I have read through the previous comments several times, each time hoping that they would not seem so extreme in their negativity! Instead, each reading makes me feel more anxious to say my part... so....

Is my faith important to me?

Yes. It is the single most important element in my life. I don’t believe for one moment that we are “accidental” Christians. I believe that we are invited guests in His Church.

Is this particular Church important to me?

Again, yes. Not being God myself, I don’t know whether other faiths have it wrong (or even perhaps right?) but I do know that this is the right place for me. It is the place I have been directed to by Him and the place that feels like my spiritual home. Could any other Christian Church serve the same purpose? No. I honestly don’t think it could – and I have tried a wide variety of churches and services over the years. The Anglican Community is where I feel more closely in contact with God. No, I’m not saying that other Churches can’t help bring you close to Our Lord – I’m saying that for ME, this is the Church that does it. I am comfortable with its creeds and happy with its flexibility as compared to other Christian Churches.

And this particular Chaplaincy?

Again, this is the place I have been led to, so yes, it is important to me. Furthermore, I feel strongly that people in this part of the world feel no social pressure to attend Church as they may do in other places (I’m thinking here of the typical village where “everyone goes to church”) so I think that those of us who attend do so because it is important to us – more of an active worship than other comments here would have us believe!

And so...?

...and so, how can we share the love God has shown us by providing us with a spiritual home with the wider community? (and yes – I really do think that this is the real question we should be debating – the money is a by-product that will come with increased attendance)

Well I would think it fairly obvious that reducing the service given by the church is NOT the way to reach more people, or to satisfy the needs of those who are already members! OK, so we need to make contact with more people and have the resources to be able to deliver when they reach out to us. We need to be available and they need to know that we are there. Someone else has mentioned the Churches image as being somewhat exclusive – well maybe there’s a good place to start! We need to look at ways of becoming more open and less ritualistic. Ideas?

Any businessman knows that you have to speculate to accumulate, as the saying goes, and what we need to do is get ourselves known and show who we are, what we do and invite others to join in. Outreach services at times like Remembrance Day have been mentioned – brilliant! That is an excellent way of reaching older people who are in the area – but what about the young ones? The Christmas Carol service is one plus in that area, but why don’t we have a choir out there singing in the shopping centres (and collecting funds and “advertising” the Chaplaincy by the by)? And not just at Christmas, too!

The fact that non Church attendees aren’t keen to fork out to pay for the clergy doesn’t have to mean that they can’t participate in some of out projects. Here’s an example that I have been prompted to start by this years exceptionally cold winter: the Alicante area – in particular the city itself, has a large population of homeless (ever growing thanks to the financial crisis) and whilst the summer months leave them fairly well protected when sleeping out, the winter means terrible hardship. I am making “winter packs” consisting of a large plastic sheet, a blanket and a hot water bottle (any bar would be happy to refill it for these unfortunate people) to be handed out to those on the street. If this became a church project, then I am sure that some of those generous non church attendees would be happy to fork out for a few packs for the homeless (they cost around 5€ - 10€ if you make the blankets from left-over wool). That makes us active in our charitable work, visible within the community and helps us to be seen in a less “conservative” light. That is just one idea, of course – and if each of us has one....

And finally...

It seems sadly ironic to me that those parts of the chaplaincy with declining numbers are the ones which are trying hard to hang on to what they have whilst the only part which has shown growth in recent years (i.e. us!) seems to be falling over itself to give it up! How can anyone believe that having fewer services is going to help us fill our coffers! Yes, in the short term it reduces expenses, but long term it guarantees the death of the Chaplaincy in the area – and that is not something we should even be contemplating! So please, lets hear a few more ideas about how we can expand, and a lot less about how we should be curling up in a corner and saying “well, never mind, it doesn’t really matter”, because it DOES matter. I matters very much. Christians need to be a part of a Christian Community in order to grow – Jesus told us so. Let’s not give up on the one He has given us here, please.

 Future of the Chaplaincy

(Mission, growth, Finance)

These are just reflections on the above topic

Everyone has their own agenda / cultural background.

