Going to church on the sofa, by Veronica Bright

So there we were, self-isolating on a Sunday, and investigating going to church online. I felt we needed a questionnaire to help us, or at the least some sort of guide. For example:

Voice: ‘Would you like traditional or modern, Sir? What about you, Madam, laissez-faire and relaxed, or sit up straight and don’t fidget?’

Me: ‘Er, well, perhaps something in between, if you don’t mind.’

It was a bit like answering a rather snooty waiter, in a posh restaurant, who was asking if we wanted our steak rare, medium, or well done, ignoring the fact that we’re almost vegetarian.

Voice: ‘Modern music, songs written in the latter part of your lifetime, or organ and oldies?’

Me: ‘Well, we’re not averse to either, actually. We like both.’

Waiter looked at us as if we were perched on a fence like little sparrows, and what he’d expected was more exotic, a bird of paradise perhaps.

.

Voice: ‘Why don’t you just try something.’ He leaned closer. ‘Suck it and see. Click and collect, Madam. It’s all the rage.’ 

Suffice to say, Hubbie and I embarked on a kind of adventure. The first church we visited was not for us, so we flitted to the second, and although we stuck with this one to the end of the service, neither of us felt entirely comfortable. Determinedly, we tried one last Sunday Worship. This was at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square. If only our waiter had pointed us towards this in the  first place, I reckon we would have spent the whole morning smiling. The church serves a tri-lingual community – Cantonese, Mandarin and English – and is effortlessly multi-cultural and all-inclusive. We felt welcome, part of something bigger than ourselves, part of a church that is out-reaching and looks after the poor and the homeless.

We felt blessed to join in with this service on the day they were celebrating St Martin’s Day, and to hear again the story of St Martin, who in 337 AD, noticed a shivering beggar on the streets of Amiens. He jumped down from his horse, took off his soldier’s cloak and sliced it in half with his sword. Then he wrapped half around the beggar and the other half around himself before remounting. I learnt that this kind of caring for the disadvantaged was not widespread in the 4th century. Extremely rare, in fact. The Christian community at St Martin-in-the-Fields is now committed to following Martin's example (not by slicing up their cloaks, obviously).

I think we’ll be visiting StMartins.digital again.

Sharing thoughts that lingered after going to church on the sofa

Christians are all gloriously different, and there are many ways in which people worship God together. What suits one person may not feel like ‘home’ to another. My snooty waiter would probably comment, no doubt with a sniff, ‘If you don’t fancy the steak, we have lesser options.’

Ignore him. After all, tastes are different. One is not better than another. Similarly every way of worship is valid and of equal worth.

What if the same applies for people of other faiths, too? 

For some time I’ve been thinking about the following quote, from John Shelby Spong who died in September this year. He was the Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, USA, from 1979 to 2000. He wrote:

 ‘God is not a Christian, God is not a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or a Buddhist. All of those are human systems which human beings have created to try to help us walk into the mystery of God. I honour my tradition, I walk through my tradition, but I don't think my tradition defines God. I think it only points me to God.’

Buddhist Festival, Kathmandu

Nepal 2011 

Veronica Bright is a former reception class teacher whose pupils inspired her books of dramas for collective worship and many of her prize-winning short stories for adults, now self-published in three collections. She has also self-published a book to help fellow-writers, called 'How to create believable characters using the Enneagram'. She blogs monthly on her website at http://www.veronicabright.co.uk