A View from the Pew...

I was recently asked the question,"What does church mean to you?"
Hmm... while growing up the answer to that would have been,"The fancy building with the tall spire that I had to attend twice a Sunday during my boarding school years!"

That image has slowly changed over the years as church attendance has become voluntary and my current perception of church is that it is the people who follow Jesus which actually ARE the church.

As much as we love our precious sanctuaries (and feel outrage when burglars intrude) we know we can worship God in a field of daisies,on a sandy beach,or dare I say,in a filthy ghetto. I find this difficult because,let's face it,we live a fairly sanitised and comfortable gospel life from the relative comfort of the pew. It is easy to leave it all up to the clergy (after all that's what they trained for isn't it?) Sorry - that's a cop out, you and I need to take responsibility too.

I love my church - the building. I confess that it is often harder to love my church - the people.What an awkward, varied bunch we are yet ALL loved and accepted by God. Whether one is the human equivalent of the foundation stone, the organ pipes, a soaring tower or a floor board,we are the CHURCH. Can we try to live that?

Yours
Sue