Closed churches could be a golden opportunity for Christians

The closing of the churches over Easter is an opportunity to think about what church is, and what role it plays in our lives, if any. Plenty of Christians have already written in praise of their worshipping communities, saying how they miss the normal togetherness. My approach is more nuanced. Yes, I too miss going to church. But I also want to be honest: it is not top of the list of my current deprivations. I’m an awkward, semi-detached, leave-before-coffee sort of parishioner. Maybe this odd Easter is a chance to reflect on why.

As a youth I was very into the sort of liberal reformist Protestant theology that is ambivalent about church, seeing most of its forms as too conservative, too nostalgic, as failing to express the radical message of Jesus. And this critical attitude persisted into adulthood, this basic awkward sense that conventional church wasn’t good enough at communicating the Good News to our culture.