A guest blog from associates, the URC
———————————-
Picture a church in a wood. What do you see? A spire soaring above the treetops? A humble log chapel?
Ruth Maxey is a United Reformed Church minister, and her church is at Howe Park Wood, Milton Keynes – at least today – but it doesn’t have a spire and it doesn’t have log walls. It has wellies and raincoats. Next month, the church will be in Rushmere Country Park, but still, in all likelihood, in wellies.
This is Church Without Walls. It doesn’t have a building, it doesn’t have a regular home – it has breakfast together, then it has a walk in the woods, enjoying God and conversation. At other times it happens in a pub, a house, a pavilion… it’s even been known to happen in a church.
Pioneer URC ministers like Ruth are exploring new ways of being church, because the old ways are not always working. Our traditional ways of being church have not succeeded in engaging our generation in the Gospel. We believe that for the church to have a future we need some seriously creative Christianity.
This quest for creative Christianity is one of the reasons why the URC has become Greenbelt’s newest associate. Where else is there such a hub of creative Christianity as Greenbelt? We hope through this relationship to explore with Greenbelters new ideas, new paths, new stories, new initiatives. We want to share our passion for creative Christianity and to learn from yours.
“How can church be more creative?” is one of the questions we’ll discuss in the March issue of Reform, the Christian magazine published by the URC. Reform is a lively forum for people from a wide range of religious perspectives, who like to be challenged and engaged. Join the debate!
Let’s explore together! Don’t forget your wellies. (Hopefully we won’t need them in August, but it is only February.)