Baptisms and Confirmations at Boyne Hill in the light of the 2021 census
Fr Jeremys’ Blog on Baptisms and Confirmations at Boyne Hill in the light of the 2021 census and in the week of St Andrew the Apostle:-
On St Andrew’s Day this week it was announced that the census for 2021 shows that for the first time since the ‘dark ages’ Britain has under 50% of it’s population claiming that it is Christian. Not only does Britain seem to be moving ever deeper into a position of secularization but also sacralisation. Both newspaper articles and radio programs suggest that the Church of England should not have Bishops representing the House of Lords. At the Diocesan Conference this year both the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, and Bishop Graham Tomlin spoke of the struggle that Bishops find in having their voice heard on important subjects such as artificial intelligence, the value of work and sustainability issues to name but a few.
None of this information would come as a surprise to Steve Bruce who wrote the book ‘Religion in the Modern World from cathedrals to cults.’ Bruce’s basic argument is that there will always be people who believe sincerely in the Christian faith, but faith would become more and more individualistic without the communal beliefs that are at the heart of the trinitarian faith we believe in. Without the communal value of the Trinitarian Christian faith the Church will not maintain it’s voice. When All Saints, Boyne Hill was built by George Street in the 1850’s there was a vision coming from the Oxford Movement that built a church to worship to the glory of God, with a school built within the quadrangle of buildings that spoke of the education of the young, and Almshouses and curates houses that offered pastoral care. The church vision then had a communal quality to offer to the people.
Instead of the communal value found in the main traditions of the Christian faith we have new religions and ‘New Age’ innovations. People living today are less likely to see the value of the traditional church and this can lead to the questions being asked of whether the Church of England should have a voice into the issues faced in modern day life.
It is interesting that the census came out on St Andrew’s Day. Both St Andrew and Peter offer the church of today the opportunity to rediscover it’s call and vocation to be fishers of people. Listening to the news may lead us to lack confidence in taking up this challenge. However, by our Baptism and confirmation, we discover our personal vocations and then use our variety of gifts and service inspired by the Holy Spirit. We are to be salt to the earth and a light to the world. Sacramental people who partake pf the body of Christ to become his Body to the World. We are all called to accept our call to play our part in the mission of the church (Christ’s Body) and St Andrew’s Day is the day we are reminded of this call.
On the day of Christ the King, Bishop Olivia confirmed 34 people at All Saints Church. Some of these people began their journey during the Pandemic when we were able to offer a 15 week confirmation course on zoom using Peter Jackson and Chris Wright’s book ‘Faith Confirmed.’ This meant that young family people could join us on zoom to discuss their faith from home. During Holy Week this year we had an amazing experience. I had felt so low at the Easter Vigil as numbers were low and the service felt flat on an occasion that normally fills me with joy. Easter morning was the complete opposite. We asked people to say ‘Good Bye’, in their native language and discovered people from all over the world. One of the languages spoken was Farsi. From that day we formed a relationship with Iranian Asylum Seekers that has brought a vibrancy to our community. These young and intelligent people have sought the value of community and belonging and studied through the confirmation course and bible studies using ‘Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes’ by Kenneth Bailey. This journey has culminated in their confirmations with Bishop Olivia. One of our member Sue Wright has through ‘Care for Calais’ helped a number of the children to gain access into education. Some of these people have helped with community projects like the Christ Child Market and shared monthly BBQ’s and outdoor services. They are not just a statistic we hear of on the news, but they have become our friends.
The third group of people who shared our confirmation service are young children. They discovered the journey of faith through the former Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones book on confirmation. The children enjoyed ‘Superbook’ which are DVD’s that tell the bible stories through contemporary issues that young people might face and allows them to journey through the bible to experience a story that supports them in their understanding of a contemporary problem. One of these stories concerned creation and led the young people to share with Bishop Olivia symbols from their home life that spoke of how they were taking seriously their call to look after God’s world. Those young people knew what it might mean to ‘Strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth.’
As we looked out on the congregation for the confirmation we could see people from Antigua, Lebanon, Iran, France, Japan, China, New Zealand, Belgium, South Africa, South Sudan, Russia, England and even God’s own country Wales! On Easter Day Christians proclaim, ‘Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed!’ That Easter resurrection hope was alive on the 20th November 2022 at All Saints, Boyne Hill.
We face many challenges and are still in some ways a vulnerable community at All Saints and the figures of the census suggest we are not alone. We must therefore have confidence in God’s grace and play our part in the mission of the church.