A Church Drawing Near: Spirituality and Mission in a Post-Christian Culture
Paul Avis
T & T Clark/Continuum 2003

In this book, Avis examines the Church in a postmodern world, in particular, the Anglican Church in England. He identifies postmodernism as nothing particularly new, but claims it be "a dynamic within modernity, an intensification of modernity".
Avis focuses his attention on what he has termed "Common Religion" which he suggests is a rising spirituality of the masses that has its foundation in the remembered Christianity that is still so much part of modern English culture, even if it is a spirituality without any real commitment to the institutional Church.

The public outpouring of grief at the death of Princess Diana and the incredible interest in her funeral are cited by Avis as strong indications of the presence of this Common Religion which is at the heart of British culture.

Avis sees the continuing public interest in what he terms "the occasional offices" — that is baptism, weddings and funerals — are indications that the public still has a significant interest in the presence of the institutionalised church, even if it does not give to the churches with the same sense of commitment that the church sometimes expects.

These offices, he argues, are rites of passage that have their roots grounded in cultural symbology and rituals that go far deeper than most people imagine. He rejects the modern trend by clergy and churches to discourage or reject those seeking baptism and so on who are not committed to the church.

Instead he encourages the church to see them as opportunities for pastoral interaction. Commitment should not precede belonging, however tenuously that belonging might seem, he suggests.

This book is not an easy read. I would suggest that theology students and clergy may find it meaningful but the first half of the book is written in largely academic jargon that can make it hard to follow. It seems that after about page 82 he changed his whole style and the rest of the book became far more readable.

Avis has not really given us very much that is new. He is still locked into the "Christendom" model of being the Church and, in particular, the Anglican perception of the clergy being dispensers of God's grace. He sees the church as being the keeper of divine truth and the means by which salvation is given to the world.

Overall, I don't think he has engaged the real issues facing the church today very well although there is no doubt that there are some gems of wisdom that can be gleaned from this book if the reader is prepared to persevere with it.

the Rev. Allan Leggett