Churchless faith has been used to describe people (and there are many) who have abandoned the institutional church , but have retained their faith. Today I was thinking about a "church -less faith" in a different kind of way. Today I encountered quite a lot of challenges in relation to administering our buildings, and it took me several hours to sort out and it will take more time next week. Church buildings can be a great asset to a congregation, but often they can be simply a distraction in terms of mission. They swallow up vast amounts of money and time in maintaining them, and most congregations and ministers soon discover that volunteers to help in these matters are thin on the ground. Several years ago, (to some peoples horror!)I suggested giving the buildings a break for 6 months, and simply functioning as a body of believers without them. I wonder how we would function as believers if suddenly the building wasn't available from tomorrow? It would certainly free up a lot of time for a few folk around Hilton Church. Friday, 14 January 2011
churchless christianity
Churchless faith has been used to describe people (and there are many) who have abandoned the institutional church , but have retained their faith. Today I was thinking about a "church -less faith" in a different kind of way. Today I encountered quite a lot of challenges in relation to administering our buildings, and it took me several hours to sort out and it will take more time next week. Church buildings can be a great asset to a congregation, but often they can be simply a distraction in terms of mission. They swallow up vast amounts of money and time in maintaining them, and most congregations and ministers soon discover that volunteers to help in these matters are thin on the ground. Several years ago, (to some peoples horror!)I suggested giving the buildings a break for 6 months, and simply functioning as a body of believers without them. I wonder how we would function as believers if suddenly the building wasn't available from tomorrow? It would certainly free up a lot of time for a few folk around Hilton Church. 
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This is indeed a connundrum. Church buildings have become synonymous with our expression of faith in this country. I'm not convinced its meant to be this way though. We seem to spend more money and time on gathering as believers than we do on the 'going out' bit of the message. Is that because the former is easier than the later?
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