Statistics revealed in a Church Army press release show that in the UK 70% of the population say they pray, yet shockingly just 6% or fewer attend church regularly. These statistics as well as an increasing trend in modern society towards New Age ideas and Paganism have concerned many evangelicals.
Stating his worries, Hollinghurst stated: “We live in a country where there are more alternative therapists than GP’s and nearly half of those who believe in life after death believe in re-incarnation. Almost 50% of the population believe that life is determined in such a way that one can use fortune telling to understand it and around 20% of the population say that they actually use fortune telling to help live their lives and take important decisions.
He added, “For me, it is this upsurge in spirituality amongst people with no church backgrounds that is both the main opportunity and challenge today’s church needs to face if it is to have a future tomorrow. As those on the fringes of the church, or with understanding of the Christian message, decline in number over the next few years this new spiritual but un-religious group will become the mainstream in our country. This is even being reflected in our religious broadcasting with the BBC’s Heaven and Earth Show just as likely to feature paganism and new age spirituality as Christianity.”
Hollinghurst’s dedication and expertise to his field of work has allowed him to work within the Group for Evangelisation, which is a co-ordinating group of Churches Together in England, and also as a specialist researcher post in evangelism to post-Christian culture at Church Army’s Sheffield Centre.
A new workbook has been released specifically to help churches understand the issues for mission and evangelism with contemporary spiritualities entitled, ‘Equipping Your Church in a Spiritual Age’. It aims to give many practical ideas to suit every type of church, and provides examples of authentic Christian responses to different cultures and mission challenges.
Hollinghurst testifies the church resource stated that, “The church has been used to engaging with those who doubt God’s existence and feel science has replaced religion. Today a far more spiritual nation is open to many gods and is posing different questions. The Church desperately needs to be equipped for this new spiritual age and our workbook aims to help them achieve just that.”
The national tour will visit many cities in the UK including, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Newcastle, Bristol among others and will also visit the Salvation Army’s Headquarters in mid-November.
For more information please visit:
www.churchinaspiritualage.org.uk
www.ciasa.org.uk
www.mindbodyspirit.co.uk
