Watching the new series of The Fixer tonight reminded me how much churches have in common with the struggling family businesses in the high street. Like with the first series tonight's family of warring siblings and the retired-but-not-really father are inheritors of something established a generation or more ago. The weight of 'the way things always happened here' is a heavy burden, and although they recognise the need to change as something isn't connecting to people today, letting go of the layout, the patterns of working and the identity tied in with all that is deeply frightening.
They know the business is in trouble but fear that change could destroy as much as save their shop. There are the voices that put on the brakes, and the voice seeking change doesn't recognise that his ideas may be more up to date and yet still old fashioned. They are taken to meet a contemporary trader in their business and confronted with a language gap. It is a painful process, and the Fixer's frustration is something I relate to as a minister.
Finally, because this is a feel good TV show, the relaunch happens and they set off with new hope and vision but built on their identity, skills and years of heritage. Can all shops be saved like this? No. A look along any high street says things are tougher than that. Will those who don't change survive? Maybe but the odds are even longer. Change in our churches is much the same, we need to refocus on what we are there for, clear through the clutter of the years, unearth our core identity and risk radical new ways of inviting people to share our faith journey. But we are so often bickering siblings, all equally valuing our father's business but with very different ideas about how to honour both the legacy and the future.
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