If we had been born in India we would probably have become Hindu.

If we had been born in Israel we would probably have become Jewish

If we had been born in Saudi Arabia we would probably have become Muslim

If we had been born in Ireland we might have become Roman Catholic

If we had been born in Japan we would probably have become Shinto etc: etc:

(Or not)

The chances are we would not have become Anglican.

Somewhere along the way we came into contact with the Anglican Church.....Perhaps family members were involved in it. Perhaps the institution we worked for was involved in it.( Educational entities, the armed forces, and so on.) Perhaps our friends were involved in it. Perhaps it was the core social centre of our town or village. Perhaps we experienced a mental or emotional crisis and the church came to our rescue.

Why do we find it appealing? Why do we attend church?

Perhaps it provides succour in times of distress and illness (emotional or otherwise)

Perhaps we find the ritual of church services comforting and reassuring.

Perhaps we find the singing of Hymns uplifting and church music in general capable of giving us mystical or at the very least agreeable experiences.

Perhaps it gives us the space and opportunity, once a week, to sit down and think about how our behaviour fits in with the moral guidelines of Jesus.

Perhaps it enables us to think about other people; friends , family or even others unknown personally to us and empathise with their condition, again at least once a week.

Perhaps the combination of listening to readings from the Bible and attending church services gives us the possibility of reflecting on the human predicament and consolidating a true faith.

Perhaps it enables us to form a community with like minded people who, like us, try to be kind and considerate in their relations with others.

Why do a lot of people not feel attracted to attending Church?

The fact is that many, at least initially, find the ritual rather off-putting; it makes them feel uncomfortable. They feel “outsiders”. The church although it has the best of intentions comes across as being “exclusive.”

In the same way that people who are invited to join “the masons” find their rituals to be difficult to take on board even though they are aware of the good and charitable acts that they support and get involved in. (No one has ever invited me to become a member so I know little about it!)

To some non-churchgoers, those that attend appear, rightly or wrongly, to be members of a self serving community.

Usually, non attenders are prepared to admit that the church represents a powerful force for the good but sometimes they feel that unnecessary minutiae and ritual procedures have dubious relevance to what is supposed to be the overall message of Jesus.

Again the old cliché of the Anglican church representing the conservative party at prayer is not a good slogan for recruitment.

Often even members of our own family, grandchildren, nephews , nieces, even sons and daughters or just friends freely admit that they find attending Church boring or irrelevant so when they are around both we and them stay away. We can understand their point of view, especially if young children are involved, although we don't like to admit it openly. Given those circumstances it would be counter productive to insist that we all went to church together, and perhaps it is more important to stay away from church and prepare a meal which unites the family in a more practical way.

Perhaps the church should make itself more “user friendly.”

A lot of people find that the big questions are not looked into, let alone answered.

Are we to consider the people of other faiths “outsiders” and on the wrong track ?

Are Christians the only ones to have a future?

Are those of no faith, yet who behave with great kindness and consideration towards their fellow beings, to be considered less worthy than those who attend Church?

How can the idea of an all powerful loving God be reconciled with all the suffering and injustice found in the world?

Being told to be “a believer” and “have faith” can appear to be rather an easy opt out for those who are being mentally or physically torn apart or who have been born into a highly distressed environment.

Why isn't the “truth” more accessible and more convincingly proved?

Possible Way Forward

If the church is to survive it has got to behave and put it's case differently. Otherwise, as we are already seeing on the Costa Blanca as well as in most parishes in the UK it will fade away into oblivion. In a few years there will hardly be a trace left. Churches are being abandoned, priests are hard to come by and congregations even more so!

The church may have to change and adapt to secular ways if it is to survive and resurface as a more powerful force in people's lives.

In our case there are younger people around (By that I mean people under sixty) but apart from honourable exceptions they have no desire or inclination to attend church and who can blame them?

We the older generation just shrug our shoulders and say , well that is the way it is. We bury our heads in the sand and make no effort to change the structure of the Church to attract others and future generations.

