Sunday Strolling

Have you ever noticed how our churches are getting emptier on Sundays... and our parks and coffee shops are getting fuller? Intersting isn't it... That people would rather go out for a family walk or bike ride or whatever on a Sunday... than go to Church. Or that people would rather go to a coffee shop and hang out with friends and family and laugh and talk... than go to Church. How did that happen? Didn't Church used to be a community event?? For sure... but somewhere along the line our communities got very big... and people began to feel that they didn't belong. In a city like Calgary, people might live in the SW, commute to downtown where they work, and go to church in the NW. Their neighbours are people they really dont' hang out with. Their co-workers come from all over the city. Their Church has members from all over the place...  And now let's all get together and have a great little community building thing...

Mind you, here in Calgary, the closest thing is the community associations. Every area of Calgary has a community association, something I never encountered in Vancouver. They are very active, most having a newsletter, a community association building, and all sorts of activities that they host and/or sponsor. Sort of getting back to the old neighbourhood concept of urban life...  But churches don't seem to fit into that mold. The people we might meet at Church don't necessarily live in our neighbourhood, or even our area of the city. They don't necessarily work where we work... So we might see them on a Sunday and that's it... No real way to form community there...

How does one form community? Is community bigger and broader than Church... How could Church get out of Church and go out to where the people are? In today's multi-cultural, multi-religious world... how can we bring church into our workplace, where we might work with atheists, buddhists, muslims, hindus, jews, christians etc... Perhaps it's bigger and broader than just bringing one religion or one theology into the workplace... What if it was more like what happens in a hospital, where the chapel is designed for multi-faiths. What if it was more of a space to escape from the hustle and bustle? Most religions can tie into contemplation/meditation/silence... and all speak of the enormous spiritual benefits that come from that... But it's something that we've lost along the way. Always busier and faster and louder and more hectic... Time to stop and decompress and connect with the divine is where we could all connect with each other. Whether it happens outside or in the office. Perhaps the Church needs to transform if it wants to remain relevant to today's society and tomorrow's world... "perhaps"... or "most definitely"!