Rector's letter for April Fowey News

Dear Friends

Just a couple of years ago you rarely hear discussion of faith in public. For sure, thoughtful Christian voices were to be found, but they were often hidden and hard to notice. The Christian voice in public life often seemed either shrill, scattered or just plain silent.  

Yet now, it’s hard to avoid discussion of faith in public. The new atheism of Dawkins et al continues to fade into the background. It’s no longer a claim to be daring, risky, intelligent and avant-garde. Instead, it is to out yourself as dogmatic, tone deaf to the spiritual and inattentive to tried and tested ancient wisdom.

Last month Esther Walker, writing in The Times, brought up with no religion, much less fully convinced, described her tentative journey into church: “I don’t cross myself, kneel to pray or take part in the cultish group confessions. I will sing a bit if I know the tune. I don’t cling to my service sheet, I just sit and meditate and let it all wash over me. I am grateful for the hour away from my bastard phone. I am not baptised or confirmed so can’t take Communion, but sometimes go up for a blessing if I need the full weight of the church behind me for the challenges of the coming week. When a vicar, in all the gear, leans towards you and says, “May God bless you: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” it supplies a dash of backbone. 

And she’s not alone. There have been countless such stories. Some are famous - Nick Cave, Tom Holland, Giles Coren, Louise Perry, Ayaan Hirsi Ali to mention a few. Many are not.

Christianity has also been part of the political discussion, with flags on lampposts going along with crosses at rallies, prominent Christians shaping the agenda of some political parties, and Bishops being lobbied to exert a clearer moral influence in Parliament on vexed issues of human identity and value at the beginning and end of life.

So much has changed and it reminds us how quickly the Zeitgeist shifts. It might shift again. In fact, I’m sure it will. But underneath all this it does seem as if a profound cultural shift is taking place. We are intrigued by the wild, the weird, the spiritual. The comfortable post-war liberal democratic order is fraying. Some think we should shore it up fast in case the barbarians storm through the gaps in the wall. Others are more sanguine, wondering if something else, different and more intriguing is on the way – perhaps even more deeply shaped by Christian faith again?  

For the Christian, the historically witnessed and attested, actual, physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we celebrate this year on 5 April, Easter Sunday, is the lynch-pin of Christianity and is a shining beacon of guaranteed hope in a dark world. And it seems that others are (re-)discovering that too as a firm bedrock and reliable foundation for thriving and prosperous society and a fruitful life.

Perhaps it’s time you found your way back too?

with every blessing

Philip