The Catholic Church is able to keep a minimum grip on the situation and knows how to attract followers by employing culturally appealing as well as religiously appealing rituals.

The Easter Processions in Andalucia and elsewhere get people together to experience and celebrate as a community. There is a lot of bonhomie and eating and drinking.

The tradition of First Communion encourages all members of the family to get together as a community. The girls and boys dress up for the occasion. This appeals especially, (and why not?) to mothers and daughters. Photos are taken, convivial meals occur.

Palm Sunday Processions take place followed by a lot of eating and drinking among friends and relatives.

This means that the lives of a lot of people are at least touched by the Church two or Three times a year.

Again look at the admirable way Los Salesianos, for example, hold sporting activities for the young. They are not cramming them into Church for a boring service to profess their faith which may or may not exist. They are demonstrating the qualities that Jesus suggested we should cultivate.

Also the Catholic church provides the possibility of attending church on days other than on a Sunday.

What I am trying to say is that maybe the Anglican Church should follow the Catholic example; pinpoint the religious/cultural events during the year that the secular community can relate to. These would include:

Remembrance Sunday.

Many members of the expat community are involved in Remembrance activities and services.

This should be an “outreach” priority.

It is arguable that had not those of a generation or two ahead of us not got involved in putting down their lives for us , as Christ did, we would be living in a “police state” and not even be in a position to think about the future of the chaplaincy because there wouldn't be a chaplaincy to think about.

Sadly, as we are only too well aware of, this work of the armed forces continues in great measure today. The services give great “service” to the rest of the community, churchgoers or not. This to a large extent is recognised by all and is a great point of contact for both the church community and the secular community.

The cliched response of politicians and others including ourselves or at least myself (I mustn't pretend to speak for others) is that “our thoughts and prayers are with the dead and wounded and with their friends and relatives.” The church has a part to play in making these “thoughts and prayers” more sincere and realistically felt. Supporting the charities that help those who have lost their limbs or suffer from post traumatic stress that if not treated and recognised has the effect of ruining their lives. .

The Anglican communion should be in there taking part and offering its support to any Remembrance / Recognition activities of the armed forces.

Christmas Carol Services

The value of these has been noted and acted upon. Perhaps there should be more in informal situations like pubs with just a couple of sentences of well chosen words in the form of a prayer to start the proceedings. Families with children particularly can relate to this.

Songs of Praise type Activities

Many would enjoy coming together for a bit of a (religious) sing song.

Church services

(Those of a sensitive disposition should skip this)

I would reduce and alter bits of the liturgy.

How many of us really concentrate a hundred percent of the time on the words we are singing, listening to, or saying during the average service? Sometimes, in my case at least, the rhythm just carries me along inducing a feeling of general well being.

I would try to keep the sermon short with a few “bullet” points like Richard Horner our visiting priest from Rugby who on his home territory is not allowed to go over 8 minutes.

I would simplify the setting up of the church . A plain altar with a cross. Did Jesus tell us to produce altar cloths? Did Jesus tell us to produce candles? Did Jesus tell us to sing hymns or psalms? Did Jesus tell us to bring flowers and put them on the altar? ( Maybe he did. In which case I apologise)

I am sure Jesus would be delighted if the above items are in evidence but I don't think they are essential, rather just optional extras.

The Service/Eucharist could take place on a weekday morning, afternoon or evening so not necessarily on a Sunday.

Also it could be every two weeks rather than a weekly service.

It could, if need be, be held in any public space: bar, restaurant, dance hall, classroom etc:

The wider community

Our local expat population is only too happy quite rightly to join branches of the U3A and indulge in all sorts of activities, become members of the English Speaking Club, join the Javea Players, hold fund raising events for castrating cats or calming distressed donkeys, strut their stuff round the many golf courses etc: etc: You only have to look in the “Costa Blanca News.”

They form communities that run into thousands of people. Some are comfortably off but many others are not.

