Cul-de-sac or road to growth?
This is the story of what is happening to what was an almost derelict parish.
In September 2001, the Rev. Ken Hobbs was appointed as the new vicar on a ‘House for Duty’ basis. This means living in the church house with expenses paid but no salary, in return for Sundays and two days a week. Until recently, Ken continued teaching on a part-time basis at a school 20 miles away. Here is his account of a church transformed.
Albury is a village located in the depths of rural Surrey. It has a scattered population of approximately 1,000 adults. They are a mix of older village families and the more recent arrivals who have opted for a rural lifestyle.
I quickly discovered that the average age of the church congregation was over 70 and numbered fewer than 20, with the majority coming from the older village families. The church was effectively disconnected from both ordinary village people and two new generations. As far as churchmanship was concerned, they were more low than high but suffered in my view by being neither. There is nothing worse than a dead low church! The church was very conservative and modern Christian music was almost unheard of and would certainly be disliked.
What became immediately apparent was that the church was in terminal decline. My near wilderness church garden came to serve as a parable of the parish and what can be done with unpromising ground. Both my garden and the church have been transformed.
Ground preparation
Early days were far from easy. The tiny congregation arrived for a service without speaking and left as soon as the blessing was pronounced. A number of the older people found my simple style of conducting worship and preaching from the Bible decidedly uncomfortable. Some left for pastures new or no pastures at all. One lady announced to the village that I had ‘taken God out of the church’.
Ground preparation is hard work and takes time. Discouragement set in. There were no services appropriate for young people or families. The music and the worship were dire. There was only a lectern Bible in the church. Internal and external communications were non-existent and the only things you would consider inviting anyone to were a jumble sale and the Christmas Fair! Even the notion of having coffee after a church service appeared to be a novel idea.
I discovered that in the past some godly people had been praying for and working in the area. A lay leader from a nearby town had run a small toddler service. In the late 1990s, an Alpha course commenced. Following the course those involved continued to meet twice monthly in the Albury Bible Study Group. Equally important was the prayer and practical support received from my wife Margaret and friends in our old parish. Some were prepared to regularly travel to support us and swell the congregation.
Gradually we introduced the church to the idea of change. How to get a grip on the future without losing touch with the past is a book title that described the task of engaging the two lost generations in the village without alienating the older members of the congregation.
A growing harvest
In the early months, we did a few simple practical things like putting Bibles in the pews, removing the old hymnbooks and standardising service times.
While initially maintaining the more traditional Communion service, a significant change was introducing twice-monthly all-age worship. This is an adult service that includes children and not a children’s service that adults have to endure. These services are simple, lively and welcoming. They are not wacky and off the wall!
At the first service, four families came — eight adults and 11 children, almost exclusively from within the parish. As others started to join them, we discovered that 60% of this congregation had not been regular churchgoers before.
God’s Word central
We have placed the teaching of Scripture as the Word of God as the centrepiece of our preaching. We promote Bible reading, give away Bible notes and put our sermons on tape and the church’s website. Service books have been rewritten in line with Common Worship. We have introduced, by a process of creep, a mix of contemporary and traditional music.
A most significant change was moving from the solo ministry to form a shared ministry team. We have been able to include Ministerial Assistants and two interns who have gained parish experience before offering for ordination and commencing their training.
Small groups are the lifeblood of growing churches. Building on the existing Albury Bible Study Group, we have added four other adult groups meeting at different times and locations. Including the children’s Sunday groups and clubs, we now have 16 groups, which are linked to the church, meeting in the parish each month.
Physical changes in the church building include a kitchen, a toilet for disabled people, a carpeted welcome area after the removal of rear pews, a Sound System, a new driveway with disabled parking, and exterior lighting. Plans are well advanced for a large side extension to create a church lounge and teaching space.
Concentrate on community
As much as possible, we have concentrated on community participation and involvement. I am seen a lot around the village and at events, with or without a dog collar.
There was recognition on the part of the majority of the older members of the congregation that things had to change. They were in the last chance saloon and they knew it. We now have as many as 120 people attending all-age worship services. Our current estimate is that we are in touch with 20% of the parish and on many Sundays around 10% of the parish are in church. The funeral ministry in a village is another vital and influential part of our work.
New challenges
With growth, new challenges emerge. How do we introduce our increasing number of teenagers to big church life in town, yet retaining youth cells and service opportunities in the parish? How do people move from being attendees to become serious Christian disciples who are not consumers, but providers? A growing church requires more than two days’ unpaid work from the vicar. What will be the future pattern of ministry in the parish? And how do we prepare for my forthcoming retirement?
Our experience at Albury is not unique. But it is relatively uncommon for a small village to experience such a developing spiritual harvest. We do not have a monopoly of spiritual vision, growth and enterprise. Mistakes have been made and we have fallen into the trap of transferring big church thinking into a small church context.
As I reflect on what God has done, I am convinced that there are dozens of potential clergy and lay leaders with underused or unlocked gifts, lurking in the pews of large churches. If released, they could make a life-changing spiritual difference to village communities. There are people more pagan and in spiritual need than in the African bush where we began our Christian ministry a generation ago. Rural churches do not have to be heading down a cul-de-sac, and there is a road to growth.
Website: http://www.alburychurches.org
This article is taken from Faith in the countryside: transforming communities by Declan Flanagan, published by Rural Ministries (£7.99, ISBN 978-0-9565825-0-8), available from http://www.ruralministries.org.uk
