Christianity maintains presence in England
By Mike Haynes
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| Hampton Court Palace in London |
I had the
topic for this column all figured out before Kathy and I left for England a
couple of weeks ago. I was sure that, while touring the spectacular Windsor
Castle, seeing some plays in London’s West End and exploring three flea
markets, I’d notice plenty of evidence of the decline of Christianity in the
United Kingdom: a good, if sad, religion topic.
After all,
a poll published by Dr. Peter Brierly showed that 3.6 million people attended
church weekly in the UK in 2011. That’s in a population of 62.7 million, or
less than 6 percent.
It’s well
known that in past decades, the country of William Tyndale, burned at the stake
in 1536 for publishing the Bible in the English language, and the land of
quaint, stone church towers in every village has become a secular nation
despite its official government-church connection.
So I was
surprised when, on the back of a red, double-decker London bus, I saw an ad for
Jubilee Church London with pictures of people raising their hands in worship.
Its website shows that the congregation meets in movie theaters and attracts crowds
in the thousands.
I was
surprised again at a poster in crowded Waterloo train station for an open-air
play at Wintershall Estate in Surrey called “Life of Christ.” An online search
revealed that the production has attracted large audiences since 1999.
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| Jubilee Church on back of London bus |
In our
hotel room a block from Trafalgar Square, we ran across a TV program on BBC Two
called “The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England.” It was a serious look at
Tyndale, whose Bible text makes up a high percentage of the King James Bible
that came 75 years after his death. I didn’t detect a word of cynicism about
Christianity in the documentary.
We saw a
street preacher at Piccadilly Circus, the famous central London intersection.
In addition to shouting the expected, “Repent!” message, we heard the young man
giving insightful advice to a guy who was challenging him: “Stop trying to
impress your friends by making fun of me, and when you get home, actually read
a Bible and see if it makes sense.”
Kathy and I
also toured Hampton Court Palace. The tourist hype at that grand residence
dealt with Henry VIII, who lived there with all six of his wives (not all at
once, of course).
But our main
reason for visiting was because Hampton Court was the site of the momentous
1604 church meeting where James I decided England needed a new Bible. Although
that event wasn’t promoted like Henry VIII’s antics, the tour guidebook did
have a short segment about the 1611 King James Bible.
So we saw
glimmers of hope that faith isn’t completely stamped out in England. Just
glimmers, but those small positive signs are heartening. Christians there should
not give up yet.
The United
States is on the same path away from belief as the UK, just not as far down
that road. The Hartford Institute says we have 60.2 million weekly churchgoers,
or 20.4 percent, but that’s way down from the past. Much of our population can
be described by Romans 8:5: “Those who live according to the flesh have their
minds set on what the flesh desires,” with a smaller group defined by the rest
of that verse: “But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their
minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
Unless
we’re going to be missionaries across the pond, our task is to spread Christ’s
good news to those around us – those who haven’t heard it and those who think
they don’t need it.
Returning from
London, Kathy and I stopped at an I-40 restaurant with her mom for some
down-home American food. Just after we were seated, 78 kids invaded the dining
room. They were from East Texas churches in Carthage and Beckville, on their
way to the Baptist camp at Glorieta, N.M.
It felt
good to be back in the Bible Belt. And the spiritual future of our country
might depend on kids like them.
