Past Reviews
The Spirituality Revolution: The emergence of contemporary spirituality David Tacey Brunner-Routledge 2004
ISBN 1 58391 874 4 £14.99
David Tacey's book is a must for anyone who is intrigued by the rise of interest in spirituality in contemporary society. He teaches at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia and his book reflects on his experience of teaching a course on spirituality that attracts a large number of students. This seems to be a strange phenomenon in a university that is founded on secular principles and at a time when mainstream churches are in rapid decline. Tacey seeks to understand what contemporary spirituality is about and why it is so appealing to young people.
Tacey suggests that we are going through a great historical shift. Secularism has been shown to be inadequate, science and reason have not brought freedom but have created monsters. There is much instability, uncertainty, disruption and anxiety. Although older people may be able to ignore it young people are acutely aware of the current insecurity and so are seeking to make a new pact with the sacred. Tacey likens the present situation to a river in full flood. The surging waters stir up and bring to the surface things that had been long buried.
This explains why there is much interest in ancient spiritual systems. However not everything that has come to the surface is healthy. Tacey believes that many of the emerging spiritual impulses are archaic, malformed, nascent or ugly. Much of the New Age movement is consumerism designed to appeal to egotism and pride. But there are some gems of wisdom buried in contemporary spirituality. Hence the need for spiritual education so that people will develop a creative relationship with the spirit rather than become possessed by it.
Another key issue for Tacey is the relationship between religion and spirituality. In stable times people turn to religion for spiritual nourishment, to mark key transitions and to reinforce social bonds. Few people seek out a personal relationship with the spirit but those who do are liable to be regarded with suspicion by religious institutions. Religion tends to see itself eternal and it finds it hard to respond to changing times. Eventually it will become lifeless and petrified and the spirit will break out. When this happens spirituality rather than religion becomes the source of spiritual nourishment and social identity. Religion shrinks and becomes synonymous with formal religious practice or church attendance whilst spirituality expands and is seen as the way to relate to the sacredness of life. It becomes diverse with many different forms of expression. Religion is for a tiny minority but spirituality is for everyone.
The particular focus of Tacey's book is youth spirituality. Tacey began to notice interest in spirituality in his students about fifteen years ago and subsequently set up a course on spirituality against the advice of colleagues who saw interest in spirituality as a passing fashion. He sees the development of a genuine postmodern spirituality as a task on which staff and students can collaborate. He sees youth spirituality as search for what is real. It is not private but it is about personal empowerment that links to important public issues such as land use, race relations and environmentalism. Young people are trying to establish a moral basis in a world that is increasingly amoral and their spirituality is an attempt to dig down to spiritual roots. They are fascinated by ancient spiritualities because they believe that these are the elements from which a new spiritual direction will come. Tacey has a sympathy for youth spirituality and sees it as a genuine search for reality whilst recognising the impoverished forms that it can take on.
It is all too easy either to dismiss contemporary spirituality out of hand or to greet it enthusiastically leaving critical judgment behind and the strength of Tacey's book lies in the insights he gives into the need for discernment in today's spiritual scene. He also offers some interesting reflections on what religions can do in the new climate of interest in spirituality. Churches must change from being places of devotional worship to centres where people can have an experience of God. They must leave behind the idea of ministering to a gathered community and turn their attention to the scattered community. It is only by connecting with the spirit of the time that people will see religion as relevant.
Anyone for Alpha? Evangelism in a Post-Christian Society Stephen Hunt Darton, Longman and Todd 2001
ISBN 0 232 52404 1 £7.95
Stephen Hunt believes that the Alpha Course is the best evangelising tool that the Church in the U.K. has to offer. The question he seeks to answer is how good is the best? His book outlines the research he undertook in order to discover Alpha's strengths and weaknesses and to find out whether it is really making new converts. What emerges is a fascinating book that answers some questions and raises others.
After a useful account of the background and format of Alpha Hunt describes his research. It was conducted in Reading and Maidenhead and involved a number of churches of different denominations that were running Alpha courses. Although the research was only conducted in two towns Hunt is confident that his findings are fairly typical of other regions in Britain. He discovers that the majority of people who attended Alpha were already Christians. Alpha could be a meaningful experience for them leading to spiritual growth. Alpha had a measure of success in bringing fringe and lapsed Christians into the Church but made few new converts. Hunt concedes that Alpha may be more successful in attracting non-Christians in its home church, Holy Trinity Brompton, but believes that overall Alpha is never likely to have a big impact. The book concludes with a list of suggested themes for an alternative Alpha course.
Obviously Hunt's research is based on a small sample of churches. It has not answered the question of whether Alpha is more successful in attracting non-Christians over time. This is the claim that is made by Holy Trinity Brompton. Although Hunt's sample included churches that had been running Alpha for differing lengths of time he did not compare the experience of churches new to Alpha with those where it is well established. It would also have been useful to have had some comparison between results at Holy Trinity Brompton and results elsewhere. Despite the limitations of the research Stephen Hunt's book raises a challenging question for the churches. Is any method of evangelism that relies on non-Christians coming to church ever likely to have much success? Maybe Christians should be much more radical and look for ways of spreading their faith beyond the churches.
Jesus And The Gods Of The New Age: Communicating Christ In Today's Spiritual Supermarket Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson Lion Publishing 2001
ISBN 0 7459 5060 4 £8.99
Ross Clifford and Philip Johnson's new book is based on their own experience of witnessing to today's New Age seekers. They have done this by running a stall under the title "Community of Hope" at some the many New Age festivals that are a feature of the modern search for spiritual meaning. They believe that their approach is modeled on the example of St Paul in Athens who interacted positively with Athenian culture in order to present the Christian faith in a way that his hearers could understand. It is an incarnational model of evangelism.
