News | Churches


downsmail.co.uk Oh, come all ye faithful!


ANAnglican vicar,whose congregations can often be counted on the fingers of two hands, haswrit- ten a soul-searching article in hisparish newsletter aboutdwindling numbers.We cast the net to other churches and faiths to gauge the strength of religious following…


“I WONDER who will be the last, the very last, to seek this place for what itwas…” So wrote the irreligious poet


Philip Larkin more than 60 years ago in his work, Church Going, as he pondered the role of religious buildings which he had an ironic fascination for. One wonders, too, if ever Rev


Steve Hughes questions if this fate will befall his clutch of rural churches nearMaidstone. After all, attendances have be-


come lamentable and perhaps a lit- tle terrifying, as he notes two recent Sunday services by way of illustra- tion. But rather than thrash out, Rev


Hughes has chosen to examine the Church of England’s appeal - or lack of it - while other churches in the area report quite different situations in their pews. As areaDean forOtham, Langley,


Leeds (St Nicholas Church is the main picture), Broomfield and Kingswood, Rev Hughes (right) wrote in his parish newsletter this month: “The combined total atten- dance of both services was merely


Young enjoy a


‘relaxed time’ NEIL Pattison, senior church leader at the Jubilee Church in Upper Stone Street, Maidstone, says the relaxed and community feel of the evangelical services helps to attract more than 200 people eachweek. He said: “The church has a ca-


pacity of 300 but we get about 200 to 220. So, from that point of view, we are rela- t i v e l y strong in compar i - son, butwe are really keen for o t h e r churches to flourish. “ T h e r e


are many Angl i can churches which have very, very strong attendances. “The Jubilee Church offers a


modern, lively type of servicewith band, rather than an organist,with songs generally instead of hymns. “It’s a very relaxed Sunday


morning andwe have a really good time, and that’swhat appeals to the younger people. “We do a lot of communitywork


aswell.” 30 Maidstone November 2017


25, including two organists, four choirmembers andmyself counted twice. “This, sadly, is a familiar picture


over many parts of the Church of England and if itwere any commer- cial business, theChurch of England would long ago have been shut down in a significant number of places. In part, it is because going to church has largely gone out of fash- ion. In part, it is that there are so many counter-attractions available to folk – although why people


would choose a trip toMorrisons or Sainsbury’s as opposed to going to worship God in church is totally


be-


yondme. “Ano the r


problem … is the language we use.


If


s ome b o d y with


no


church expe- rience came in off the street thenwe


Imamreporting good turnouts


IMAMat theMaidstoneMosque, Dr Muhammed Usmani, said a recent influx ofMuslims to theMaidstone area had benefited attendances at the five daily prayermeetings. Each gets an average attendance of 30 worshippers, but some prayers can attract up to 50. He said: “There aremore people


coming into Kent who follow Islam. but there are relatively few places to worship, so that is why we havemaintained a strong attendance.” The Imamis pictured with Anglican, Rev Andrew Sewell.


Vicar builds on ‘modest’ congregation


FATHER Bryson of the St Michael and All Angels Anglo-Catholic church in Tonbridge Road has been building on his “modest” congre- gation since joining in January. Weekly mass at the Church of


England chapel sees an average at- tendance of around 35 worshipers, monthly benediction of 15 and a midweek mass of a dozen partici- pants. The 67-year-old former teacher


said: “I’m not particularly despon- dent.Our numbers aremodest, but we have instituted a programme of outreach to thosewho are lapsed or


don’t have c o n t a c t with


a


church at all. “In that


time, we have bap- tised four adults and had


a


countless stream of infants forChristening, to the point where the next available slot is in December. It doesn’t mean, of


course, that they will attend church. But it’s a place to start from. Iwouldn’t blame the system, we gowithwhat we have got.” Fr Bryson said the Church of


England has a legal obligation to maintain presence in each parish, whereas a Methodist or a Baptist churchmight have only one or two places ofworship in an area. He added: “If there were only a


couple ofAnglian churches to go to inMaidstone, then the numbers at- tending would be very, very im- pressive but, as it stands, we do not.”


have just the services to confuse him totally. “We callmost of our services Eu-


charist or communion,which is fine for those of us in the know but whichwouldmean absolutely noth- ing to the non church-goer.” He said denying communion to


“unconfirmed” newcomers creates an atmosphere of exclusivity,which adds to the issue of lowattendance. RevHughes says that language of


“redemption”, “salvation” and “ab- solution” are words “barely com- prehensible” to those outside the confines of the church. In the article, he asks: “Sowhat is


the answer? Well, we could close half of our churches and save an awful lot of time andmoney,which is currently spent on keeping build- ings open, but given that the proud boast – and rightly so – of the Church of England is that it has a presence in very community, then closing churches can hardly be the best option. “We have to find away of attract-


ing people toworship – less liturgi- cal


spontaneous.” and potentially more


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