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was open and most of the mess had been cleaned up.
A temporary roof protected the ruined south
transept and repairs were already in progress.
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arrived early in the morning befare the tourist
crowds. The cathedral looked deserted, but
1
could
hear a service in progress in the Lady Chape! at the
eastern end of the huge building.
A Book of Common Prayer that I found on a
bench informed me that this day was the Feast of
the Transfiguration, one of the "festivals or greater
holy days" of the church calendar.
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took a seat among the congregation. Actually,
among
isn't quite the right word because apart from
the celebrant and bis acolyte, and two nuns who had
assisted in preparing the service, only two other
people were present- an elderly clergyman and a
middle-aged woman. Four more carne in late and left
immediately after receiving communion.
This pathetic little congregation was lost in the
vastness of the great church. They seemed more like
a group of clandestine believers meeting furtively in
sorne repressive nation where religion is banned. But
this is England, a so-called Christian country. And
York Minster is the main center of worship for all
the northern dioceses. And this day was listed as a
"festival or greater holy day" of the church!
But if the officiating clergyman was dismayed at
the size of his audience he didn't show it. He and
his assistant resolutely declaimed their way through
the order of service for the day. The nuns and the
faithful two gamely gave the responses and dutifully
stood , kneeled and sat on cue. An account of the
transfiguration from the gospel of Luke was read
without further explanation. Also sorne verses from
the book of Exodus, and a passage from the
apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus that didn't seem
particularly relevant.
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But then, nothing about that service seemed
particularly relevant to the spiritual needs of Britain
today.
The Decline of Religion
Since the end of the Second World War the British
have abandoned religion in general , and the Church
of England in particular. The Church of England
has been, since the days of Henry VIII, the
established church of the nation. In theory half the
population belong to it, but less than
2
percent
attend its services regularly. Even at Christmas and
Easter only about
5
percent show up for communion
services.
Although many still consider it the church's job to
marry and bury them, baptisms have fallen off
drastically in recent years. One fifth of the clergy
are approaching retirement age, and the church is
failing to attract qualified new blood into the
ministry. Sorne Anglican clergymen, frustrated at
the mounting irrelevance of their profession, have
begun to ask, What exactly is the Church of
England
for?
In an effort to become more appealing to the
masses the church has compromised its traditional
conservative position on such
íssues as divorce, homosexuality
and women clergy. lt hasn' t
worked-England's largely
agnostic populat:ion is not
impressed, or (what should be
even more devastating to the
church's morale) isn't even
interested. And yet the established
church still sees itself as the
nation's spiritual guardían.
" When
1
mention religion,
1
mean the Christian religion; and
not only the Christian religion,
but the Protestant religion; and
not only the Protestant religion,
but the Church of England,"
wrote the English essayist Heruy
Fielding in tbe 18th century.
Fielding, of course, had bis tongue
very firmly in cheek, mocking the
ecclesiastical smugness of his day.
But have things changed?
Leading churchmen dismissed
as nonsense the notion that God
would set fire to a cathedral just because a doubting
bishop was ordained there. Ironically, they are
probably right. God almost certainly did
not
send a
bolt of lightning to set fire to the roof of York
Cathedral last July. But not because he doesn't "do
things like that now" and not because he no Jonger
cares what a bishop believes. And certainly not
because he is, after all , still satisfied with the
religious status quo of the nation.
Britain has become a spiritual wilderness, and it
does need
a jolt.
Most churches today have failed miserably in
The PLAIN TRUTH