Church of maintenance or mission - time to take your side

Church of maintenance or mission – take your side Funny to see recently the Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth Phillip Egan bemoaning the lack of funds being provided to the Church by the faithful. The Bishop decried parishioners giving “less than the price of a cup of cappuccino” in their weekly collection. There has ofcourse been a fall off in church attendance and consequently revenue, as a result of the pandemic. Some went away and never came back. Many continue to observe online, maybe accompanied by a cappuccino? Maybe, if Bishop Egan and his fellow bishops want to up the offertory take, they ought to look at their fundamental mission. Many churches did outstanding work in supporting people during the pandemic. Supporting the housebound, running foodbanks, making sure no one was left behind. Other churches though closed their doors throughout the pandemic and did very little. There are churches that live out gospel values, as part of their communities and those that don’t. The latter are the church of maintenance rather than mission, going through the motions, upholding the archaic practices of the Church, such as denying women the right to become priests. The church of maintenance will eventually die out – it has survived for too long on the generous giving of the faithful. The church of mission that is part of the community, living out gospel values in terms of the world in which we live should grow and prosper. So many need help in these difficult economic times. Maybe, it’s time to take a side – wonder where Bishop Egan stands? Ps: another good idea could be having cappuccino machines at the back of churches – just an idea! IrishPost - 19/11/2022