By Rev. Andy Cornell – Special to the Sydenham Current
Former British prime minister Tony Blair had a profound Christian faith.
When he was in office during the late 1990s and early 2000s, church attendance there was about 15 per cent of the population, about where Canada is today.
His advisors cautioned him not to talk about faith, for fear that it would alienate voters.
His communications guy would cut off questions or stop Tony from answering, using the infamous line, “We don’t do God.”
Today, church attendance in the UK is about six per cent.
So you’d think the situation would be about the same or worse.
But no.
Anyone who spent time on social media last week may have noticed current Prime Minister David Cameron’s two-minute 2015 Easter message.
“Easter is a time for Christians to celebrate the ultimate triumph of life over death in the resurrection of Jesus,” he started out, getting directly to the heart of the matter.
“The church is not just a collection of beautiful old buildings. It’s a living, active force doing great works right across our great country. When people are homeless, the church is there with hot meals and shelter. When people are evicted or are in debt, when people are suffering or grieving, the church is there… across Britain, Christians don’t just talk loving thy neighbour, they live it out in faith schools, prisons and community groups. And it’s for all these reasons that we should feel proud to say ‘this is a Christian country.’ Yes, we are a nation which embraces, welcomes and accepts all faiths in love, but we’re still a Christian country.”
I found this nothing short of amazing.
I had to replay it and dig deeper to make sure it was real.
It turns out this is only the latest.
Last year, he urged Christians to be “more evangelical.”
I searched for an outcry but it wasn’t there.
Instead, I found Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader who says he doesn’t believe in God, state “The values that Jesus lived his life by, compassion, humility, forgiveness, resonate with people of all faiths and none.”
Politicians from opposing stripes don’t make such speeches and statements to shoot themselves in the foot.
They know what they are doing.
So I searched again and discovered that there is a small but significant growth in church attendance in the UK.
According to the Archbishops’ Council, attendance at Britain’s 43 cathedrals rose by seven per cent in 2011.
There’s an African Pentecostal denomination, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, who are reverse missionaries and have planted almost 300 churches in England in the past five years.
It’s small but significant.
Canada appears to be where Britain was 15-20 years ago, where political leaders do not talk about their faith.
Even our supposedly evangelical prime minister refuses; the furthest he’ll go is to say “God bless Canada” at the end of his speeches.
Could this be our future?
We may have to continue to decline to six per cent of the population attending church before things start to reverse.
Canada is not England, I’ll quickly admit.
But what’s happening in England is further reminder that we must always be prepared to be surprised and amazed by how the Holy Spirit is working.
Which gives me hope.
