Church Growth

[Reverend Lee Stewart]

We recognise the fact that church attendance world wide is falling in many areas. New ideas are sometimes incorporated to change this. What direction is the most successful, that will see both the present generation become more solid as part of the Body of Christ, yet laying the foundations for the coming generations?

[Fr. John Blossom]

It seems to me that the foundation is a deep, deep love of Jesus and recognition of His immeasurable, saving love for us. Then we worship God with the enthusiasm and meaning that is found in relationship. It is so easy for liturgical folks to focus on "celebrating Mass" rather than becomming immersed in the presence and powerful experience of an awesome God.

Our church fellowship is growing an excited group of believers. It has not been an easy journey to date and we still have lots of work to do. I expect that many who proudly proclaim themselves "orthodox" are at least suspicious of us. We are really quite orthodox.....in our faith, not our style.

Our Sunday worship follows The Book of Common Prayer Rite II without exception. There is not a rubric that we don't pay attention to. We have also included prayers from the Church of England Common Worship book. For example, we use the prayer of humble access from that book because it speaks a powerful truth in today's language. The "feeling" as we celebrate the Eucharist is comparable to the way I felt at my grandparent's dining room table at great feast meals. As celebrant, I am a "stand in" for Jesus and host of "the party".

I believe that people today are even more hungry for meaning in their lives than they were in the "good old days" when attending church was the norm and churches were, more or less, full. But, we need to communicate the ancient faith in today's language. That is part of our DNA anyway - the vernacular. Visual images in church used to be confined to stained glass, paintings, and statues. Today's world is DVD, photos, and a rapid pace of visual and audio change.

Real live mission activity is necessary to bring our mission statement (Love God, Love His people, Serve His world) to life. Since our launch last September 16, Bread of Life has sent two missionaries to the Dominican Republic, served meals twice in Peoria's inner city, and expressed itself as a loving community in some very caring ways among the parishioners. We have also hosted four separate "reach out" programs to the Peoria community.

We use a large rear projection screen (behind the altar) to lead our worship. All of the people's prayers and responses are projected onto the screen. No one needs to worry about whether the next response is on page 358 or page 360. It is interesting to see all faces raised up rather than down into the Prayer Book. Song lyrics are also shown on the screen.

Sorry, I did not intend to be so wordy. I do get enthused about what the Lord is doing in our midst. Come and visit us.