Dear Sir,
At the end of an article on ‘The steady rise of the Pentcostal church’ (en, January 2020), the Editor asked how many of our churches are diverse – in terms of class and status.
From my own perspective, serving in urban London for over 30 years, the answer is possibly more than we think. There are large diverse fellowships amongst Elim, AOG, Baptist Union, Anglicans, former New Frontiers, etc.
The more diverse conservative churches generally tend to be smaller and under-resourced. They often have a blue-collar background, with no agendas but a love for Christ. They don’t make headlines, don’t appear at conferences, may or may not read Christian newspapers. They simply get on with the job.
I worshipped at one of these churches for over 25 years. The leaders at that time included an engineer, an architect, a salesman, but also a labourer and a factory worker. There was also a former football hooligan with a love for Bruce Lee. And that was the Pastor! It was a fascinating place to grow as a young Christian.
I agree that the biblical picture is for more diverse churches, but there are hard questions for those who advocate this. For instance, are you prepared to live and work in these diverse (and often poorer) areas for the sake of the kingdom?
Puzzled about why people worship with their own ethnic group, as my own parents did in the 1970s? Instead of answering our own questions – why don’t we humbly ask them? Their answers may shock us. Their answers may also pleasantly surprise us. The issues may be more complex than we think.
Yours faithfully,
