Lesley and I have decided to start playing bridge and have been to a couple of local clubs to see about joining.  You may wonder why I am writing about this, but it is because of our different experience of welcome in the two clubs – and the insights that that has given us about welcome in church.

To be fair to the two clubs I suspect that they have a different emphasis – one is focused on the playing of bridge, and the other is more social.  I am not saying that one is right and one is wrong – rather questioning who it is for.  If you know how to play bridge, what to do when you get there and your main concern is to turn up, play your bridge, focusing on the game, and go home then one club is better for you; if you want to chat a little as well as play bridge then perhaps the other.

That translates quite well to church – there are churches for the afficionados; places where those in the know can go and focus on what they want to focus on, but where newcomers can feel a bit lost.  Then there are churches where perhaps the service is a little more flexible, but where newcomers can feel more included.

There is a place for both, and indeed I believe that Willow Creek hold mid week services for the leadership, with Sunday services being focused on newcomers.

The challenge is what kind of church are we, and what kind of church are you?

As has been written about elsewhere on this site we are looking at becoming members of Inclusive Church, and during August are preaching on this.  Yesterday I spoke on an inclusiveness which isn’t one of the six areas that IC is focusing on, but which is close to my heart, and that is the inclusiveness of different beliefs.

I said that I wanted a big tent Christianity, where all are welcome.  I was heckled with “what about devil worshippers”, and agreed that they might be an exception, but afterwards I was challenged on this.  I was also challenged on whether the church has a role in enforcing behaviour.  To take the last first; the parable of the weeds and the wheat says don’t tear up the weeds for fear of tearing up the wheat – let God judge (I paraphrase), and Jesus says:

Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.

The Church has been wrong in the past, is no doubt wrong at times now, and will no doubt be wrong in the future.  How can we be sure that we are judging with God’s eyes?  And given the quotes above, why would we even try?

The first question leads on from this – if we do not judge, then why would we exclude others?  This does of course lead to the classic permissive dilemma, what do I do with people who wish to judge others?

It perhaps comes down to what you think church is – is it a place for the elect, the saved (a form of Calvinism), or is it a place for pilgrims on a journey?

If you believe the former, then what I am saying makes no sense; if the latter then it hangs together.

As for the problem of those who disagree with me, whilst I may invite them into my big tent, most will decide that it isn’t the place for them.  However, this is not to say that I want a (wider) church without them – but that is a different issue!

Where I was curate we often sang this hymn: All are Welcome in this place.  Amen.

A while ago Lesley and I did a course and they encouraged us to be a non anxious presence.  You may wonder what that means – though it is self explanatory!

Do you recognise that some people seem to carry anxiety?  Just being in their presence makes you feel anxious?

Do you recognise the things that make you anxious?

• Fear of what other people may think of you?
• Fear of doing something wrong?
• Fear that you aren’t good enough?
• Add in your own favourite fear here!

One of the most frequent set of words in the Bible is “Do not be afraid” (67) or “Do not fear” (58).

If we can give up on our own desires and trust in God (and I’m not saying this is easy) then that anxiety fades away.  If instead of wanting a particular outcome we can desire that God’s will be done, then what is there to fear?

And if we can present a non anxious presence to others it can be catching, helping them to let go of their fears (well, sometimes).

This morning one of the readings at Morning Prayer was Ezekiel 33.1-20, which tells Ezekiel that he is to warn people of what God tells him to, and that if he doesn’t then on his head be it (I paraphrase).

This passage set me thinking as it can be used to justify telling all sorts of people that what they are doing is sinful – often done in an unhelpful way.  But, if we are called to tell people then don’t we have to do this?

My thinking led me to two places; not everyone is called to be a sentinel – God calls prophets and God gives them the message to be passed on.  Most prophets are unsure of their calling (eg Jeremiah) and are careful to pass on God’s word.

Secondly, the sentinel is called to give a warning; we can speak the truth and not communicate.  The words which communicated a long time ago do not necessarily communicate today.  Attacking people, insulting people, abusing people does not communicate.  If we are called to warn people then we are called to do so in ways in which they can understand.

An example, many years ago I worked in a team where we enjoyed winding each other up.  One day the main culprit was out at lunch when his wife phoned saying she had locked her key in the house, please would he come and let her in.  We gave him the message, but while we did so everyone else was smirking.  He refused to believe us and wouldn’t go home, even when we stopped messing around.

So the questions for people called to this ministry are:

• Are you sure God has called you to this ministry?
• Are you communicating God’s message in a way that it can be heard?

Yesterday’s reading, of the feeding of the 5,000 includes:

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

Which is very reminiscent of the Eucharist, where we take bread, bless it, break it and give it.  It is also very reminiscent of the christian life where God takes our life, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to others.

The breaks sounds perhaps a bit worrying, but our lives, when we first encounter God, are often clenched tight, and need breaking open to allow God’s love in.

I was talking with someone last night and we got onto the question of what is at the core of Christianity.  A few months ago I blogged on the principle behind the answer to this question, but looking back discover that I didn’t answer what is there for me (or at least not in that post).

For me the foundations of Christianity are:

He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’

and

Whoever serves me must follow me

and

God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them.
New Patterns of Worship H6

If we do this then we won’t go far wrong.

You may notice that these involve how we behave, and not what we believe – although of course if you do not believe that these are the right things to do you won’t do them!  Of course there are doctrines of the church, but I think that the best way into them is through behaviour, not in the sense that you have to adhere to all the rules before you can belong, but in the sense that without some experience of God it is difficult to make sense of the doctrines or demands of the christian life.