Church is not yet dead in Wales - just changing
Oct 10 2006 South Wales Echo
This article appeared in the South Wales Echo on October 10th and includes refernces to Bethel
Gerry Holt, South Wales Echo
Reverend Aled Edwards says he could make a fortune if he had £1 every time he was asked what churches can do to get more people on pews.
'If I had the answer to that one I would make a fortune,' said Rev Edwards, chief executive of Churches Together in Wales.
How to get people back into the routine of Sunday worship has become the biggest conundrum for the church in the 21st Century.
Nowadays, many Christians choose shopping trips, staying in bed or cooking a roast - anything to avoid visiting a church.
So what are church leaders doing to increase interest in Christianity?
'We're finding new ways of 'being church',' said Rev Edwards, who represents Christians of all denominations in Wales.
'It's quite a clumsy way of putting it, but what we mean by that is we have ministers in places of work, chaplains in hospital or shopping centres, and new schemes outside the church working with youngsters.
'We have to meet people where they are and where they are now is in the middle of very busy lives.'
For Mr Edwards, and many other churchgoers, a recurring theme is that the church needs to be more flexible - allowing people to worship anytime and anywhere.
But does this mean church buildings have become obsolete? Or is it simply that their role has changed?
Philip Morris, a priest of 32 years and chairman of the Churches Tourism Network Wales, says there will always be a place in society for an open-all-hours church but he believes its role is no longer one of just worship.
He believes thriving churches are those which have transformed themselves into being at the centre of community life.
Many have a unique opportunity to recognise what is not being provided in the community and plug that gap - whether it is providing a drop-in centre for youngsters or the elderly, a community cafe or a creche.
'People are still very much spiritually aware but not necessarily following an organised religion,' said Mr Morris, Archdeacon of Margam.
'The church has to recognise the change in social patterns and adapt. Those churches which have done so have been very successful.'
Increasing numbers of churches have already adopted this philosophy.
Many offer popular evening or midweek services as an alternative to Sundays, and Welsh-speaking services in the city have become increasingly well-attended.
Others, like St Timothy's Church in Caerau, Cardiff, offer an eat and meet cafe, while the number of community activities going on at Bethel Baptist Church, in Whitchurch, Cardiff, outweigh formal church services, 10-1.
A recent study by the Church in Wales into the use of its buildings showed more than 15,000 community activity sessions take place every week in its churches - and in a year, more than two million people will attend.
Encouragingly, the survey also showed church buildings are most often used by youngsters for community activities.
Head of property services for the Church in Wales, Alex Glanville, said thousands recently visited churches as part of a European Heritage Days initiative in the city.
'Numbers of regular worshippers are going down but our buildings are very important to the community,' he said. 'It shouldn't be all doom and gloom.'
Churches are also tackling their staid image by getting online. Many now have comprehensive websites, with forums, live news and blogs.
Mr Morris said: 'I listened to a talk years ago when somebody was saying that by the year 2000 there would only be six priests left in the Church in Wales, but it hasn't happened.
'We're not celebrating the funeral of the church just yet.
'There's a real optimism for the future now as long as churches continue to listen to the needs of society and realise the needs of society are changing.'
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