Building on history:
the value of historical perspective for rural congregations
The past few years have seen a rising interest in the potential for historical awareness to inform the present-day mission and ministry of congregations. Projects such as Rediscovering your parish church in the Diocese of Salisbury have acknowledged the value of parishes understanding their historical context as they consider their present and future strategy.
The conviction that history can offer useful contemporary perspectives was behind the setting up of Building on History: the Church in London, in 2009. The project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, has seen Professor John Wolffe (The Open University) and Professor Arthur Burns (King’s College London) join with Lambeth Palace Library to offer historical insights to the Anglican Diocese of London.
This knowledge transfer project has shared with the diocese exciting recent academic research on Anglicanism in the past two centuries. In particular, the project has explored the remarkable parallels between the social context of the nineteenth century, such as population increase and large-scale migration both to and within London, and that of the present day. As John Wolffe, project leader, explains: “the 21st century church can learn from the Victorians, but from their mistakes as well as their successes, and more subtly from setting the current situation in the long-term perspective provided by recent historical research.” The project has engaged with the diocese at all levels, making presentations in most deaneries and organising workshops and seminars for senior clergy, school teachers, cathedral staff and local and parish historians.
The project also highlights the value of individual congregations understanding their own unique historical background and story. The diocese has now introduced a history audit, designed by the project, as part of its Mission Action Plan strategy. The audit, says Neil Evans, the diocese’s Director of Ministry: “seeks to take individual themes, for example, patterns of lay leadership or recurring issues about finance, and explore how these themes have shaped the present and may have an inordinate influence over the future development of church and community – for good or ill.” An audit can also contribute to the identity of a congregation, or even challenge unhelpful myths, such as the sometimes demoralising idea of a past golden age when the church was always full.
In the past year, the organisers have been taking their message beyond London, and also emphasising the value of historical awareness for largely rural dioceses. As Arthur Burns describes, understanding the historical context in such settings can be of significant value, as: “outside the city as much as in it, there is a wide range of parish environments about which one should not rush to generalise, and too often the city is assumed to present the more challenging pastoral environment.” There is considerable scope and great potential enthusiasm for undertaking history audits in rural parishes.
The project is keen that rural parishes should use its resources. To find out more about the Building on History project or about the history audit, please visit
www.open.ac.uk/buildingonhistory or contact Dr John Maiden at
j.maiden@
open.ac.uk
8 www. countryway. org. uk
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