Last Sunday (26/06/2011), while on an ashcloud enforced stopover in Brisbane, I went to an inner city church. It was an 11 a.m. service (there had earlier been a 9.30 a.m. service, which may have been the main service). I arrived there at about 5 minutes before the service was due to begin. There were not many people there at that point: the woman minister, one or two people on the door, and two or three others in the pews. There was also a young couple there, with a new baby, and a couple of young boys. They were there for the baptism of their baby boy. Another young woman stood nearby: it transpired that she was the godparent, and, if I recall correctly, was a sister of the baby's mother. In the next few minutes other members of the baptismal family arrived: perhaps about eight or nine adults, and three children (ranging in age from about six to nine). One set, a couple with the three children - two boys and a girl - sat in the pew in front of me. The adults were in their early to mid-thirties.
As the service began, the man got out an electronic gadget and began fiddling with it. He brought up a game and passed the device to one of the boys. Meanwhile the service got under way with a "Call to Worship", followed by a hymn. The minister led off valiantly, and we sang along, though the father of the boys made no attempt to sing, nor even to stand. It soon became obvious that, whatever the commitment of the parents bringing their baby for baptism (and they'd had their two older boys baptised as well), their friends and family had little connection with the church.
(As we were singing the hymn, I became aware of a woman's voice, with an American accent, singing strongly. I discovered at the end of the service, that a number of people had joined the congregation (and had been sitting in the pews behind me) swelling the numbers to perhaps about 25-30 persons, including the children).
The minister had a nice easy style, and did a very good job in the lead up to the baptism. There was a slot for a talk to the children, and she explained the meaning of baptism. The main message was that it stood for the fact of God's love for us. The baptism was conducted in a relaxed manner: and the father of the baby, at least, spoke out the promises reasonably strongly. A member of the congregation was called up to present the family with a baptismal candle, the certificate, a card (which members of the baptismal party were invited to sign and write comments for the child to read as it grew up), and a children's book of Bible stories.
The children went off to a transcept to one side of the sanctuary with an older woman in the congregation to engage in various "craft-type" activities, while we adults listened to the reading. There were, in fact, two printed in the order of service (Romans 6:12-23 and Matt. 10:40-42), but the minister, perhaps wisely, decided to read only the reading from Matthew. This was followed by a "Reflection" on the reading in which the minister spoke of what we receive in "welcoming a child" (the example of humility, for one). It was at this point that a woman (perhaps in her late thirties) got up from the pew two in front of me, and came to sit next to the mother of the children sitting in the pew in front of me. They proceeded to carry on a conversation (reasonably discreetly: I was intent on listening to the "reflection", so I don't know whether I could have followed the conversation had I concentrated on that instead). Meanwhile, a man who was sharing the pew with the woman who had moved (perhaps her husband/partner?) was sitting slant-wise in the pew reading the Bible. I do not know whether the minister noticed the semi-disrespectful inattention of a portion of her congregation, but if she did, she did not show it.
Once the "reflection" finished (and after an offering) we had some prayers during which the women continued their conversation...At some point during the service (perhaps during the sermon?; after the prayers?) an older man, who several times looked around towards the back of the church, got up and walked to the back. In a few moments, he returned carrying a child (perhaps a grandchild?).
As I left the service, I commended the minister on having taken the service very nicely. But I also left with a sense of having been reminded of the challenges of ministry today, especially to those with little connection with the church. Whatever the motivations of the couple who brought their child to be baptised, it seemed obvious to me that their friends were there not entirely willingly. They came out of a desire to support their friends perhaps, but they had little interest in the service and were enduring it.
Currently, I am a bit removed from the "frontline" of ministry. My experience last Sunday was a salutary reminder that we need in the church to be alive and open to the situation of many in society today who know little of church culture, let alone the message of the gospel. I don't doubt that the scenario I encountered last Sunday could well be replicated, in one form or another, on this side of the Tasman. I don't mean to be judgmental of the non-churched participants in that service (leaving aside, perhaps, a certain expectation of an attempt at common courtesy, and some attempt to adapt to the situation). I write this as a reminder that ministry today must be carried out with grace, imagination, and a lively sense of how to connect with people whereever they are coming from, and whatever their understanding of "church". All things considered, I thought that that church (its minister and the few "regulars" who assisted her) did well in that respect.
