To think that teaching in a church should be bible based

[ReallyTired]

Ie. a priest should refer back to the bible to back up his points in a sermon.
He should not go on ad nauseum about his holiday or DIY or talk endless about nazi concentration camps. Its more interesting for the priest to explain the logic behinds the obsecure bit of bible that is on the newsheet.

I visited a very evangelical church which had excellent teaching, good sunday school activities, but I didn't care for their taste in music. Electric guitars and drums aren't really my thing. They are a fanastic bunch of people and it had an amazing atmosphere. They put the word of God into action through outreach work as well.

I'm looking for a high anglican church with good bible based teaching and that is friendly to toddlers. Why is this such an impossible thing?

I assume he does it because we live in the real world and not the bible and most people will relate more easily to situations they are familiar with.

But it's difficult to judge without hearing the sermon.

I am in favour of youth workers. Most churches I know that have youth workers also do a pretty good job of looking after the old folk as well.

Much of the new testament is pretty amazing stuff. Have a read if you don't believe me and it does speak to me in the 21st century. A good priest or minster will help people make sense of it. They will be excited to have the opportunity to talke about the Bible and tricky verses. They will know the history and often have studied the Bible in its orginal language.

I attend a very high Anglican church (north east England). The priest refers to the bible in his sermons every week. And there is a Sunday school every week that kids of all ages go to (youngest is a year old). Plus after the service everyone fusses over the little ones while having tea, biscuits and a good chat. I love it!

I'm just about to start training as a vicar in church in Wales, which as a whole is fairly high Anglo catholic tradition. I can assure you that I would hope my sermons will be very challenging and Bible based. Having attended many modern evangelical services as a student with challenging sermons I can assure you that our current vicar does a fairly good job too. Even if he does only have a 15min slot to fit it into.

The time slot is probably the main problem. It is hard to do justice to a challenging piece of scripture in 5 or 10 minutes, let alone preach on 4 pieces from the lectionary.

The preaching, however short, can be expository though.

An evangelical church can fit more preaching time in because they probably aren't doing communion every week.

There is nothing to stop the church running bible study groups where you can go deeper. This can be really beneficial because it is two-way communication.

Some people find it difficult to sit and just listen, especially if the preacher is not a powerpoint man/woman. I think we should recognise that all of us are used to slick presentations nowadays. There is no harm in the church embracing the technology that we are used to outside of church.

Another idea for any church is to put their sermons online, with additional study notes. Many evangelical churches already do this, but there is no reason why AC and liberal churches can't do the same, finances permitting.

Congratulations, btw, LittleMissGreen :)

I find "slick presentations" a turn-off in church though Claire, and would disagree that "all of us" are used to them or like them. Not everyone has (or wants) that sort of job. Churches which have too much in common with big business sales talks, the X-Factor or similar are not what Christianity is about to me. I'd much rather listen to an ordinary person talking in a relatively quiet but engaging way - and it can be done well. IHMO we're not there to "be entertained" as if we're watching TV.

Ordinary people - like men in frocks, you mean?

Look at the churches with big attendances, thriving children's and youth work, meaningful mission, and making their parish share - they are the churches that do not make Christianity boring, irrelevant or untrue.

Powerpoint does not make a crap sermon good. Good content and delivery makes for a good sermon.

I heard a sermon from a man in his 80s. There wasn't a single powerpoint slide in sight. It explained the Bible passage and he discussed the historial background.

Who said anything about men in frocks? I don't care what they are wearing.

What is 'ordinary' about AC priests?

"What is 'ordinary' about AC priests?"

Refering to C of E priests as AC almost makes them sound gay. Althought the topic of homosexuals in the minstery is not something I want to discuss.

Sermons on line can be a bit of a mixed experience. The thing about the internet is that you have no idea who has posted it. I agree with you that the church needs to embrace modern technology. I don't want the church to be caught in a permament time warp ie. stuck in the Victorian Era. I do not want to use the King James' Bible as it is written in 16th century language. I like the New Internation Version please. I do like SOME of the old hymns and there is some truely amazing church music. I want the best modern Christian music combined with the old.

However I do not want the church to throw away its roots, ie. the Bible! To not to discuss the bible is dumbing down.

I would love to do a Bible study group, but its a real struggle with a two year old. Prehaps we need an online bible study group. Ie. We could post some references to scripture.

My church has a few bible study groups with crèche for pre school children so their parents can study the bible. Could you offer to host a study group, once your DC is in bed?
Could you set up such a group, using one of the church rooms or each others' houses, taking turns to watch the DCs.

I attend a 'high' Anglican church which is very toddler friendly. The young church is great - in fact it is friendly to all ages.

The sermon is based on the gospel reading and there are several groups that meet during the week including one that studies the bible specifically.

I think churches are like hairdressers' - it isn't the name above the door that counts (i.e. which denomination), but rather the attitude and skill of the people inside which makes it right for you.

The Anglo Catholic part of the Anglican church obviously leans towards the Catholic tradition. Catholicism is only partially based on the contents of the bible; a lot of it is based on 2,000 years of tradition.

I'm not sure what the point is of saying it shouldn't be that way. It is that way. Anglo Catholicism is not as much about the bible as the evangelical church is.

ClaireAll - many churches manage communion AND a decent length sermon.

Take my church service this morning.

45 mins of worship and prayer to begin with (children go out to their groups after 30 mins).

Communion
Notices
30 mins sermon (didn't time it but I think it was about that)
15 mins of worship to finish off.

I struggle here to find the right church.

Our local church is very traditional and while I love that about it and love the hymns, the congregation are all elderly and I don't come out feeling either inspired or uplifted.

A mile down the road is a baptist church, more biblical base, younger congregation, spiritually refreshing but I have never once recognised or enjoyed one of their dirges hymns

I think what bothers me is that there are some churches that do that just to be seen to be trendy and to get "young people" in the door - it's not neccessarily about how God might best be glorified

But getting people in the door is the first step in bringing them closer to God. I think there is a verse (have googled but can't find it) along the lines of "bring the people to me and I will do the rest". There's no point in everyone sitting behind their closed doors glorifying God in their own quiet and reflective way if the church dies with the congregation

ClareAll - sorry, wasn't ignoring you, just went home!

At the moment, we get about 55 at our services - we're going through a looooong interregnum, and our numbers have dropped off since we had our last priest (the last priest got rid of a lot of congregation, but that's another story). we're building up again now, and will have a priest in the autumn, hopefully, so we will have a plan of action! to get new people in.

DoubleGlazing - DD really likes the organ, and we have quite a few little children who like the organ, too.
it's quite something when it's in full flow!