What's Church In A Post-christian Era?

What an interesting mix. I accompanied a pilgrim group at The Open Gate after they had walked Cuthbert's Way. Half came from Norway's Bible Belt: half were open-ended Swedes who, even if they did not go to church, liked asking questions.

Which is why our final session together explored what church might look like in a post Christian age. Some Bible Belt Norwegians look to USA for the latest thing. USA helped Norway so much after World War Two that it has become a habit to look for help from there. We, however, overviewed a wider scene as follows:

New atheists speak of the selfish gene and others speak of the God gene in all humans. If a hundred people come to a town, where will their God-gene take them? 4 % read a book. 5 % visit a beautiful church ritual. 6% attend a mindfulness and meditation event. 7% a Pentecostal celebration with a brilliant band. 8% plug in to a spiritual internet network. 15% make for a place of natural beauty. 16% find a place of solitude. 17% walk the streets or join a pilgrimage walk. 22% either don't find what they look for or they stumble across a Village of God where they taste, see and stay as long as possible.

This led us to explore why we must say R.I.P. to Top-Down churches that are closed to the God gene, and become part of grass-roots new monastic and entrepreneurial expressions which, here and there, can evolve into villages of God. My book 'High Street Monasteries' explores this. The On-line Pilgrimage for Life which will soon be launched will explore much more.