The authors argue that many Christians have made the mistake of condemning Alternative Spiritualities without really considering what they are about. They give useful summaries of a number spiritual paths including Wicca, Astrology and the Human Potential Movement. But the real strength of the book lies in the examples of dialogue between Clifford and Johnson and the New Age seekers that they meet. These case studies demonstrate that it is possible for Christians to both listen to and learn from people who are looking towards Alternative Spiritualities whilst presenting them with the challenge of the Christian Faith.
The point is made throughout the book that New Age seekers are essentially looking for a form of spirituality that works for them. Therefore one chapter of the book is devoted to the tools and exercises for transformation that the authors commend to seekers. Some of these need to be carried out with a group but others work just as well with individuals. The final chapter is also practical and offers ideas to other Christians who might want to take part in New Age festivals.
The book ends with two useful appendices. The first explores dialogue and the truths that New Age seekers and Christians can learn from one another. The second is a moving personal account by a former church member who found more meaning in Wicca.
"Jesus And The Gods Of The New Age" raises some intriguing questions, not least of which is how we can make sense of the Christian claim that God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself when many people will continue to follow other paths? Another question is a very practical one: given that some people who have met Clifford and Johnson might become Christians how can they continue to be nurtured in the Christian Faith? They would not easily become part of many mainstream churches and if churches are created for New Age seekers how can their insights and vitality be shared? Maybe the authors will tackle these questions in subsequent books. It would be worth reading their answers!
A Quiet Place: a healing environment Bob Spalding Support for Learning Vol.16 no. 2 pp. 69-73 May 2001 National Association for Special Educational Needs
The review this time is not of a book but of a fascinating article by Bob Spalding. Although not about religion or spirituality this article gives us so many insights into the current spiritual yearning within the UK and pointers to ways in which the church might reach out to many spiritually and emotionally hungry people.
As you might have guessed by now Quiet Places are a new educational initiative. They have been established in a number of Liverpool Primary Schools to meet the needs of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The idea is to provide children with a special environment where they can feel safe enough to open up and explore often very painful experiences and feelings.
The Quiet Place is a room that is designed to promote a sense of people and relaxation. It has soft furnishings and a range of mini environments for example tent-like areas, cosy corners, water cascades, plants and musical instruments. Each room has a theme like a "dolphin's cave" or "dragon's nest" to stimulate the child's creative imagination.
"The lighting," says Bob Spalding, "is soft and masked to enhance the feeling of 'otherness', mystery or wonder." The soft and relaxing colours of the room also create the effect of stillness and otherness. "They enhance a sense of mystery for story telling". Colour also "contributes to the evocation of a sense of wonder."
In addition Quiet Places, as their name suggests also provide the 'sound of stillness' which contrasts with the hustle and bustle of the rest of the school. Children's sense of touch is stimulated through the provision of a wealth of natural textures. The children may also choose essential oils which are placed on a tissue for them to carry around. When they smell the tissue later on they are reminded of the Quiet Place. This is "calming and uplifting."
What leapt out at me from this article was the ease at which religious words and concepts were used in a non-religious setting. Bob Spalding talks of "peace", "otherness", "mystery", "wonder", "miracle", "healing", stillness and "uplift". These are words that we often use to speak of our experience of God. Their use in a non-religious article suggests that people outside the church are likely to be open to religious experience given the right environment. Indeed, Graham Horsley, in his book on church planting within Methodism has said that a characteristic of all successful new churches was that their worship communicated the otherness or transcendence of God. If we pick up the clues in Bob Spalding's article we might conclude that more people would be drawn into an experience of God's presence if the churches were to provide an environment and style of worship that stimulated the creative imagination and the senses.
An important outcome of Quiet Places is that children and also their parents found them to be a haven and a point of growth. It was found that children who experienced Quiet Places showed marked progress on measures of emotional growth. It would be good if more churches were to be recognised by their local communities as a safe environment where people will be listened to and supported in their growth towards wholeness.
The McDonaldization of the Church John Drane Darton Longman and Todd 2000
ISBN 0-232-52259-6 £9.95
John Drane's book poses the intriguing question "Why are the churches struggling to maintain credibility in a culture in which there are more spiritual seekers than at any other time in living memory?" His answer is that they have become McDonaldized. This way of doing things thrives on rationalized systems, results which can be counted, predictability and control. Like the fast food chain McDonaldized churches offer a pre-packaged menu that is the same whichever church you visit. The menu appeals to the Corporate Achievers in society but turns away others, noticeably the Spiritual Seekers.
Drane says that anyone looking a blueprint for the church of the future will be disappointed in his book. However, he does offer some pointers. The church of the future will find ways of being a diverse community of people held together by their commitment to one another and the reality of their spiritual search. Worship will embrace a variety of styles that will enable people to offer all that they are to God. Mission will begin where people are. "Midwife-evangelists" will help people to develop their innate God-given knowledge and spirituality rather than impose one model of the truth from outside.
You won't find "The McDonaldization of the Church" an easy read but it is well worth the effort. You will get the most from it if you are prepared to wrestle with the pointers for the church of the future and come up with ideas of your own.
Telling Our Faith Story Janet Price Church House Publishing 1999
ISBN 07151 55431 £2.95
Janet Price's short but useful book encourages Christians to reflect on their own faith story and to share it with others. The centre piece of the book is a detailed outline of a study session on telling your faith story. Although designed for use on one occasion the material could be expanded to make up a three or four week course.
If you are the leader of a study or house group you could find Telling Our Faith Story valuable. However, you can also benefit from reading the book by yourself and trying some of the exercises it suggests. It is a good starting point for reflecting on your journey with God.
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