They often contribute generously to various charities, Caritas, Cruz Roja, Medicos sin fronteras, children's care, cancer, especially animal care etc: but are more reluctant to contribute directly to the costs of the chaplaincy. (stipends etc). Witness the feedback Susan, Kim, and Flavia encountered when trying to raise funds for that purpose. So it falls on the congregations to financially support that side of things. That is not realistic unless there is a constant supply of wealthy benefactors.

We cannot expect our priests to live on 400 Euros a month ( even with a house provided) which is more than what a lot of the wider community receive. Nor can we realistically expect the ageing church going pensioners in our congregations to finance an unlimited number of clergy.

It is therefore essential that the church prioritises its needs and adapts to the prevailing conditions. At the same time it should broaden its appeal and be able to tap into the pool of non church going expats at least for the charitable work of the church if not its running costs.

Going back to the traditional role of the Church what do we expect it to provide?.

Funeral services

Baptisms

Confirmations

Weddings

Regular church services (Holy Communion) Whether weekly/ fortnightly/monthly

Carol service

Christmas and Easter services

Prison visits

Hospital visits

Home visits to the sick

Home visits to those who are housebound to administer the Eucharist

Home visits to the bereaved

A link with local expat schools

A concern for and to be involved with local charities regardless of race or nationality

A concern for and to be involved in worldwide charities

Provide A Good Samaritan type service or the ability to link up to one for those suffering mental distress

Above all build a sense of community based on kindness and consideration for other people; a community that sets an example of good behaviour.

There are obviously others.

Some of these activities can only be done by a Priest.

There are others which can be done by members of the congregation and indeed most members of the congregation and non- churchgoers find themselves fulfilling this function for relatives or friends on a regular basis.

If we restructured our Church services as outlined above; less frequent, shorter with more popular appeal and encouraged lay members from time to time to visit prisons etc: We could cut down on the number of priests required and make the budget viable.

The main problem is age. Few wish to get involved in pastoral care let alone anything else after the age of 65.

If we look at the El Campello congregation of 20 years ago what has occurred?

Some have died.

Some remain.

Some have moved back to the UK or elsewhere but still visit us two or three times a year.

Some straddle the fence and are “here” half the time and “there” the other half..

All however are 20 years older and are not able to do what they did in the past.

Not many youthful newcomers have appeared on the scene.

The situation is saved however by the influx of a group of “young” retirees lurking in the hills who are physically and mentally able and willing to hold the congregation together.

The strength of the congregation at the present time is that when visitors and previous residents coincide with the old retainers who remain rooted in the vicinity, numerically it's not a bad turnout even though the average age is a bit high!

This also means that a good communual spirit usually prevails after the Church service when cakes and buns are often selflessly provided by stalwarts with culinary skills. Fellowship lunches also usually live up to their name.

There is by and large an atmosphere of Christian goodwill.

So in Campello, for the present at least, we do need a priest to administer preferably at least once a fortnight.

However there are alternatives available for those who wish to participate more fully.

In Alicante the Church by the pyramid building is a good option. (Suggested by Geoff)

The Church where we hold our Carol Service in Coveta Fuma holds a Sunday service partly in English.

There are a myriad of catholic churches that hold services at all hours. The language is not an insurmountable barrier because the liturgy for the most part is the same as our own. I know of several Brits who attend and, without being rude, their grasp of Spanish is rudimentary.

There are services on the radio to which we all have access. Whether by satellite or Computer connection.

BBC Radio 4 has an excellent range of religious type programmes which can easily be listened to or downloaded.

There is a daily service 9.45

There is one on Sundays from 9.10 to 9.50 our time

Prayer for the day (Lasts two minutes) Everyday. 6.43

Thought for the Day (two minutes)

The Moral Maize (45 minutes) (weekly)

Sunday (Discusses church and religious matters weekly, Sunday morning 8.10 – 8.55)

Beyond Belief (Monday afternoons)

Recently there have been a series of Lent Talks (15 Minutes) I can particularly recommend the one by Martin Wroe.

