Sunday, February 09, 2014

Who really keeps tradition strong in our churches? Who does most of the work to keep our churches going? The women of "Generation A," according to this piece in the Anglican newspaper Church Times:
These are the older women laity, often invisible and unacknowledged as they lead from the pews, who rarely have time to take tea and talk about sex because they are too busy hauling heavy boxes up and down church stairs for the jumble sale, or dusting` and polishing, or organising the rota of duties. This may well be the final active generation of the Church of England - because their descendants are not replacing them.In losing this generation, the Church will not just be losing numbers, but a kind of labour, leadership, and knowledge which has quietly kept churches going. This "pew power" is different from priestly leadership, but has been, I conclude, instrumental to church life.
Read full story here. This is not a Church of England phenomenon, it is a Churches Everywhere phenomenon. Who will fill the gap when the older women of our parishes are no longer with us? Can our traditions survive?

No comments: