LOVE CHURCH:
Join the adventure of hope
By Tim Matthews
Hodder & Stoughton. 271 pages. £14.99
ISBN 978 1 473 690 400
This book tells the exciting story of the re-founding and growth of St Swithun’s Church in central Bournemouth.
Led by Tim Matthews, and starting in 2014, the church has seen remarkable growth. It now numbers a congregation in the many hundreds and has embarked on a revitalisation of St Clement’s Church in Boscombe.
Challenging problems
Bournemouth, like many coastal towns around the country, has a large and challenging problem of homelessness, addiction and poverty. Tim has led a church to specifically reach out and bring God’s love to people gripped by these. He also has steered the church to connect to the young and unchurched, a growing demographic in our present culture.
He tells the story in a down-to-earth and utterly frank way. We learn of his own leadership failings, his fears and his sense of God-dependence as he faces apparently insurmountable problems. Tim has practiced an ‘expect great things from God, and attempt great things for God’ approach. That is great. It is a story of the triumph of faith in an all-powerful and gracious God.
Reluctant reservations
So what is not to like? For I really do want to rejoice that Christ is preached and the gospel is seeing advance. Any comments will feel picky, tribal and may exude superiority. But there are some reservations.
Tim is a fully mainstream Anglican from the influential Holy Trinity Brompton stable. HTB is, on principle, very much part of the Establishment. Its aim seems to be to strengthen the denomination by re-using old CofE buildings in cities around the country. This is a glowing example of when that strategy succeeds.
Tim regularly says in effect: ‘I’m part of the Established Church and though it has its foibles, it’s a good-to-great place for an Evangelical to be’. Other Evangelicals within and without the Cof E would have some serious questions about that. Those concerns don’t get aired or answered in this book.
Second is an unquestioned charismatic theology. Many aspects of this are just assumed and its weaknesses not acknowledged. To be fair, this is not a theological text book, nor an apologetic for that perspective. But the, at times, cheery lack of precision combined with the upbeat tone would leave young believers confused about the gifts and work of the Holy Spirit.
So a lot to really rejoice in, but it needs to be read with discernment.
