Barnes in Common

the magazine of Churches Together in Barnes
January/February 2005

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Who on Earth?

by Roger Hutchings

All over Barnes the cry goes up, "Jesus Christ!" This isn't Christians proclaiming their faith, but ordinary Barnes residents using the name as a swear-word. And all over Barnes there's bemused tolerance for those who take their religion seriously. Not many hereabouts are persecuted for their faith. It's seen as a quaint, probably harmless hobby for people who can't quite cope. Barnes isn't special: you'd find much the same attitude anywhere in London, and extended to people of faiths other than Christian.

Although the local churches were filled for Christmas celebrations, the week-by-week stuff in 2005 is likely to involve, at most, a thousand or so. They turn up, dressed more formally than for a pub lunch or a party, to sing, to say their prayers, and to listen to bits of the Bible and a sermon: most also share a symbolic meal. They queue up to shake hands with the priest/preacher/pastor on the way out.

So what's the attitude of these 'regulars' to their tolerant neighbours? Mostly, we too (yes we, this is the local churches' joint magazine) are tolerant. If sometimes as Christians we dislike bits of behaviour (misusing the name of Jesus might be an example), we're not liable to bash people on the head with a Bible, or knock on the door pestering for an opportunity to talk about God. The nearest we get to bothering our neighbours is a Christmas card with details of services, and a procession slowing the traffic along the High Street and up Castelnau on Good Friday.

That procession, by the way, involves people from all the churches in Barnes. Gone are the days when Methodists thought Roman Catholics were dangerous aliens, or Baptists mistrusted Anglicans: there's friendship and respect. The walk is also a quiet way of reminding ourselves and you, our neighbours, that following the teaching of Jesus does have some public consequences. It's not a hobby like photography or stamp-collecting. It's not even a club like tennis or bridge. It's a whole way of life which claims to offer a route to justice, peace and salvation for everybody. It's a path for individuals and families through all the tough bits of living. Christianity offers a way to understand the world, life, relationships, and that big old question, 'Why are we here?'

You'll have to take our word for it that all the churches running this magazine – Roman Catholic, Baptist, Anglican, Methodist – share a conviction that the person of Jesus Christ is God's way of inviting us to know him. All of us believe we do that best by being part of a community of fellow-searchers, working out what it means to love God and to love others. In the wider community of Barnes, we hope that means practical, honest-to-goodness caring and serving, following Jesus and promoting God's values as we understand them in public life. If you don't recognise that as a picture of who we are and what we do, that's our failure.

When the next procession happens, the following Sunday will be Easter: have a happy one.

Roger Hutchings is a Methodist Minister

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