The Route to Renewal : Spirit or Strategy?

"Am I cheating?" I asked myself.

I don't think anyone - even amongst our congregation - would dispute the fact that our church was in need of renewal. The congregation was small, predominantly elderly, tired and disillusioned. Worship - despite having all the outward trappings of Catholicism - felt at best very routine and at worst positively dreary, with minimal congregational participation or engagement.  There was little energy for - still less interest in - any kind of mission or evangelism. Some key roles in the parish - Churchwarden, Treasurer and PCC Secretary - had been vacant for some time. Having lived off reserves and resisted all efforts  at funding campaigns,  the parish finances were becoming dire. Whilst new people occasionally ventured into the church, they seldom stayed for long. It was a bleak and depressing picture.

Had I not been literally swept along by the Holy Spirit into a personal experience of renewal, I doubt I would have stuck around for long. But stick around I did,  and to my amazement ('Oh ye of little faith') my uncompromising message that we needed to either change and renew or call it a day and die, struck home with at least some of the congregation and most of the PCC; we soon had one or two new folk joining our congregation whose background was Evangelical/Charismatic but who were now seeking a more Catholic and sacramental approach to worship whilst not wishing to jettison all that was best in the tradition from which they came; I was also developing a good working relationship with a group of Christians working in a fresh expression in our parish linked to a Charismatic Evangelical church in Leicester city centre, and despite our liturgical differences, this soon blossomed into a positive and creative mission partnership; and when I interviewed our potential Curate, I was delighted to hear him say, "I think I should tell you that I'm a closet Charismatic".  One would have to be very obdurate or spiritually blind to not see these as tell-tale signs that God was at work!        

After a great deal of prayer, I became firmly convinced  that the first thing to do was to renew our worship. Tweaking the liturgy at the Parish Mass and trying to liven up the music had helped a bit, but it was clear that something more radical was needed. In any event, I was keen to share my own Charismatic experiences with others. After all, God doesn't give us any of his gifts - including the gifts of the Holy Spirit - to keep to ourselves.

Having experienced worship at the On Fire Mission Midlands Renewal Day and having been 'blown away' by the heady combination of the Catholic and the Charismatic, I realised that we could do something similar in the parish.   I therefore proposed the introduction of a monthly Mass that would retain our Catholic ethos - albeit in a slightly more relaxed way - with contemporary music and a Charismatic edge. I expected opposition from the PCC; there was nothing but support. I had no idea where we were going to find musicians for the worship band that I realised would be essential for this to work well; but people came forward. All my prayers were answered!

So our monthly 'New Fire Mass' was launched, and some eighteen months later, I believe this continues to be the principal vehicle for renewal; and this is what prompts my opening question. "Am I cheating?" because I would normally have expected the outward renewal of worship to have followed  inner spiritual renewal rather than preceding it. It is, therefore, reasonable to ask, does this outward show of renewal actually mean anything?

I believe it does.

Since introducing the 'New Fire Mass', a number of our congregation are showing a growing interest in Charismatic spirituality. Last year I took a handful of them to the OFM Midlands Day, which they all found exciting, renewing, challenging and thought-provoking. This year I hope to take a few more.

In our Lent Group this year, we explored a number of themes related to the Holy Spirit, including the place of praying in tongues in worship, and had some very useful and positive conversations. A year or two ago, this wouldn't have been possible. And there are people worshipping at our 'New Fire Mass' who would never have gone to anything that had a 'Charismatic' label. They would have been too scared - and to be honest, some years ago, so would I!

The 'New Fire Mass' provides the space in which people can experience a new style of worship (Charismatic) but in a safe and familiar context (Catholic) where there is an openness that allows for a deeper encounter of Human Spirit with Holy Spirit. So even some of the die-hard traditionalists are beginning to enjoy the modern music, and increasing numbers of people now feel able to go up for prayer/healing ministry after receiving communion. One of our very devout Catholic ladies recently said to me, "I'm really getting all this Holy Spirit stuff, and I'm up for it. Bring it on!"

A sceptic might argue that Charismatic worship, and in particular the contemporary music is simply being used to provoke an emotional and spiritual response. But music in worship has always performed this function - and legitimately so. There are few things in life that move me so powerfully as a good Cathedral Choral Evensong or hearing Bairstow's 'Lamentations' during Holy Week; but equally, I (along with many others) was quite unable to keep my arms down the first time our congregation sang Matt Redman's '10,000 Reasons' at the end of Mass! Yes, music does have a profound effect on us spiritually and emotionally, and rightly so. As Thomas Carlyle once wrote:

"Music is well said to be the speech of angels; in fact nothing among the utterances allowed to man is felt to be so divine. It brings us near to the infinite." 

In our New Fire Mass we are being brought nearer to the infinite; not necessarily more so than in our more traditional services, but certainly in a different way, and things are changing as a result.
   
The effects of renewal are also being felt in various practical ways. We now have two Churchwardens and a Treasurer. At this year's APCM we had more candidates than PCC vacancies and had to hold an election. Our finances are very slowly getting back 'on track' and we've undertaken some worthwhile and effective initiatives with our mission partners. We now have an 'Open church' project which means that the church building is regularly open to the public, with volunteers providing a welcome and, where appropriate, prayer support. We are slowly but surely attracting new worshippers who themselves bring a fresh energy and openness to the Holy Spirit. The prayer groups and the Alpha Courses - and deeper renewal - can now follow because the 'New Fire Mass' has paved the way.

I'm under no delusions, and I realise that we are merely at the beginning of the journey into Charismatic renewal and we have some way to go before the parish is once again fully alive and viable; but we are on the move, and I believe that the decision to renew worship first, was - at least in our situation - the right one. I also believe that I was right to ignore the advice that many people gave me to set up the 'New Fire Mass' as a totally discrete service on a Sunday evening. This would have simply created a separate congregation; it would have been divisive; it would have excluded many members of our main Sunday congregations and it would have sent an unhelpful signal that anything Charismatic isn't part of the mainstream. I believe it would also have limited the potential of renewal across our whole worshipping community.

So I don't think I have cheated; rather I hope that I've done my best to respond to God's promptings and to create the space for the Holy Spirit to do his work.

Some time ago I exchanged e-mails with a priest friend who has led churches into Charismatic renewal. At one point my impatience got the better of me, and I expressed frustration that things were not moving faster. In his reply, my friend wrote, "Be patient. Trust in God. Renewal will come, but in God's time." Those sentences were written in a huge font, so they stood out dramatically amidst the standard font of the rest of the e-mail. When I responded, I assured him that I had got the message, and suggested that his font choice had been a little over-the-top. He responded by saying that he hadn't used a different sized font at any point, and sure enough when we looked back over the messages, that was the case! Was my original reading an illusion?  Was it some strange Microsoft glitch? Or was it divine intervention - or maybe a bit of all three? Who knows? But the message was received and understood.

In today's Church of England, with its growing emphasis on management-speak and its ever-increasing focus on strategies and programmes, I believe we are in danger of losing sight of the fact that it is God's strategy not ours, that matters. God alone knows the true route to renewal in every situation; and the route will be unique for each one. Our role is to be attentive to the clues that God leaves in our path, responsive to the hints that he gives, ready to grasp the openings and opportunities he presents, and then to leave the rest to him - trusting that he will lead us into renewal and into his future - in his way, and in his time.