Having said all of the above, our strength, as Father Peter and Paul have frequently said, lies in the good quality of our church community. There is by and large an excellent feeling of Christian goodwill.

I think it is true that everyone mucks in to the best of their ability and a pleasant atmosphere prevails.

Thanks to some members we have valuable links with non churchgoers. Witness the success of the Christmas Lunch, The Summer Tea party etc

These links can be reinforced and extended if we alter our procedures and become more inclusive.

If we break away from appearing to be some sort of weird ageing clique!

The important thing is to enjoy the community spirit, the bonhomie.

To encourage and welcome new faces

To be flexible in our worship which may mean cutting down on having a priest every week if we can't afford it and altering slightly the format of the service.

Being open to a Woman taking or leading the service.

This may mean Common Prayer or Evensong with a lay reader.(Male or female)

If possible add a pinch of prayer or communual goodwill to secular activities.

and most importantly of all encouraging the cake and bun providers.

“Blessed are the cakemakers!”

Future of the Chaplaincy.

Father Peter’s letter to us all raised many questions!

The most important one is about finance. Father Robin’s comments at the AGM put the concerns into a more manageable package pointing out that there were quite a few “one offs” in the form of transport costs for old and new clergy as well as the maintenance costs for property. However, with our aging population and lack of new people coming to Spain, money will always be a problem. So as I see it, we do need to reduce costs or find more people.

Reducing costs generally means reducing the work force. So would it help to ditch a priest? I think not because at present Father Brian more than pays for himself and eases the load on the two permanent members of staff.  Getting rid of one of the permanent priests would mean that we would have to resort to Morning Prayer at a couple of venues each week. I believe that would have an immediate effect on numbers as well as offerings. At the same time it would send out the wrong message. “The Costa Blanca Chaplaincy is contracting!”

So the other alternative is to find more people. This might mean having more midweek services at places where we know there are people. What about a midweek service at Almond Court? Ciudad Patricia? The English Speaking Club? We don’t live at the coast so we don’t know many places but there must be more. What about specific services on important days such as Remembrance Day/Sunday or Mothering Sunday at a venue where we know people will come?

We know that the website does bring in Christians who come to our area on holiday. We have witnessed this over the Easter period when we have had a full church. But these true Christians probably planned this before they left the UK. What about the half Christians who come. They probably don’t have access to the internet – how do we entice these people? Do we advertise enough?  Do we have information where visitors are likely to go such as hotels, Anthony’s, English Speaking Club?

Finally the clergy are involved in many funerals over the course of a year. Is it possible to attract new people from these services?  Obviously I do not mean having a 60” screen TV showing adverts before and after the event but should we have some sort of leaflet that shows the work of the Chaplaincy in a sensitive manner?

So that is some of the choices open to us. There are many things we can do as individuals.  As Christians we should be active in the community – actions are far better than words. Visiting the sick, the unloved, giving to the poor in the community, offering our services to the elderly. From small acorns come the mighty oaks!!!

THE  FUTURE OF THE CHAPLAINCY.

The Costa Blanca Anglican Chaplaincy is an important part of my life. So I have read, re-read, thought about and prayed almost every night about Fr. Peter’s treatise.  

The problem.  The number of people attending our services has decreased and there is an increasing percentage of old and/or infirm souls. With the Spanish economy in recession new arrivals of young working people with families have declined. The financial crisis in Europe is having a material affect on many peoples’ incomes and a psychological affect on people who fear for their future financial security and are as a result tightening their purse strings “just in case”. 

The consequences.   A decrease in the Chaplaincy’s regular income and a lesser number of able bodied people to run all the Chaplaincy’s lay activities.  This means that the faithful few who are undertaking the lay operations of the Chaplaincy are working at full stretch almost on a weekly basis

Mission. One of Fr. Peter’s key words is Mission – or rather, the lack of success in that field in the Chaplaincy.   I looked for a definition of Mission, since it was an oft used word in the armed forces –  and found “To strive to proclaim the good news of the Church through worship, ministry and outreach”.  Maybe its incomplete or incorrect in the context of Fr. Peter’s  treatise, but it has served to focus my mind on Mission. 

