive the Christian foundations as the basic morality of our societies.

A PROPHECY. If our civilisations lose their Christian foundations, people will turn instead to the spurious morality of some human doctrine and our nations will pay the awful price.
Extreme examples of the evil of blind faith in human leaders elsewhere, were how people enthusiastically applauded and worshiped Hitler and Stalin. That could be the eventual alternative.
Meanwhile Islam increases its power and so do believers in Jihad.

ESTABLISHED CHURCHES
The traditional churches with many members in most western societies have a central role.
Membership has been generally passed down from parents to children. This goes back for generations, even to the time of Henry VIII. These are churches of habit, whose membership can be taken for granted. In contrast many new sects only get support from the conscious choices of new members. They must be flexible and credible to keep their support.

Churches have political and social roles in society.
In UK the Church of England is recognised as the official church, with the Monarch as its head. Bishops had political power with seats in the House of Lords. The armed forces include chaplains to serve their members.
Churches are also part of the social structure. They provide the ceremonies to celebrate such social milestones as birth, marriage and death.
However only a small proportion of professed Christians worship regularly and their support and their influence is declining.
Conclusion Many believe in God but only turn to churches as a refuge in times of crisis. The major churches are recognised as a part of many activities of society. However active support of individuals is declining. Church ministries must ask why they are losing the support of so many nominal Christians.


DECEPTIONS
Sadly Jesus did prophesy this problem. He said “many will come in my name and will deceive many”. Note He did not say those who preach His word but those who come in His name. This is exactly the problem, the established churches do preach in His name. However too many deceptions have been added over the centuries, they detract from the emphasis of, or even obscure His Messages. The central distinction is between the word of God, brought by Jesus, and the additions to worship by men, in His name, since then.
The structure of church institutions is the first problem . Many are inflexible because they have their own authority which they claim in the name of God.
The problems start at the top. The ruling councils of many churches are self perpetuating. They themselves select their own replacements.
They are not answerable for their performance in losing the support of their members. They defer instead to their revered and almost sacred traditions. These include a host of values, practices and beliefs, evolved by their predecessors over centuries. They are confident that this is how God should be worshipped.
This authority may have suited previous feudal societies when simple people did as they were told. The present remote and detached authority is not acceptable to many potential Christians today.
Anyone serving this population must respond to changing needs.
Failure to respond to these changes is why too many potential believers are staying away.
These churches should return to Christ, His Teaching was that God is the only authority. Church claims of authority, in the name of God, are deceptions which detract from their Christian ministries.

The Second problems of churches are that Christ’s Divine Messages are overshadowed by a whole façade of manmade deceptions of dogma and ceremony.
The situation is complex at all levels of the churches’ structures and activities.

CHURCH EMPIRES
I was enthralled, with millions of others, at the drama and grandeur of the selection and installation of the new Pope. The splendour of their ceremonies and robes is unequalled.
The Pope has enormous power over his followers in the world’s largest church. They clearly have great faith in him and his office.
However the manmade doctrines and rules of this empire has now added considerably to the Holy and simple Ministries, carried by St. Peter and St. Paul, who are praised as the founders of this church.
These additions are now deceptions which distract attention from Christ’s original Teaching
Sadly, I am also uncomfortable with this magnificent Christian empire with its pomp, ceremony and strict manmade rules. Is it really consistent with Jesus’ simple messages of how we should live?
Jesus was critical of the worship and the officials of the synagogues. He said “beware of the scribes who walk in long robes and love the highest seats in feasts. They make long prayers for show”. He contrasted this with a humble sinner who prayed quietly for forgiveness. (Luke 20)
He might have made similar comments if He had been there. Surely this empire has too many manmade additions to Christ’s Ministry, for which He gave His life.

THE HOLINESS OF CHURCHES
Churches now have beautiful buildings and great music for their worship.
Some churches now claim to have divine power and a holiness of their own. This is explicit in the Creed recited regularly at least in Anglican services. “I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church”.
A priest explained that catholic, in this context, means all the wide variety of Christian churches.
It is difficult to see why these are regarded as one church or why they are holy. The fallacy of this recitation
is illustrated in Northern Ireland. There is hostility between members of two old established denominations. For example, Catholic children were prevented from walking to their school through a protestant area. Surely ANY real protestant Christians should have prevented this non-Christian bigotry. “By their fruits ye shall know them“. Their holiness is only the claim of churchmen
They should serve God by providing the venues, organisations and leadership for Christians to worship Christ. They should not themselves be the object of worship or revered as being holy.
Churches.

