An Absent Church
REV FIONA MCCREA CONTINUES HER UHAMBO BLOG SERIES…
In my last blog, I wrote about a viewpoint overlooking a sand dune with the beautiful Indian Ocean on one side and an oil refinery polluting the environment on the other side. I shared how God reminded me of his perfect creation and how humans were the ones who had caused damage and pollution.
Now, let me carry on that story and how God continued to speak to me from that viewpoint.
As my gaze shifted from the sand dune, further right I noticed a massive church, a beautiful building overlooking the hillside where large homes were built. Off to the left of the church grounds, standing on waste ground and surrounded by rubbish and rubble, stood a rusty cross, overlooking the glamorous homes to one side and the oil refinery on the other side.
As I gazed at the cross I sensed God whispering ‘I am here, I am in the midst of the heartache and pain, but where is my church and where are my disciples?’
As I reflected on this, the passage of scripture that jumped out at me was John 19 where Jesus cared for his mother even as he hung on the cross,
When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
- John 19 v 26- 27
Graham Philpott (Church Land Programme), Zethu Khuzwayo (Phakamisa) and Rev Fiona McCrea
The people of South Durban fighting injustice, poverty, gender violence and government corruption are the people Christ loves and cares for, but where are the disciples to care for them? Some of the community groups that morning had shared how NGOs and churches had stepped in to provide aid during covid and following the floods, but others spoke about the absence of churches when their help was needed most.
Since returning from South Africa I have been reflecting on the role the church has to play in the lives of the people I met. I am so thankful for the Church Land Programme and Phakamisa (both WDR partners) and for the amazing work they do, but I was saddened to hear how some people felt abandoned by the local church who were too busy with other matters to care for those on their doorstep.
This got me thinking about my own ministry and how often I get focused on the busyness and demands of the local church and forget to care for all those whom God has placed in my care! You will be reading this reflection a number of weeks after my return from South Africa and I fear I will already be busy again with life in the local church and will be struggling to keep global issues at the forefront of my mind!
I know I am not alone in that struggle, we are all living busy lives and church responsibilities at a local level add to our busyness, it can be difficult to find time and energy for people and places we know little about and may never visit.
My questions today are as much for me as they are for you the reader…
In our busyness with local church, how do we keep the needs of the global church at the forefront of our minds?
How do we care for those outside our walls and beyond our local community?
How do we ensure that the work of WDR and Christian Aid Ireland do not simply become a once a year priority for us?
How do we become activists rather than spectators when it comes to global matters?
How do we ensure we are present as a church rather than absent?