Two back doors?

I have been pondering something which I heard Andrew Veitch say recently; almost in passing, he described Carrs Lane as, ‘a church with two back doors’… although he then amended it to, ‘a church with two side doors’.  It is not difficult to work out what he meant by this:  the lie of the land means that the doors adjacent to the entrance to Wesley Owen cannot be seen clearly until you get reasonably close to them (and relatively few people walk across our car park , anyway) – and the doors facing Moor Street Station and the adjoining car parks witness near-stationary traffic twice a day, but look out on comparatively few people.  When the congregation which meets at Carrs Lane for ‘radical worship’ went carol singing in the city centre on the evening of 20th December, the only quiet ‘pitch’ was the front (?) steps of Carrs Lane… I assume that I speak of ‘front steps’ in the generally accepted meaning of the words!  The reality is actually one of two side doors, since by far the busiest place on the edge of our buildings is the series of bus stops on Carrs Lane itself. So many people use the pavement here that it is frequently nearly impassable… yet if this suggests that this can be regarded as the true ‘front’ of Carrs Lane, then we present the world with a featureless brick wall.

This is intended as comment only, not criticism: enough people use the building for there to be widespread awareness of how to get inside it; I am aware of the fact that even the wording on the brick frontages – Carrs Lane Church – goes beyond what was envisaged by those responsible for the appearance of the building nearly 40 years ago… and I am frequently astonished by the number of people who fail completely to notice that we have the UK’s largest free-standing cross outside, serving as symbol and proclamation.  Equally, although the present building is comparatively recent, nonetheless, there have been several significant changes in the immediate environs since it was erected.  I am sure that this is one factor which contributed ultimately to the demise of the café.  So… I am not arguing for a realignment or fundamental redesign of the building (phew!) nor do I want our identity plastered on the outside in vast, fluorescent letters (though greater investment in thoughtful publicity would undoubtedly be a good thing); however,  I am suggesting that this might be a good time to ask whether we, ‘see ourselves as others see us’… whether we are talking of bricks and mortar or flesh and blood.  Take stock of the perceptions of others – and see what can be learned from them.

Whilst I was completing my training for ministry in South Wales at the beginning of the 1980s, I was often astonished by the number of chapels (cf. churches) which failed to make any external statement about the particular tradition in which worship was offered (or even the language!) or the times of the services.  It was assumed that if you needed or desired to know, then in small communities, word of mouth would suffice.  It was as though notice boards were regarded as an unnecessary extravagance.  I am sure that I had a good grumble about this twenty-five years ago – and would probably do the same today – but, equally, I suspect that I have learned that even the most glamorous and seductive publicity, even the most inviting and striking of buildings exert minimal influence when set alongside warm and appropriate ‘word of mouth’. This ties in with current thinking that ‘church’ must be about relationship rather than institution.  Some of the best youth work that I have ever witnessed has taken place in the most unprepossessing of buildings – and some of the finest buildings that I have ever seen are empty for most of the time.   Thankfully, within the Kingdom of God, people matter… people matter more than anything else.  I suppose that this could mean that it doesn’t matter that our so-called front doors aren’t actually on the front at Carrs Lane, but this probably has the effect of bouncing back ever greater responsibilities on ourselves.  Interesting.