The General Synod of the Church of England is meeting for three days in London. Like many others, I approach such meetings with a mixture of serious anticipation and reluctant resignation. I might be unusual, but I usually need some prior wider preparatory thinking that sets the particular agenda in a constructive context.
So, I was belatedly reading some papers on the train this morning and found in them some useful stuff. Dr Isolde Karle presented a paper at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung conference in Italy recently in which she addressed some of the challenges and perspectives arising from the role of the Church in a society differentiated by function (Kirche in der funktional differenzierten Gesellschaft: Herausforderungen und Perspektiven). Having examined the changes in society that have led to a diminution in influence on the part of the Church in the west, she differentiates between the dominance of status/order (up to the 18th century) and that of function/individualism thereafter. She looks at Luther (who wanted freedom from the – perceived – totalitarian claims of the Roman Catholic Church) and Schleiermacher (who wanted to free the church from the state) en route and summarises: “Religion war vor allem eine Sache der Ordnung, nicht der Überzeugung.”
Having stated that the church both gains and loses from the changes that now shape the modern world, she goes on to identify three 'dimensions of church life' that are significant for wider society:
- Preservation of the Christian cultural memory
- Church as an intermediary institution
- Inclusion of the excluded.
Now, although these will take on slightly different complexions depending on the particular German or English contexts, they seem to me to offer a corrective to the common defensive misery or under confidence of the church in a changing world. Yes, there are other dimensions that could be identified, but these three matter enormously. Dr Karle is unapologetic in stating that this cultural memory cannot be taken for granted. “It is completely imaginable that one day the story of the Good Samaritan will no longer be known/understood. Solidarity with the powerless, deliberate care of the marginalised, of the sick and of people in need are not self-evident.” (Es ist aber durchaus vorstellbar, dass die Geschichte vom barmherzigen Samariter eines Tages nicht mehr verstanden wird. Die Solidarität mit den Schwächeren, die explizite Rücksichtnahme auf Ausgegrenzte, auf Kranke, auf Menschen in Not versteht sich nicht von selbst.)
The church is well placed to create the space in which other societal bodies can meet and thrive – hence the 'intermediary' role which the church exercises for the common good… on the basis of the vital rooting of our cultural memory in Christian theology and ethics.
In a functionally-differentiated world in which fragmentation is one consequence of societal change the church remains one of the few institutions that make space for all-comers regardless of background, status, qualification, wealth or ability.
OK, this is a rough summary of a longer and well-argued paper (that will be published next year). But, given that we will be debating women bishops (there's a surprise!) and 'intentional evangelism' (with the clear challenge of what this looks like among the poor and on our large urban estates where many churches are struggling to grow), Dr Isolde provides a background consideration of the cultural pool in which the church currently swims.
November 18, 2013 at 6:08 pm
Thank you Bishop Nick for sharing this with us
November 18, 2013 at 10:40 pm
I can’t get my head around the term, a ‘society differentiated by function / a functionally-differentiated world’ – what does this mean?
November 19, 2013 at 10:27 am
Well worth re reading, thank you. Doing what you’re good at very often best.
November 19, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Yes indeed…we are reminded of the current examination of a judicial review..
‘New faith schools could be forced to admit pupils from non-religious backgrounds if a judicial review currently being heard in the High Court is successful’…
A contemporary. if not indirect example of our church compelled to work with one of the ‘three dimensions of church life’…
November 19, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Caroline, it is shorthand for a culture that identifies its people by what they do rather than their social status. Sort of.
November 19, 2013 at 4:12 pm
They won’t know the Good Samaritan, but according to the Master of the Queen’s Music this week, many have never heard of Mozart! A society differentiated by what people do and not their social status does just about sum it up.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509136/Queens-composer-Peter-Maxwell-Davies-wants-young-people-study-classical-music.html
November 19, 2013 at 4:15 pm
Sorry, meant to leave you with the Daily Torgraphy version, not the Daily Rag 🙂 But the sentiment is the same.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/10456344/Queens-official-composer-youngsters-are-ignorant-of-classical-music-because-of-elitist-attitude.html
November 19, 2013 at 4:36 pm
Thanks for the Telegraph link. I totally agree with the Master of the Queen’s musi and Nicola Bernadetti. “Since when did everything need to be fun”. It seems to be the same problem in some churches I visit.
November 19, 2013 at 5:12 pm
Classical music can be fun, but not with the teacher I had a school. Still … it is not middle-class whatever and elitist, but you do wonder where it has now all gone. Anything to do with music and sport needs discipline. But go to Tanzania as I did one year, where I heard a guy up the mountains playing Bach’s D Minor Toccata on a keyboard I had just brought from London as a donation, learnt by ear from just hearing it and recording it in the Catholic Cathedral by a ‘real’ organist in Dar es Salaam. No music! They don’t say it’s elitist, just a culture to which they are entitled to join in, plus they will know all about the Good Samaritan, not just the story but puttin it into practice.
November 20, 2013 at 11:44 pm
Do you believe we are in a functionally-differentiated society these days, with inequality growing, social mobility withering, and the demonisation of the poor growing more strident?
November 21, 2013 at 9:46 am
Yes, as human value has to do with individual reward and not social contribution.