letter from America
I recently returned to the UK for a preaching tour. I preached 13 times in about as many days. Godcenteredlife.org had a conference in London. We did a missions conference with Crosslinks in Belfast. And more.
It’s made me reflect, with renewed up close and personal experience, on the differences, strengths and weaknesses of the different church scenes. Obviously, there are many more, and much bigger, churches in the USA. Right before I came to the UK, I heard of another church in the USA of about 15,000 people in attendance – a church that previous to that brief awareness moment I had never heard of. If there was a church in the UK with 15,000 people in attendance I would have heard of it and been quite familiar with it. But the size difference is not the most notable, nor in some ways, the most important distinction.
There is also a distinction of resources. There are some still quite large seminaries in America with many pastors getting trained for pastoral ministry. The musical capabilities of a larger church in America dwarf all but the most ambitious church in the UK, and are on a parallel with the larger annual festivals and conferences in the UK.
There have been a number of scandals in the USA – this was a point of commonality with the UK. But my sense was that the scandals have bit deeper in the UK. There are certainly bright spots in the UK. When I preached back at the church where I was on staff before I left for the USA, that church was packed and obviously thriving. How encouraging. But then I met other pastors who were very obviously in need of encouragement, fresh impetus, support, and a sense of God doing a new thing.
On our much-delayed flight back to the USA, I even penned a five-point Revive UK plan. It’s the sort of thing you write on a plane. Prayer was prominent. Resourcing training next generation of pastors. Friendships were there too – friendships across tribal lines.
As a born-and-bred Brit – my family roots go back hundreds and hundreds of years in the UK – I feel a heart for the UK. Some parts of what I witnessed saddened me. Others lifted me. The singing – amazing, loud, enthusiastic.
I was also surprised by how fascinated people in the UK were with American politics. Some of them seemed to know more about what was going on than many Americans I know. If there’s one American lesson to pass across the waters: politics won’t save you. Instead, it is our responsibility, in the world as well as in the church, to be salt and light, so to influence the country to hear again the sound of the gospel.
