Talking Point – September 2024

THIS SEPTEMBER happens to be the centenary of the church where I’m the Vicar, St Barnabas Emmer Green. We shall celebrate with events for the whole community to mark the anniversary of the foundation stone being laid. Ours is a beautiful building; not a classic mediaeval English church, but a landmark in the community, lovingly built and paid for by local people. Visitors who see it for the first time invariably comment how lovely it is.
But it’s jolly expensive for something that looks good, which begs the question: what is the point of our church buildings? One answer is that they help us to get closer to God. But how would we know if we’d had an experience of God?
In the Bible, Jacob had a surprise encounter with God in his dream of a stairway with angels going up and down between Earth and Heaven (Genesis Chapter 28). When he wakes up, Jacob says, “Surely God is in this place and I never knew it! How awesome is this place, it is none other than the house of God, the gate of heaven.”
So our churches, built for worship, with beauty and space, designed for peace as well as celebration, are intended to help us resonate with the awesome nature of our creator who loves us more than we can imagine.
So, if the building helps us to find peace or joy, to light a candle, to pray, to hear God’s word out loud, to sing our hearts out, to have a jolly good shout at God because we’re angry, or a safe place to weep in our sadness, then we’ve probably had an encounter with God. Churches are also communal spaces where we meet other people face to face; the image of God in our fellow neighbours – these are encounters with God too, and we may never have realized it!
This can happen anywhere, not just in a church. At St Barnabas, we have a church hall and parish centre attached to the church. These are vital places where we bump into our neighbours over a cup of tea, with a toddler group, a bereavement meeting, Pilates group, or a birthday party. They bring us together, drive away isolation, and bring us out of ourselves to laugh, chat and share life together.
All of this connects us with God through others and, surprise of surprises, takes us to the very gate of heaven in every smile, every hug, every knowing look, every cup of tea and biscuit, every trusting conversation. All very ordinary, but essential for keeping body, mind and spirit together.
And that’s why I think our church buildings are important.
Rev’d Kevin Lovell,
Vicar of St Barnabas, Emmer Green and Caversham Park