THE CHURCH HAS to take much of the blame for the lukewarm response of the public to attending its services.
This point was made by Reverend Stephan Brooks as he spoke during a convention ceremony where five churches were expected to attend a Bethel Circuit Convention titled Back to Church Sunday at the Bay Street Bethel Methodist Church but it was a poor turnout.
Brooks, who is currently stationed in St Martin, acknowledged that he might sound like a sledge hammer, beating churches on the head but, while thousands are longing to rise and to experience something out of the world, too often the church fails to deliver the goods. He said it was fundamental that the church recognized and admitted that failures come from the inside.
“You see my sisters and brothers, many are lapsed [and] would like to fellowship with a church family but, often times, they already know what it is on the inside. They know because they have church-going neighbour who is an incarnation of Satan.”
“They know because they have heard their mother or father or sister or brother or friend speaking about what is happening within the village church, among its members. Yes there are many who would like to be with us this morning but they hesitate and they hesitate because they know that the church has failed to be a community in which love for God and for neighbour prevails,” said Brooks.
Noting that it would be a dream comes through for any sincere Christian, church leader, or member to see people going to Christ by dozens every day, the reverend noted that there was hope for people to return to the church.
“There is hope because it is strongly believed that God can do this again. It is believed that God can bring souls by the dozen to his kingdom and to his house again. And, as we reflect on how this can happen, I invite us to look at the context in which the first great influx of members took place.” (AH)
