Advent and appearance

The season of Advent, of waiting, of expectation is here. It is a preparation for incarnation, of God appearing in the human community, here on our earth. Our claim as the Christian Church, and our responsibility, is that since Christ's death he appears in us. We are his representatives. It is both an enormous privilege and a very considerable challenge. It means we can never do anything for ourselves alone, we must always be thinking about our effect on others. What are we showing them of God?

We have recently been having further discussions about the appearance of our building. It seems to me now that for the majority of people the most they see of the church is the outside of our buildings. That makes it absolutely crucial that we use them to try to show people something of the nature of God.

I often look at church buildings as I travel, and try to think what message they convey about the One we claim is Saviour of the world. Many present poor messages, some very poor. Peeling paintwork, cracked windows, crumbling concrete, untended gardens and posters dog-eared and out-of-date. Fortunately HHUC isn't like that, but is it as good as it could be? I have several times challenged people to look at our church building from the outside and ask, 'If I didn't go already, would I ever start?'

At our recent Church Meeting we decided finally to go ahead with installing clear glass in all the Denmark Hill side windows, so people could see into our present building. We also agreed to continue the process of asking Camberwell Art students to give us design ideas to communicate a message like 'What a wonderful world' or 'Every person is of equal worth'. These are both messages linked with the incarnation - God among us. I respect those who prefer things to remain as they are, many of whom put in long hours of service to the church, but we have always to ask ourselves, 'Are our buildings, and our congregation, showing God's love for the world as effectively as we possibly can?' Are they a sign of the Incarnation, 'God with us'? If not, we still have work to do.

David Haslam

22/11/2005

Return to Articles