We have just completed the parish phase of (yet another) process in our diocese, looking into how we might structure our parishes and church buildings in the light of dwindling congregations and priests to serve them.

At the two parish meetings, the two general headings under which everyone was invited to reflect were Mission and Stewardship.

Stewardship wins out

In the initial stages of the reflection people were invited to choose between those two headings, “Which area would you prefer to reflect on?” In both meetings over two-thirds of those present chose to reflect on Stewardship.

In fact, in one of the meetings it was difficult to persuade enough people to staff the group looking at Mission.

Anecdotally, this seems to have been the case in other parishes also.

Now, whilst in no way is this statistically significant, it does lead me to wonder if this were to be extrapolated across the church in Britain (as well as other largely post-Christian societies) how we might address a very serious problem for any kind of future for our church communities.

A missionary church

Pope Francis made the idea of people being “missionary disciples” key to his message for the church. Pope Leo is continuing to promote this as well.

If, however, people are reluctant to talk about this aspect of church, much less engage in it, how are we to persuade and equip them for the challenges which lie ahead?

I am shortly to retire as a pastor in parish work.

In all probability, I will be replaced by another priest who will either already have responsibility for a parish in the area or else will inherit a third in the not-too-distant future.

What happens to the mission in all of this? It cannot be left entirely to the pastor, who is already overwhelmed with the task at hand.

A working ship

I have just finished reading Tom Wright’s latest book, “The Vision of Ephesians“.

Rather than divide the six chapters of Paul’s letter evenly into “Part One: Dogma” and “Part Two: Ethics”, as many writers do, he chooses the titles “Worship” and “Mission” to capture the essence of the themes of the two parts.

In the second (Mission) half of the Letter Wright makes this comment,

“Of course, all God’s people are called to serve. The kingdom of God is not a cruise liner, with a few crew members doing all the work and lots of passengers enjoying a holiday with nothing to do. It is a working ship; everybody on board has a job, and some people have the special task of organising and coordinating it all.” (p.89)

There is much to reflect on in this image, and it is one that many people will be able to engage with.

I have been banging the drum about the need for comprehensive “Lay Formation”, preparing people to take up their full baptismal discipleship for well over forty years now.

I wonder if the time has finally come… If not, we are in dire trouble!

• Sean Hall is a theologian and priest serving in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle in North East England. He earned his doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven (K.U.Leuven). He has taught at Ushaw College Seminary and has held key diocesan roles, including Director of Religious Education and Director of Formation for the Permanent Diaconate.