Enough is Enough!

One of the people that has been a real inspiration and support to many of us in the Diocese of Chelmsford (and beyond) is the current Archdeacon of West Ham, Michael Fox.

Michael is shortly to retire and, as part of his farewell tour of the Diocese, spoke at last Tuesday's Deanery Synod for Redbridge. What he had to say is well worth wider circulation but, before we get to that, his Farewell Service will be held at St Margaret's Barking, the church were he grew up and where his name is carved into a pew (something he did as a child, not an Archdeacon!). This service will be held on Wednesday 4th July at 7.30pm.

Michael told us that the biggest change he had seen over his 40 years of ministry in the Diocese was the global population explosion with its consequent rise in exploitation of the world's resources. He challenged us to think how we could live more equitably in future (contractual convergence being one possible solution) and to think what it will be like to live in a world without resources, like oil, that we currently take for granted.

While in the West we have shifted, he thinks, from denial on issues of climate change. So far we have only shifted to panic mode and are not yet at the point of collectively saying what lifestyle changes we need to make to make a difference. He reminded us of John V. Taylor's book, Enough is Enough, which kickstarted the simple lifestyle movement 20 years ago. That message has still to be fully taken on board; as have the messages of the Church of England report Sharing God's Planet, which in his opinion is still the best short summary of the issues.

Among the reasons why the Church is not further on in its thinking and response to these issues is the fracture between those wanting to find security in a dramatically changing world through a doctrinaire, simplistic faith and those seeking a more profound study of the Bible that reads it against culture, history, context and not as a one-dimensional rule book.

But the picture is, by no means, mainly negative. Much of what happens at the grassroots of church life is actually a real challenge to the public perceptions of what Church is about. Many congregations are genuinely seeking to engage with their local communities in ways that are not confrontational or judgemental. This has been helped by the migration of Christians from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, among others, into our cities; which is revitalising the Church of England in the city.

The presence of people of other faiths and the growth of interest in spirituality are also a positive challenge to us, as Christians, to take our own faith seriously. God, he concluded, has had a remarkable resurgence in the last 20 years; how well equipped are we to be signs of what the Christian spiritual tradition can bring to these issues and to our world?