Dear Editor,
Kirsten Birkett’s article “Connection and community for the lonely” touches on a core issue for today’s church. Loneliness is a most powerful driver for church attendance, spiritual searching, and serving. Mother Teresa, Elisabeth Elliott, and numerous other missionary figures wrote extensively about it as the deepest of human needs.
But as an occasional interviewer for the ONS (Office for National Statistics) I believe the figures she quotes are misleading. Crucially, the questions we ask are always face to face, which inevitably results in many being unwilling to admit to their loneliness. I would suggest that the real figure is much higher than 7%. And as someone who calls on very many lone elderly people it is troubling to come across such a large number of people suffering in silence. It is a place the church does not reach.
The other issue is that churches, charged with life and vitality, often accentuate the sense of isolation for folks who are quiet and still most of the week. Loneliness is often stronger in a crowd.
And just an interesting aside. Before the Industrial Revolution the word “solitude” was more prevalent, and seen as a positive thing, a time of refreshing and reflection. Only since the alienation of our new corporate world has being alone become a place of “loneliness” – a new word and a new problem!
Yours sincerely,
Michael Phillips
Bridgwater
