The Once and Future Cornish Church
It is hard to fathom why the Diocese of Truro is so intent on amalgamating parishes, reducing clergy numbers and investing in 'oversight management'. Wherever this has been tried it hasn't worked.
Wigan, an early forerunner, has been a disaster, the Super Parishes in Wales have been anything but 'super' and parallel initiatives around England are
visibly deflating as congregations depart and the collection declines.
The whole thing is baffling, there is no financial reason for any of this so we can only conclude that the CofE has either been captured by some sort of outmoded 20th century management theory or is mesmerised by a fantastical vision of the future based on urban mega churches and has little interest in anything beyond the urban pale. Indeed both of
these this things could be true.
Either way the diocese has nailed its reputation to the OTW process and we may have to steel ourselves to
witness the inevitable crash and burn.
Which doesn't mean we do nothing.
First we should politely ignore the Diocese. There are some well intentioned people who work there, there is no need to antagonise them but we are constantly asked for information and statistics. Simply demur.
When it comes to the MMF we should only pay for services received. If you have a small percentage of time from a poor overworked priest then pay proportionately i.e. if he/she has 10 parishes then pay one tenth of the gross cost . If you are in an interregnum pay nothing. In the event that your treasurer is an OTW enthusiast who will not agree to this then insist that your collection money goes into the Reserved Fund or alternatively stop giving.
If a parish is only getting a service say once a month then the parishioners could ( should) take on the fallow Sundays with Morning or Evening Prayer. If necessary train as Worship leaders.
Continue to put on events in the church, encourage outside use and generally work on fundraising ( yes its an effort but that's life).
Then finally and fundamentally we have to do the one Big Thing.
Why has the church been systematically declining since the seventies? Churchgoers are a pretty good bunch, they generally buy into the Christian ethos of service to others, the importance of community, and
perhaps the sense that there is something to life beyond the purely material .So they loyally turn up and chip in.
But then inevitably for all of us there are difficulties, someone in the family dies or is somehow suffering, there is illness or financial difficulty or any combination of all these things. This is the time when we need the embrace of a Church that can guide and console and open us to a deeper glimpse of divinity that is the true ground of being. Sadly the CofE so often fails on this.
Strangely the rich tradition of Christian contemplation, access to the mystic numinous heart of Christianity has largely been erased from Christian worship and practice even to Christian awareness. All too
often the response to human anguish is well meaning but banal - carry on believing in God, keep singing the hymns and coming to Church, maybe have a bit of counselling? That's it really. Not always, but mostly.
It's very often that at this point people leave. Some habitual Christians very close to me have been so unreplenished by the shallow certainties of modern Church teaching that it has only increased their
anguish and they have left the Church for good. And it is for this same reason that many young people never enter the church in the first place seeking the more accessible comforts of mindfulness or yoga or, more durably and profoundly, following a practice of Buddhist meditation or some other contemplative tradition..
A defining characteristic of polyphonous Renaissance singing is the Cantus Firmus, the constant and deep rhythm around which the more fluting voices, the ephemeral tones are centred. Quite apart from this
glorious musical inheritance the Christian church has a wonderfully resonant 'Cantus Firmus' in its spiritual history - Julian of Norwich, Francis of Assissi, Teresa of Avila, the Desert Fathers, the Celtic
saints, John of the Cross, Hildegard of Bingen and more contemporarily Thomas Merton, Cynthia Bourgeault, Thomas Keating...All contemplatives who have explored from the subterranean floors of our consciousness to the cosmic heights and returned to teach not only by words but by embodying that which they have touched and assimilated . They are the rhythm , the wellspring of Christian belief where God is in and of everything that lives and moves and has a being.
Who knew? Well probably not many in the CofE where Christian teaching is so often like being taught fine art by one of the Teletubbies. ( That isn't kind of me but I think you know what I mean).
In the Cornish Church - shall we name it the Church of Cornwall, that quietly mutinous 'once and future' band? - we should start to put on regular teachings by more fully 'realised' Christians either in person
or on screen. If we want to explore the subject of The Soul then look no further than Dr Iain McGlchrist who is pretty much unsurpassed. Learn the art of centering prayer from the priest Cynthia Bourgeault or hear her relate the real significance of Mary Magdalene. Rupert Sheldrake or John Butler are on Youtube exploring the importance of the sacred, Ann Baring has a great series on her gloriously revelatory book 'The Dream of the Cosmos''....and there are so many more of this ilk (but I'll bet you've never heard them mentioned in church - ?).
The Church of Cornwall ( I'll persist with this title) could create a reference library of deeply insightful thinkers and give access to our congregations both collectively in church screenings and privately at home.
So, a Cornish Church, quietly performing its rituals, opening its doors to the community and, best of all, opening its mind to what it really means to be a deeply authentic Christian.
As to the Diocese? Well, perhaps we can only anticipate the implosion and be there to regather the pieces.
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