I am spending two days with Practical Theologians in Brum early next week. What follows is my brief biographicalish reasons for wanting to look at the Bible and Practical Theology. I hope this will endenger some discussion on Monday and Tuesday, but thought the ball might wish to move before that. Let’s talk.

I am driven by one overarching question at the moment, which can be applied in a variety of different contexts. The question is ‘how is the Bible to make sense or be meaningful pastorally with, for and by those who have little knowledge of its contents’.

Such a question is as relevant to those who might regard themselves as regular worshippers in a church context as well as those that do not express their religious convictions formally. In the settings in which I have served as a priest, the areas have been outer estate parishes (largely white British in ethnic origin and meeting many of indexes of multiple deprivation) and the congregations invariably have been ‘gentle catholic’ in their liturgy and practice. Those familiar with the liturgy of such churches will not be surprised by the amount of Scripture that is read aloud (Old Testament, Psalm, Epistle and Gospel) on Sunday mornings and on other Holy Days; and indeed is peppered liberally throughout the liturgical structure of the service; and yet knowledge and understanding of biblical books are quite weak. Bible reading outside of church services apart from practising to read within them is rare. I am aware congregations which are by self-definition ‘evangelical’ might find such a situation strange; it is though my observation that even within contexts where scripture is regarded ‘automatically’ as authoritative, knowledge and understanding of the sacred texts is not as strong as it was even 20 years ago.

Making sense of the Bible pastorally within the local congregations:

Given where I have served as a priest, much of my focus is trying to discern how the Bible might make sense in areas of significant deprivation. I am attracted by allowing people to tell their own ‘sacred’ stories. This in part is inspired by theologies of liberation and the work of groups like UNLOCK (www.unlock-urban.org.uk) and the Bible Society. I am also influenced by biblical scholarship produced in recent years by both N T Wright (Tom Wright) and Walter Brueggemann which have set great store in there being one overarching meta-narrative to salvation history; broken down into specific episodes, for example Exodus and Incarnation. Whilst theologically and pastorally it might make sense to connect our individual stories to the larger drama, how is this to be done when members of local churches increasingly do not know ‘the story’? This will be true of traditional models of Church, as well as of Fresh Expressions. Of the latter, many come to the Messy Church, which is led within my local church, without prior knowledge of the Christian story. Thus interpreting life issues in the light of the biblical text would be largely impossible, impractical and alien.

I have had some success in relating specific parts of the Bible (e.g. the Psalms and the Revelation) to the individual stories of people and churches, but am trying to engage with how this might be done with the sacred text as a composite whole (see ‘the Priest as Theologian’ JATE 1.2 (December 2004))

Making sense of the Bible pastorally with those outside of the Church:

Much of my time with those outside of church is spent either with the bereaved (preparing for, officiating at funerals and follow-up), preparing people for the baby being done and within the life of schools (primary and secondary). I have reflected a little on my experiences in ‘Working Class Dreams, Working Class God’ The Expository Times June 2010 vol. 121 no. 9 437-446. In most of these contexts, knowledge and understanding of the Bible and indeed of the Christian faith is limited. In all, there is always a desire to engage if time is taken to try to explain the relevance of faith.

Grace Davie noted, ‘The discrepancy between believing and belonging… is at its sharpest in urban working class areas. Here belief persists, but the expected reluctance to practice religion is compounded by a further factor, a mistrust of institutional life of whatever kind, the churches included.’ It is my observation, assertion, experience that this situation has moved on. People in urban areas want to be part of something larger, of an interdependent story’ if only to bring life to some lifeless situations, yet they do not look to the Church for such stories.

This does not mean that it is not possible for this to happen. In Bartley Green, the church runs a Youth Project, which is local council funded, which provides a safe place for young people, mentoring and help with training. It also is in the process of setting up a Food Bank. Both church members and those in the community believe such projects to be good things and do not question the church being involved these initiatives; but neither group make the connection between mentoring young people or feeding those in need with the Christian faith, as expressed in sacred stories found in the Bible.

In a previous context St Nicholas Church in Flimby hosted an art exhibition in October 2008 entitled Hungry and Thirsty displaying the work of Gloucester based artist, Paul Hobbs (www.arthobbs.com). Flimby is a former mining village, which sits between the Solway towns of Maryport and Workington. Whilst St Nicholas boasts a usual Sunday congregation of 18, Hungry and Thirsty attracted 422 people through the doors of the building over the course of 8 days. Adults and children alike were captivated by art work that touched on social issues such as old age, identity and fatherhood. Very few of the people who visited the exhibition would have been unaware of the attempt that was being made to relate faith, art and social issues. A piece of work captured the imagination of local people. It was entitled ‘Where’s your Daddy gone?’ For children, this raised comments such as, ‘I never knew my Dad’, ‘Dad does not live with us any more’, ‘I have a new Dad’. Adults lamented about their own experiences of parenting. Those observing the art work were surprised that the artist was inspired by the biblical stories, and again neither churchgoer nor non-churchgoer thought the Bible had stories that would speak to their situation. The Bible and the pastoral situation then are kept at arm’s length by both those in the church as well as those within the wider community.

I do not have any ready answers to use as templates that will help us remedy this situation, but I do remain convinced that it is through engaging with the scriptures that people of Christian faith begin to be able to convincingly tell their own stories; and that without being able to articulate the stories/rumours of God to those around them, then the purpose of the church, other than doing good works, remains hidden.

My research and praxis has not reached an articulate stage, but somewhat haphazardly seeks to bring my love of the stories of the scriptures together with the lives of the people with whom I worship, serve and live.