Then, I have interpreted  Strategy as the means by which we go about achieving the Church’s mission.

There are two very distinct strategies which the Chaplaincy could consider.

   -    We cut our cloth according to our size.

-  -  We reach out to the 80,000 British citizens registered on the Costa Blanca and to the hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers who visit Benidorm every year.

Last summer at Paul’s house we had a discussion on the Harvest Deficit campaign and I suggested the need to economize on the number of full time chaplains, church services, cars and general expenses. Stu and Paul were not comfortable with my ideas. Some time later I heard that it had been decided, “we would carry on as before”.

I would like to expand along the lines of (1) above:-

Staff. One chaplain, any retired and already pensioned clergy in the chaplaincy and lay readers or suitably qualified persons.

Organization.  1 house for the chaplain, 1 Chaplaincy car, Chaplaincy fixed phone with internet broadband connection and a Chaplaincy mobile.  With stipend, social security and all justified expenses.  Retired clergy and lay readers. A fee for each service taken, plus a mileage allowance based on the Spanish Tax authorities calculation for business use of cars, and justified expenses.

Church Services.  Holy Communion once a month in each active Chaplaincy church conducted by a priest or by a lay reader with ready consecrated bread and wine, as a minimum, more Communion services when possible. On other Sundays Matins with a short sermon.

These changes to  be accompanied by a more relaxed approach to the whole routine of church set-up, lesson reading, sales of books, cards etc, coffee and cake serving, committee meetings, church council and sub committees. With the object of creating a feeling of “we are all in this together lets all muck in and get the jobs done” on a friendly collaborative basis. 

Point (2) above would require the participation of the Diocese with specialist clergy and staff with experience in undertaking a crusade* and an investment by the Diocese in the expense of such a crusade.  The result of a well conducted campaign would be a very significant increase in the size of the Chaplaincy church congregations and consequentially an healthy increase in income.

Fr. Peter mentions the possibility of a breakaway or the setting up of independant churches.  If push were to come to shove and Campello Church was forced to close, I would strongly recommend a dialogue with the Spanish Episcopal Churchin Alicante.  I have attended services there and found myself to be comfortable with the priest, the services and members of the congregation.  It might be good to talk to them anyway to see if there are ways we could collaborate and economise.

One final thought.  The Chaplaincy is entirely self-financed.  People need to be made fully aware of that and to think that the money contributed by them is being spent on the total budgeted expenditureof the Chaplaincy and they should therefore be thinking in terms of actively participating in the decisions on how it is spent.

 I was brought up in the “brainstorming” tradition:  to throw all the ideas and suggestions into the ring, however crazy they may seem, and then thrash out the best policy amongst those sitting around the table.  I regard Fr. Peter’s treatise rather in the same light.  Difficult to digest, but there are an awful lot of important questions and ideas there which do need “brainstorming” by representative cross section of  Chaplaincy members.

I hope that what I have expressed above will contribute to a new approach Chaplaincy affairs.

*This word may imply the issue a fatwah in my name by the Imam of Muchamiel 

THE GREAT DEBATE!

Anyone who has attended a service in Campello recently cannot fail to have heard about THE DEFICIT .... yes, as always, we need more money than we have! So we have been urged to think about how we could raise money, how we could reduce costs or even if we should be completely reforming the way we do things within the Costa Blanca Anglican Chaplaincy. Various people have offered their opinions and we thought that perhaps  if we shared these, then even more of you would be stimulated to think about what you want from your church and how we can provide it - hence this blog! 

Absolutely anyone is welcome to share their views - as long as there is nothing offensive in them - and anonymity will be respected. So have no fear, you can speak freely!

There are various ways to make your voice heard - you can leave a comment here on the blog, you can speak to Dusty or someone on the Church Committee, or you can write down what you want to say and leave it at church. However you choose to do it, don't miss this chance to be part of forming the future of the Anglican Church on the Costa Blanca!