Evangelically Departed has been focusing on Advent reflections and will get back to doing so soon. However, I came across a story last night that I felt was worthy of sharing. The story has to do with the “Departed” element of Evangelically Departed.
You may have heard that in England and Wales the number of people identifying as Christian has declined below 50% of the population for the first time since reporting began. I have always found it interesting that in some Christian circles this type of thing can be seen as some sort of tragedy or as an indication of the moral and social degradation of society. What if it is moral and social progress? I am a Christian. My faith is the most defining aspect of my entire life. In fact, my faith is such that it includes belief in what God has done for all people in Jesus Christ. Surveys, percentages and religious affiliation do not impact this negatively. Positively it may be that some people have ceased to identify as Christian because of the moral confusion and idolatrous nationalism that they see around the world in the name of Christianity. There are many reasons people become “departed” from the church.
Remember those word games you may have seen as a kid with a list of words on one side and another list on the other side? The game was to draw lines from each word on the left to a word on the right indicating what terms you thought were associated.
I think that we might be able to draw a line between the Christians under 50% article and the article that I found too hard to pass up for comment.
The headline, in the Times Newspaper UK is “Church Sees Red Over Bright Pink Chairs”. Here is what happened. A church called St. Mary-the-Virgin in Primrose Hill located north of London raised money to buy new chairs to mark their 150th. The church has exposed beams with pink, blue and lavender hues, so they bought chairs with coloured cushioning: 65 blue chairs, 65 white, 10 pink and 10 lavender. Apparently people quite liked them.
Then the higher ups got involved. The vicar of the church, Rev. Marjory Brown, was a big part of the fundraising effort and was fully behind the design scheme. Her failure, as she indicates in the article, was that she did not seek the approval of the higher Church of England authorities over the chair selection. When such approval was sought, the judge of the Church of England’s consistory court issued a 3,400 word ruling saying that all of the chairs should be of “muted” colour and that the pink and lavender chairs in particular could “cause puzzlement” and “induce thoughts that the church had been unable to find enough upholstered chairs of the same colour.”
What kind of puzzlement do you think that pink and lavender chairs might cause?
Here are some of the comments (there are many) on the short article posted on the Times website:
“And the Church of England wonders why congregations continue to dwindle …”
“Planet 1950?”
“3400 further nails in the coffin of Church of England.”
“Had to check if it was April 1st.”
“This is what the Church of England is spending its time on! No wonder fewer and fewer people in England are identifying as Christian.”
“This is hysterical.”
Well, at least on Christmas Eve, when visitors attend St. Mary-the-Virgin in Primrose Hill, they won’t have to worry about puzzlement being caused by the chairs.
Seems a long way from “Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Mighty God.”
“Good news of great joy for all people.”
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Good call. I quite like the bright ones as well.
I personally vote for rainbow coloured chairs. Those who object can sit on the floor.