I was a local preacher in the Methodist church a long time ago, in Birmingham England. (There are more churches than ministers in the Methodist church so the gap is filled by laypeople who lead services on Sundays.) I remember in particular going to churches in the Black Country, home of the industrial revolution. Large churches from a time when they were far more attendees, many from the factories, but now holding just a handful of mostly elderly congregants. Even with such small numbers the singing was magnificent.
I am sure almost all those congregations are gone now. Is it a loss? I don't know. I no longer have the faith I did then, but I did see the power of community, genuine concern for one another, and a deep faith expressed in a very specific understated way. It is something I still remember all these years later, and I haven't really seen it reproduced in other social environments.
I am sure almost all those congregations are gone now. Is it a loss? I don't know. I no longer have the faith I did then, but I did see the power of community, genuine concern for one another, and a deep faith expressed in a very specific understated way. It is something I still remember all these years later, and I haven't really seen it reproduced in other social environments.