Letters to the editor - October

AMS Staff | 1 October 2007

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Featured letter

Jeremy Halcrow puts flesh on the cold statistics from the NCLS survey. The underlying factors are largely in common with his excellent feature ‘Why Aussie Men Hate Church’ (SC Feb 2007). I see the problem as systemic, and rooted in our traditional way of running parishes. The NT provides little guidance on how to organise parish life. Acts 6 (distribution of food to the widows) is as close you get.

We should not expect a theology graduate to be highly qualified in organisational management. If he is a born leader, or has acquired skills prior to entering the ministry, that is a bonus. In practice, when a graduate enters parish ministry, he is confronted with an outmoded management system - the Parish Council system of church governance. This system of compromise stifles initiative and ownership among the congregation, and is often found wanting by ministers as well. The subject is touchy, but we should not shrink from addressing it for the sake of our Mission. Policy 4 of the Mission Strategy provides the ideal platform.

Jody Trouncer
Mosman, NSW

Parish system, not pastors, to blame

Once again it’s ‘let’s bash the local minister’ (Your pastor wears all the hats, SC, Sep). From my point of view SC has used the NCLS survey to heap unrealistic expectations on most ministers rather than providing helpful ideas on how to fix the real problems. I am pleased SC is willing to raise the issue but I do think your article lacked some clarity in dealing with the actual problems. No minister I know, and that’s quite a few, has any desire to hold onto all ministry.

Rather than demonising the minister by sensationalising the issue, we need an in-depth article with actual answers for smaller churches. Many ministers of smaller churches would love the trained leaders and financial resources that Miranda enjoys – no doubt the result of many years of faithful labour.
The article should have looked at why so many ‘lay’ people are unwilling to get involved, yet give up their ‘commitment’ to church for a sports event, birthday party or simply to have a break. And also the time constraints for ministers battling to maintain a life in a small parish with few trained leaders, but with the expectation they do all the traditional ministries, plus have great music, and use technology to great effect, build buildings, run safe ministry, raise funds, play their part in Synod, evangelise the masses and all the rest.

We have some sensational ‘lay’ ministers in our church who work very hard and help me reduce my workload – we are a small church that has spent six to seven years training people and it’s just starting to pay off. I doubt that we are the only church in this position.

The Rev David Cole
Rosemeadow, NSW

Big Love wrong

My women’s Bible study was less than impressed with Mark Hadley’s review of Big Love (SC, Sep). The patriarchal overtones were unworthy of Christians. Not only was there a tacit approval of polygamy, one of the most demeaning forms of societal organisation, but there was also a call for “feminine community” of the type found in first-century Judaism and current day Islam. The fact that several appalling forms of discrimination are not condemned explicitly in the Bible is no argument for their continuance. By all means let’s help struggling families, but we could start by encouraging the fathers. There are other options than limiting women to an all-female domestic ghetto. The mind boggles!

Chris Dixon
Mt Pleasant, NSW

Mark Hadley notes how Big Love illustrates the problems of polygamy, while at the same time speculating that it unwittingly testifies to the “Bible-backed benefits of feminine community”. I understand the point he was making, but it may give some comfort to polygamists, especially since he notes that the Bible does not explicitly condemn polygamy.

The review would be strengthened by an unequivocal statement that the Bible’s ideal for marriage is one man and one woman right from the beginning of creation (Genesis 2:24). This understanding of marriage is upheld by Jesus and Paul. While it is true the Mosaic Law regulated polygamy, such legislation did not thereby legitimise polygamy, but is rather best seen as a concession to human sinfulness.

Bishop Glenn Davies wrote helpfully on the topic in The Briefing (Mar, 2005).

The Rev Sandy Grant
Wollongong, NSW

Hip Hop Hooray!

Hip hop and Anglican in the same sentence. Wow! (‘Missing the Beat’, SC, Sep). I wonder, however, if a gospel-minded church could not be doing more to develop hip hop skills as a way of connecting with disaffected urban youth. I recommend the ministry of Lecrae Moore and Reach Records, a reformed evangelical hip hop artist, who has helped release projects like 13 Letters, an album that delivers the Pauline letters into beats and rhymes. Can I encourage Sydney Anglicans to drop their pomp and prestige and get ‘crunk’ with the gospel in the western suburbs, ya hear!

David Elsing
Middle Swan, WA

Jesse Gardiner raises two important aspects of Christianity and culture in Joseph Smith’s thoughtful article on hip hop. We should proclaim the lordship of Christ over all things (1 Cor 10:26) and the redemptive power of Christ’s death for all creation (Rom 8:22-24). In so doing, we seek to become all things to all people and so win some for Christ.

However, we also need to be discerning in the things which feed our minds. The group DC Talk is an example of how Christians may work through these issues. Unfortunately, removing the anger from the lyrics can be seen by a non-Christian audience as removing the very thing that gives this music its relevance. We should pray God will bless those who reach out with the gospel in every tongue and every creative form.

Philip Cooney
Wentworth Falls, NSW

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