Dear Friends

I recently read a newspaper article entitled, ‘The new church? How the gym became part of Britain.’ It suggested that the gym had become the third most important place to us after our home and workplace, implying that this was the place that the church used to have.

It commented that in Britain we have the most sophisticated health clubs and the highest market penetration of health clubs in the world apart from the USA, but paradoxically that we are also the least physically fit people in Europe. Is this a victory of style, business marketing and froth over substance, a delusion that gym membership and a few visits a week makes us healthy? Being a member of a gym may be enjoyable, but clearly there are questions about whether it is effective or not. As a member of a local gym myself I need to remember that membership is not a cure all, that there are lots of ways of keeping fit and that going to the gym is only part of a healthy lifestyle.

At the time when I write, the Church of England has just released its most recent statistics which indicate that there has been a drop in the number of worshippers by 100,000 between 2000 and 2002, although there has been a very slight rise in the number of young people since 2001. This is not something to be complacent about, but as gym membership indicates it is no measure of achieving what its members are looking for. There is certainly a growing interest in spirituality in our society. The women’s magazine Cosmopolitan has recently employed a spirituality editor, although I have not yet had the chance to see the fruit of her work.

The Christian church and the other major world religions have over 2000 years experience of spiritual wisdom and tradition upon which to draw. Unlike the gym, the church is more than simply a collection of individuals. It is a body of people who are part of something beyond themselves, the Body of Christ which has existed for over 2000 years. Although the statistics may show a decline in church attendance, many people (in fact 70% at the last census) feel a connection to the Christian church and attendance may no longer be the only measure of someone’s interest nor level of commitment to being a person of faith.

The church is in the process of transition; seeking to continue to do well many of the things it has always done, whilst at the same time trying to offer a range of different opportunities, some of them new, for people of all ages and diverse life commitments. As church we need to do all we can to be truly welcoming as Christ himself was, so that people can continue to experience the offer of Christ to follow Him today.

This is a challenge for the church, exciting but also at times daunting to discover what it means to be faithful to Christ today. How to be attractive as Christ clearly was to so many people, whilst retaining our integrity and offering real experience of Christianity in worship and life? Let’s see if the gym culture also finds the way to fulfill its purpose, in helping us to live more healthily whether we are members or not. Two millennia should be long enough to see if it endures as the new church!

Yours in Christ,

Ruth