Overview

The local church holds a special place in the imagination of many people, whether or not they attend it regularly. Drawing on theology, literature, art, philosophy, popular culture and personal experience, priest and writer Tim Gibson uncovers its significance, arguing that churches play an important role in local communities and in the life of the nation, keeping faith alive for the whole population. In a deeply personal essay, Gibson tells the story of the church through the lens of his experiences in a variety of places, including Westminster Abbey, Holy Trinity Geneva and his home parishes in Sussex and rural Somerset. His imagining is at once faithful to tradition and optimistic about the future. Gibson's aim is simple: to identify the importance of the local church as a focus of faith and becoming in the national imagination. Considering themes such as time, place, identity and glory, he demonstrates how local church communities help us make sense of what it is to be human. Following the spirit of Anglican writers such as CS Lewis and Michael Mayne, Imagining the Church will delight and inspire anyone with a love of their local church or an interest in ministry and mission, while posing thoughtful questions about the role of the church and faith in contemporary society.

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9781789591828

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Reviews

This is a short book, carefully written which invites its readers into an imaginative and reflective and deeper relationship with the church as a means of our flourishing through and attentiveness to imagination. Part biography, part theological reflection, part narrative theology it is a passionate and persuasive defence of the place of the Church of England within the richness and complexity of contemporary society. There is a course and acknowledgement of the complexities facing today's church. We are statistically in decline. There is a sense in some quarters of panic and anxiety. Friends outside of the 'ecclesiastical garden' view both the identity and activity of the Church of England as lacking some measure of credibility. Clergy are stretched and often weary especially in these post pandemic days. Gibson names much of this and invites the reader into a renewed confidence in relevance of Church and its wisdom, its life and service. Chapter 1 deals with place and identity followed by a chapter exploring time and eternity. Chapter 3 examines parish in particularity followed by a chapter on unity and diversity. Chapter 5 is a reflection on growth and glory. Chapter 6 examines seasonal worship in the book is completed with an exploration and reflection on mission and ministry. All of this is shaped by an awareness of the particular context of the covert 19 pandemic. Gibson shows his reader why we should keep faith with the gift of the local as it seeks to serve and celebrate the riches of the Christian traditio There is a careful balance between the 'why' of faith and the 'how' of Christian practice. The vision of God expressed here is both compelling and exciting. The interweaving of literature, place, theology, culture and art with experience makes this volume and extended example of how to theologically reflect in the light of our identity and belonging. There is also something deeply Anglican about the book - influenced as it is by C S Lewis and Michael Mayne. The quality of the text and its rhythmic cadences draws this reader in and deeper. Ponder this - 'we'll manage for now with the disembodied body made manifest on our screen. And when the service ends and all we are left with is a flashing cursor on the logout page and an odd feeling of both emptiness and joy, that's when we will know for certain what matters most of all: that we are faithful people, called to be Christ's presence in the midst of our communities, no matter what. So here now is our ending, which is also are beginning, our past and our future, mediated through the present. We keep the faith. And we make ready, always, to share it with the world.' (p124) This volume will find its place on students' core reading here at Sarum and deserves a wide readership. It is a gift ! -- James Woodward * jameswoodward.info/blog *

Author Information

Tim Gibson is a writer, priest and academic based in rural Somerset. Currently Deputy Head of the School of Creative and Cultural Industries at UWE Bristol, he has been involved in various ways in ministerial training and formation for the Church of England since 2005. He assists with parish ministry in his local deanery.

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