Presumption....

From time to time when reading reports of Bishops' statements in the press I cannot help but be tempted to despair.

In today's Telegraph it is reported that the Bishop of Lewes has written in a Newsletter that materialism has a "stranglehold over our lives." He is also quoted as saying, "I believe God ultimately has allowed this crisis for good. Our nation, like all western nations, has become consumed by materialism. Something was needed to shake that and that is what we are experiencing."

Whenever I hear bishops and priests making comments about these matters I cannot help but cringe. To many people the Church appears incredibly well off. It may well be countered that the Church of England is property rich and yet cash poor at the moment, and yet, if there is to be honesty, it is amazing how there are sums of money available for all manner of projects and schemes which do not necessarily benefit parishes. In 2006 the Church Commissioners for England gave to the CofE £70 million IN ADDITION to what it normally gives to support the ministry and mission of the church. That sum of money could have been used to give parishes a year off paying the Parish Share/Quota for it would have covered all the Bishops and Priests stipends and more. What was it spent on: "Fresh Expressions" - the leader of which this week, it has been announced, is to be consecrated a bishop. There are many, many examples of how money is being used by the CofE in ways that do not support the parochial ministry and, for that matter, the parishes themselves. But that is not my major concern with the Bishop's comments.

Whenever comments like these are reported in the press the poor parish clergy have to pick up the pieces and still encourage their people to pay the Parish Share to the Diocese. However, the Bishop needs to understand somnething quite simple: if God has "allowed this crisis for good" then why is it that, so often, the victims are those who are ordinary people whose jobs, homes and families are at risk. If the bishop is right then it is rather strange that the consequences of the foolish behaviour of over-lending by banks should be inflicted by God on those who have done least to contribute to the mess we are in.

Two examples come to mind. First, I have recently been listening to a young person describe the worry and practical implications of losing his job. Second, listening to a young couple, who are planning to get married, describe the difficulty they are having in obtaining a mortgage so that when they get married they will be able to live with each other. From what I know of these people they are not "consumed by materialism", they are just innocent victims. I have no doubt that there are countless other such people as well. When they read these comments or hear of them will they find the Gospel of Jesus Christ more attractive, or will these comments become just one more reason why they are completely put off by the CofE? I fear it will be the latter.

I was always told that it was a dangerous thing to say "Thus saith the Lord." And as I read the article in today's Telegraph I recalled the words of Bishop Hensley Henson regarding the claim to private revelation, "It is a horrid thing, Sir. A very horrid thing."