Watching Paint Dry? God & Church.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’ve always been ahead of my time. Whereas you lot got bored of Church in your teens and stopped going, I left Sunday school when I was 7. I still had to go to Church though, but preferred to sit in the service with my Mum then go to Sunday school. After I finished my training and was made a local preacher my old Sunday School teacher came and congratulated me with tears of pride in her eyes, which quickly turned to tears of long-felt pain as she related the tale of the 7 year old who told her that he was bored of what she was doing and stormed out the room never to return. She retired from Sunday school teaching shortly after that.

And yet here I am just a few years later (OK more than just a few) a fully paid up member of the People-Who-Not-Only-Go-To-Church-But-Contribute-To-Whatever-Happens-On-A-Sunday Club. So what’s happened to make a difference? Do I still get bored of what happens on a Sunday? If so, how and why do I cope?

The first thing to say is, yes I do still find that Church can be dull. There are times when, instead of feeling uplifted, I feel frustrated, sometimes even angry. But the way that I’ve come to view Church has changed, so I can cope with Sunday mornings being bland because of what else Church has become to me.

Over the years Church has done a lot for me, maybe that’s a reason I’ve stuck with it. After I’d decided I wasn’t interested in playing the rubbish they make you learn for school concerts it was Church that offered me the opportunities to play music in public, and it was Church that gave me the first chances I had to mess around with PA gear and recording. I met many great people through Church, and my friends from ‘back home’ are all church friends some of whom I’ve known for over 20 years. At Church I felt listened to and I fitted in more than I ever did at school.
That’s an experience that continued as I moved around. Churches I’ve attended have been welcoming and when I’ve sat in a Church as a visitor and participated in traditional Methodist Worship it’s been like putting on an old familiar jumper – perhaps a bit shabby round the edges and something you wouldn’t want to be judged for wearing but it’s warm and comforting and holds a lot of good memories.

But Church is more than just a nostalgic trip - Church is for the here and now. Church still offers me opportunities to be heard – through this blog and through my being a local preacher, and although I don’t play much music in Church anymore I’m still frequently found at the back of the room sitting behind a mixing desk trying to look important. And there’s still more that Church offers – I seem to lead a charmed existence free from the difficulties which dog some people, but I know from experience that I can count on the Church for support when such events occur. I’ve seen many people supported and uplifted through difficult times by their Church. Knowing that there are people who do care for you and are willing to help you is of itself a source of strength, and this is what a Church can provide.

But Church is even more than that! What I’ve described above is a social club, there has to be something that makes Church unique. I discovered what it was when I was in my teens. I discovered that this God thing that people talked about was of interest to me and I started to explore what that meant. I soon realised that the people who frequented Church also had an interest in God and an experience of Him and so as people shared and talked about what they knew of God it strengthened my own ideas and they turned into a faith. Church became a means to an end. The point of Church wasn’t Church. The point of Church was as a vehicle to reach God, and as such a vehicle - for all it’s faults and weaknesses - it’s objective and ideals keeps me coming back to further my own journey.


Not everyone’s experience is like mine. A lot of people have very bad experiences in Churches. Church is often called a ‘family’ and a lot of the good experiences I’ve described can be paralleled in a family, and just like there are good families and bad families so there are good Churches and bad Churches. Even when we find a good Church there will be bad points to it – just as there’s always a family member you don’t get on with you’ll find a Church member who you find annoying, difficult, hostile, un-accepting or any other negative human reaction you care to name. Like a family the bad experiences we have in Church hurt more because of what Church is meant to be. Sometimes our families can do us great damage – as can Church. But with Church we can find a new place to undo the damage and learn to belong.

Just like in a family, we need to be an active participant in Church to get the most out of it. It doesn’t do any good simply sitting and moaning about how there is nothing of interest to us at Church. We have to actively effect the change we want to see in Church to make it interesting and relevant. We have to be the Church we want to belong to

This is what Café Sundae tries to do – we try to demonstrate the Church in action as we see it should be, and help others find their place in Church and in Gods family.