[Westminster Cathedral from britainonview.com]"Talk to bishops, priests and vicars and you get a sense that tectonic plates are shifting; that the national mood is changing; that we are turning our backs upon the hollow materialism of recent years and lifting our hearts to a higher, more spiritual plane."
Maybe.
As evidence of this "tectonic" shift, Nigel refers to a straw poll by his paper which indicated that church attendance was up last Sunday. And Canon Martin Warner of St. Paul's, along with other clergy, claims that he has seen an increase in the number of attendees at his services.
It could be, says Nigel, this is because churches are like sanctuaries. "When you look up at a barrelled ceiling and drowsily inhale the moist smell of mildew and incense, the noise of the traffic and the chatter in your head seems to subside."
A number of prelates, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, echo a refrain which indicates people are missing the spiritual aspect of life and are thus engaging the ministry of the church and its accouterments such as the singing of carols, sharing with families in need and contemplating the "true" meaning of Christmas.
Nigel puts it like this: "Somewhere along the way we seem to have forgotten what it is we really want. Long before the gaudily dressed man with the white beard hijacked the tradition of giving presents and turned it into an orgy of excess, it was meant to symbolise the bringing of gifts for the infant Jesus."
And like this: "There is perhaps an element of stock-taking going on; a belated recognition of how decadent and greedy we have been in Christmases past. Now that they are in sharp focus, the bonuses paid to investment bankers in the boom period look obscene. Perhaps they always were, but they seemed to distract and unreal to latch our minds on to. ...
"Not any more. Perhaps we are coming to see that greed should not be worshiped; that actually it is something to be ashamed of. A profit motive - making money out of your fellow man - cannot be the sole purpose of society. The Christian message, by contrast, is that society is about how we live with each other; about loving thy neighbour, honouring your mother and father, and doing unto others as you'd have them do to you."
In summary, Nigel would have us believe that this minor uptick in church attendance is a signal that his English brothers and sisters have forsaken or are in process of forsaking materialism for something more substantial to "satisfy the human spirit." Indeed, it might mean a "rejection of consumerism that is being foisted upon us" and "that people find themselves looking forward, for the first time in years, to a Christmas Day with their families."
It would be nice to think Nigel is right. But I'm too much of a cynic. If, indeed, there is a real, albeit minor, increase in church attendance, it stretches the imagination to conclude this indicates a renewed spirituality and a rejection of greed and consumerism.
More to the point, I think, assuming its "truthiness," is that an increase in church attendance relates, not so much to a rejection of materialism, but rather to the old saw about no atheists in foxholes. In other words, when the going gets tough, we turn to God. When all else fails, we turn to God.
But again, I'm not at all sure Nigel's suppositions holds water. The evidence of increased church attendance may be mostly imaginary.
Whatever, you can bet your bippy that when the recession ebbs, when the money flows, when the sun shines, when the future glows, the bishops and priests and vicars will find themselves staring once again at empty pews on Sunday mornings.
Read all of Mr. Farndale's article here.
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