PAUL BRADBURY is a pioneer minister in Dorset. He introduces us to a vivid succession of innovative projects that he has known, tells the story of his own development, and argues for a distinct change of perspective towards mission. Bradbury’s focus is largely rural, but a pivotal experience was the time that he spent as a young man at an HTB-inspired church-plant in Acton, west London.
HTB’s research had (with extraordinary presumption) “identified Acton as a place where the existing churches were not succeeding in mission to their communities”. Later, “In spending time with some of the other vicars of the parish churches in the area, I sensed that inherent connection with place that was fostered by being a church with history and long-term connection.” “We struggled”, he concludes, “to relate to the community around us except by seeing it as a potential resource for the activities that we delivered.”
The strength of this book (Feature, 19 July 2024) is its call for an attitude to mission which is patient, respects the tradition of a place, listens to the needs of the community, and wants to displace the church from being “the star of the show” — “Jesus’ message gave priority to the Kingdom of God” (unfortunately, he misquotes U. A. Fanthorpe’s poem about walking “haphazard by starlight straight Into the kingdom of heaven”).
But Save the Parish should not expect a new recruit just yet. Bradbury puts his faith in “the renaissance of small, intentional communities”, and this seems to have personal roots. As he looks back to the tiny village that he grew up in, “I realise that in many ways, for the rest of my life, I’ve been looking for and trying to create something that feels much like that.” He never attended the village church, but came to faith in a tightly knit independent church near his school. And he is writing soon after Covid lockdown.
Bradbury writes respectfully about the values of traditional church life, occasionally with the faintly patronising politeness of a phrase such as “our time-honoured churches”, but largely for what this may usefully say to fresher expressions. There is nothing about the mission potential of regular parish activity, or the author’s own part in it, and his book would gain from fuller consideration of the symbiosis between the inherited church and its pioneering offspring. And, though he may enthuse about groups that are “relaxed on structure and open to the wildness of the Spirit”, there is a boringly necessary discussion to be had about accountability, let alone safeguarding.
That said, In the Fullness of Time is a lively, personal narrative with plenty of food for thought. It may raise more questions than it answers, but it highlights a valuable shift in perspective for the next wave of the new wave.
The Revd Philip Welsh is a retired priest in the diocese of London. Read his comment article on vocations here.
In the Fullness of Time: A story from the past and future of the Church
Paul Bradbury
Canterbury Press £14.99
(978-1-78622-607-5)
Church Times Bookshop £11.99