Working Man's Theology- a short thought/question

Why is the church so middle class? Or is it? Why do the mainline denominations appear to be middle class in the way they "do" church? Where is the working class theology or is there one and should there be one? In my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, we have one model of church: this is a model which works very well in the rural heartland of Ireland, north and south but, with increasing alarm, is failing in the urban city.

In our city we have to deal wit people who are in constant fear of the other side; over the years we have been terrorised by the terrorists but also by the fear of being taken over. We have learnt to be loyal to our side and to mistrust anyone who is unable to give their full support to our politicians, our police and our soldiers. Our experience informs our opinions even of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the middle classes keep their distance and talk of the need to remove the peace walls but fail to understand the gulf between the classes. How come the Jesus who earned His living by the sweat of His brow and by the skill of his hands is presented as middle class, educated and a voter of the Alliance Party?

The people who live in our community have a hard time when it comes to education because going on to third level education spells a break with the community and it has led to the removal from the community anyone with a positive view of learning. Even those who could go to university, would very often prefer to get a job and stay within their walls because it is, ironically, safer there but many people fail to understand this.

Much of the social work done in this community has been patronising and been done "for" people rather than "with" them so that far from building community they further make dependents and expect the "receivers" to show their thanks. Jesus was a working man who got alongside people.

A RIVER STORY

Belfast in 2009 is still a very troubled place. Despite the changes with the end of the official violence and the decommissioning of the weapons on both sides we are more divided today than we have been for quite some time. The power-sharing executitive is loosing its credibility because the two main parties cannot get past the past. With the rise of the dissidents on the Nationalist side and the opposition on the unionist side both main parties are looking over their shoulders.

There is a little elderly lady in our congregation who is nearly doubled up with arthrites who has a less than complete view of the world: if she could stand upright she would be much taller and have a much better view of the world. In this community we have too many people walking with their faces to the ground. Here is a real prayer to pray for us-"Lord help us to walk upright".

While we are divided into our tribal divisions there are people who realy want to reach accross the divide and work for a more homogenised community but they don't know how to start and they don't see how they can do it safely. Our political leaders do not have the power or authority to lead in this direction but the church really can. We don't have to depend on votes every four or five years and we are expected to lead. I cannot see how we can make any ground unless we begin to see reconciiation taking place. While the governing powers speak of shared space we have few and to make this possible we will need safe places but how can they be created? In my commmunity we have no shared spaces, no neutral places where people from both political cultures can feel safe.

When you stand on the steps of my church building you begin to realise that we are really a church on the edge-to the front of the church lies a strong nationalist community which sees no neeed to reach accross the divide: to the rear of the church there is a strong, some would ghettoeised unionist community which finds itself on the back foot,: to the right and to the left there is a similiar story. So what do we do? How can we show the way? Can we do anything at all?

For some time I have dreamed of making better use of the space our building stands on. The history of this place tells a story of a peopople responding to the popuplation explosion of Belfast and of great industry and community spirit. Since the late sixties it has being in decline. Some of the reasons are economic and some are social and some are about comunity conflict but we should not get stuck in the rut, we need to begin to create new stories, stories that are "river stories". We need to work for a day when people will look back and tell how Belfast said goodbye to the past and hello to the future, not that the future is right just because it is the future. These new stories will only be right when they tell of people who try to work for reconciliation and a better society, when Christians work for the good of the city [Jeremiah 29].

Recently I have begun to think of creating a new community: a communty which reaches accross the divide and acts as a bridge. It is not wrong to say that this is a very dysfunctional communithy and that is why we have so many damaged people and it is also true to say that we are all dysfunctional. There are people who are considered weak and poor because society tells them they are not normal, they are slow learners and need help. Another side of the story is that they are really people who can help us and demonstrate that they really are rich and strong. Could we build a community of weak and less weak that would provide a welcome mat for everyone? I have two dogs and when I take them for a walk hardly a day goes by without somone talking to them and then to me: they are like babies who attract people because they are cute and child-like. Could we create such a community which would be safe an welcoming? Could we gather together such an intentional community? Could we start a new story? Time will tell. Do you think you would be attracted to such an exciting opportunity?