So many churches, parish churches, are empty and are now in united benefices to help them to survive. It is a sorry sight. Many parish churches seem more like museums. There is a famine in the land, a famine of the word of God. The church often is more of a museum than a place of mission and ministry of the Gospel. It preaches, in some parishes, a false gospel of sanctified good manners, anodyne beliefs, a god without wrath, people without sin, a kingdom without judgment and a Christless religion, religion without conviction, conversion and repentance. It is often impotent and sterile, without the means of reproduction, the ability to renew, replace and restore. It buries more than it baptises and confirms, in many parishes. It is a very sad state of affairs.
Yes, there are pockets of hope, places where Alpha courses and good preaching bring folk to faith, repentance and regeneration. But this is rare and the CofE declines and decays around us. In some parishes it is a geriatric institution, withering away in a sad, sorry way.
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