INFALLIBILITY
As an extreme example of a major aberration in the distant past, was the self righteous belief that non-believers and members of other churches were evil and deserved punishment or even death.
Worst were persecutions like the inquisition. Also the conquistadors who, in the name of God, slaughtered the supposedly evil heathens in Central America.
An extreme contemporary example of fallibility, is a bishop in Africa who stated that the national President is greater than Christ! He also seized a farm that had been owned and developed by one family for generations.
Five years later he may be tried by an ecclesiastical court on 38 charges, including incitement to murder. Opinion is that the bishops who make up this court will not proceed.
He is still in holy office!
This example illustrates why claims of infallibility ring hollow.

HOLY JUDGEMENTS
Sometimes church convocations make judgements on the actions of their member churches. For instance there was condemnation of a diocese in USA which wanted to appoint a bishop who lived with another man. His church members had decided (after much soul searching) that he was the one they wanted to lead them. Both he and the congregations should be answerable to God and not men for their decision.
Again we should invoke the command “judge not that you be not judged”.
This type of arbitrary judgement contrasts with the lack of action against the bishop noted above. It is not acceptable to many potential Christians.

HOLY DOCTRINES
The established churches have pronounced doctrines governing their beliefs over centuries. These are now revered and even regarded as sacred Truth.
Between 1964 and 1968 the Catholic church made several unequivocal statements of its doctrines. They declared that:
They alone proclaim the infallible truth.
They are necessary for salvation.
They alone are in possession of the Spirit of Christ.
All parts of the Bible were inspired by the Holy Ghost and are therefore sacred and without error.
These unambiguous manmade statements of their faith depart a long way from Jesus’ simple messages, recorded in the Gospels.
The book of Common Prayer is central
to the Anglican church worship.



They are all misleading manmade deceptions.

HOLY MEN
Many of the older established churches and their officers are still regarded as holy. Some are supposed to be able to forgive the sins of those who confess.
Only God can forgive sins. Jesus said “put not your trust in princes neither in the sons of men”.
Clergy should serve and not rule their congregations. Remember how Jesus insisted on washing the feet of his disciples?

WORSHIP
Many churches worship by reciting rituals, routine prayers parrot fashion. Such recitations are not meaningful in modern enlightened society. Apart from the sermon, most prayers and incantations were the same every week in the Anglican worship, which I used to attend. The value of such routines is surely questionable as a guide to living for contemporary congregations.
They only obscure Christ’s Messages of how we should live.
ADULATION A common theme is that worshippers are rewarded for glorifying God. We used to recite at evensong “Lord let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen the Glory of the Lord”. This sort of incantation has no relevance to our behaviour on Monday.
The aims and content of this worship differ fundamentally from Christ’s teaching. He taught simply that we worship when we come together to pray for help from the Holy Spirit.
We serve God, not by worship and adulation, but by loving those we deal with.

SALVATION
Some Church services aim at earning a place in Heaven. There is adulation and praise for the glory of God. Supplication and mortification such as “we are not worthy to gather the crumbs under thy table.” It is questionable how much this worship inspires worshippers to serve God. Jesus has already promised care after death to those who have faith in Him.

CHURCH RULES
Over the years rules, devised by men, have been imposed.
Anglicans have only recently allowed women to be ordained to the priesthood. This was years after Margaret Thatcher became prime minister.
They now debate whether they may be allowed to become bishops in 2010! Please, they should get with the real world where their members live.
A tragic travesty early on the last century was when Mahatma Ghandi tried to attend a “Christian” church in search of Truth. He was denied entry because he was not white! He was undoubtedly one of the great religious leaders of the century but was denied access to Christianity by a church.

CONCLUSIONS
Churches have made many additions Christ’s Teaching. These have become the deceptions which Christ prophesied.
People are now discerning and critical so that many of these deceptions are unacceptable and support is declining. It is not the wickedness of men that rejected His Messages. Rather it is because they have obscured manmade deceptions.
These churches owe it to God and to mankind to abandon their distractions and return to lead Christians in Christ’s Teaching.
Their present road is now downhill, though it is paved with good intentions.