Categories: uncategorized
Date: 31 August 2012 11:23:57
Yesterday the BBC posted this article about Methodism and it's decline focusing on the way Methodist Central Halls have fallen in number. The article talks about the changing use of space and the way that buildings which were once associated with temperance are now often becoming refurbished into bars and nightclubs. It also refers to the way that these buildings were designed as large multi-purpose buildings and how during the Victorian and Edwardian era they began to be engaged in what might now be known as "urban regeneration". From the mid 1950's the church began selling off many of these architecturally attractive buildings which had worship spaces which were too large to accommodate the smaller congregations which inhabited them. The article makes reference also to the fact that the existing ones have had to change and for example Westminster Central Hall moving away from the initial principals of temperance they operated on to accommodate their contemporary use.
Rev Joanne Cox, the Methodist Churches Evangelism in Contemporary Culture Officer responded to the article with her thoughts in a piece which is to say the least defensive in nature. She starts by acknowledging there has been this decline but says the bleak caricature of Methodism drawn is inaccurate before going on to question the point of the article. Her response then moves from spelling out the obvious and answering accusations which she sees implicitly within the text but which aren't I would argue there to communicating something of the nature of contemporary Methodism and its continued relevance.
Reading it I was prompted to go back to Pete Phillips post of a few months ago about the numerical decline of Methodism and have another look. This provides some extra quantitative data and related discussion which helps contextualise both the article and Cox's defensive response. The Grace Davie material which Phillips refers to is found in Religion in Britain Since 1945.
The original BBC article and the response to it are, I would argue, indicative of the complicated mess of secularisation, the way it religion/ churches/ denominations are now understood by the wider public and the way the church has sought to deal with these representations.
Whilst the "point of the article" may not have been clear the themes it was discussing were. Firstly, Moore was looking at the decline of Methodism and of the values it is associated with in the folk memory (i.e. the temperance movement). Secondly, it was talking about the way changes in space occur as society changes over time. Finally, it seemed to be lamenting that something good has been lost as those changes in church and wider society have occurred.
Equally Cox's impassioned response was a voice screaming out that it was never that simple in the first place; the impact of secularisation has been felt hard by our churches/ denominations; some things which have been lost are better gone and finally that there is still hope to be found - Methodism still has much to offer.
I want to offer a different response to it all one which ultimately can be summed up by saying it's a complicated mess and it will be interesting to see where it all ends up.
1) The folk memory is important and the remembered reality is sometimes as important as the actual reality. In terms of what this means for Methodism the truth is that in popular understanding one of the first things that comes to mind is "they don't do alcohol". The article is not, as Cox suggests blaming Methodism, rather I think it was pointing out the irony that these great Methodist buildings which were associated with the temperance movement - and so gave rise to this stereotype - once sold off often became home to the very things which they were seeking to stand up against.
2a) Following on from this is the recognition that churches and clubs are both public buildings and at times their use has overlapped because they have had similar needs. I'm currently reading London Calling by Barry Miles which explains how the London Free School started its fundraising events by having dances in All Saints church hall and these were one of the first places that Pink Floyd and others played. This then led on in turn to the development of UFO which most famously ended up at London Roundhouse (which was a former railway building). When the churches gave up the use of the buildings it makes perfect sense they would be used by those who needed similar large public spaces and who may already of been using them.This change of use as the Roundhouse story illustrates was not unique to churches.
2b) The "entertainment" element of church life was not just the "mission" side which the BBC article would suggest and neither is it something lost for good reason as Cox suggests. There were also fundraising aspects involved too - just as there are today. The Miles book explains that it was not just the church hall provided the space required - the idea was born from a vicar's son who knew about how you did fundraising. Whilst I agree with Cox that the relational aspect is the most important the truth is that finance is an issue and "entertainment" of one form or another is often used by churches to sustain themselves financially. I'm not saying this is a good thing...rather it is just part of the reality which still exists. In the increasingly secularised society is that the quality of the entertainment within churches has often fallen considerably as the competition and availability of alternatives outside has risen. As such the quiz has become the most popular contemporary fundraising activity rather than the concert.
3) Whilst not ready to believe Steve Bruce's (pro-secularisation academic) prediction that Methodism would be dead by 2030 the truth is that the denomination is in serious decline if one uses the quantitative data. Using qualitative data I think you can, as Phillips post and Cox's piece both show, argue it both ways.
A continuing debate is happening about the cost of maintaining buildings and it is not just the Central Hall's which have gone/ are going as Cox notes. The discussions around the Fruitful Fields report and the closing of outstanding centres of learning are part of the same complex problems stemming from secularisation and the failure of the denomination to maintain its numeric/ financial strength in the face of this. What Cox points out is that new ways of engaging in with both geographical space and diverse social groups are emerging and this is important to note. However, there is the question of how publicly these smaller scale initiatives are known and understood in the wider society and shared imagination as well as whether/ how they will sustain themselves/ be funded by the wider church/ denomination. (See Graham Cray's recent You Tube video for Fresh Expressions to engage further with some of the issues around this).Reputations and memories are often linked to place and this is what the article reminds us strongly.
4) The question of "what is church?" and how we define it is one which arises out of these. The BBC article is using the dominant secular understanding whilst Cox is seeking to use the professional late modern understanding. Thus, we find two conversations going on about "church" and what has happened/ is happening which are equally valid descriptions. The discussions around Westminster Central Hall and how to describe it/ what happens within it reflect this. Yes it is simply a church as Cox describes but equally it is "now used as a conference centre".
So the BBC piece whilst being difficult, inaccurate and unhelpful in Cox's mind is actually I think something we should be grateful for. It reminds us of how we are seen from outside and for the need to project a more positive image which recognises the value of the folk memory and popular understandings of Methodism as well as illustrating how we have moved on from them.