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A NEW-OLD WAY TO BE CHURCH
MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE FINDING SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT IN ONLINE PRAYER COMMUNITIES
BY ANGELA HANLEY
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Throughout the history of the Catholic Church there have been many crises where opportunities to evolve, learn and reform could have been taken. Sadly, that history is also replete with opportunities lost. We are now in such another moment for the church. Covid-19 has cut a swathe through all our lives. It has accelerated even further the already steep decline in formal religious practice. People teetering on the brink, but unable to consciously walk away, found the decision made for them through lockdown. They walked away and discovered that the sky didn’t fall!
During Covid restrictions some people found spiritual sustenance by attending religious services online, but others found that unsatisfactory. For a faith that is meant to be profoundly communal, having a priest saying Mass in an empty church simply did not make sense to many. Some people, feeling the loss of the sense of prayer and the sacred, came together to form small praying communities online in an interesting return to the domestic church of early Christianity.
People who had never heard of Zoom and for whom the concept of virtual conversations didn’t make sense suddenly found a whole new world opening up. For some though, this getting together was not new. For years there have been small communities in Ireland, and elsewhere, who no longer felt spiritually nourished by the church in its present format and formed small worshipping groups. They meet weekly for Eucharist and celebrate together. Some are led by women who are called to priesthood but denied their vocation, some by men who are called both to priesthood and marriage but are forced to choose. Some of these groups also foster a collaborative leadership where lay people take their rightful place as followers of Christ and lead the worship. For these people their worship is not something they do on Sundays as part of an ‘obligation’. It is that which gives them the direction and strength to live a life according to the Gospel message of justice and hope. Some adopt a particular type of spirituality, such as Ignatian Spirituality, which forms and guides the group. Others are still experimenting.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
Speaking to people involved, one thing is very clear – they possess a profound sense of the sacred, and they are deeply biblical in their approach to worship. The common trait of these groups is that they feel compelled
by their faith to take the path they have taken. Another characteristic of such groups is that they are not looking for attention. They are not looking to recruit members. These groups have grown organically, filled a need and answered a cry. Covid has broadened the scope for this type of small church community. People who would never have considered such worship before, now partake weekly. This is happening despite the re-opening of churches after health restrictions were lifted. Such groups have offered bread not stones to people needing spiritual sustenance, in a way the institutional church can’t, or won’t, or has forgotten how. Another benefit of Covid restrictions is the amount of lectures, talks and webinars that have taken place online. We have had access to amazing speakers from around the world that would have been unthinkable prior to the pandemic. Two groups who have done amazing work in making excellent speakers available for free are the UK Catholic reform group Root & Branch (R&B), and the Scottish Catholic group Scottish Laity Network (SLN). Their websites are well worth checking out. Through attending various sessions with both of these groups, I have been in the company of many people around the world who have also found that the pandemic offered a new opportunity for small Christian communities. Participants hailed from Ireland, UK, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand/Aotearoa, Papua New Guinea, Uruguay, Philippines, to mention some.
There is a consistency of experience that shows there is something significant happening. And it is happening from the ground up. It truly is a grassroots movement. People are finding their voice. At both R&B and SLN events, people spoke of how they felt Mass has become too ritualised and has lost something vital. The increasing clericalism of the church is also alienating many. These people found the house churches (for that is what they are) more prayerful. The idea of ‘spiritual communion’ with online formal Mass didn’t make sense for many – the community coming together in prayer and reflection was more deeply meaningful. Another fact of these house churches is that they all see themselves as Catholic. They still want a church and to be part of a church, but they want a very different church than exists at the moment.
More than once I heard the phrase “a sense of freedom” or “being able to breathe again” with regard to the functioning of these groups. People are finding their voice, taking responsibility for their faith and worship, and are finding it nourishing and wholesome. That’s another word that’s cropped up for me in my discussions on house churches – “nourishing”. For many, the parish as it currently exists is anything but nourishing and often very clericalised. They are finding that the house churches are truly nourishing the sense of the sacred. This word arose so many times that I believe it is telling a deep truth. I think this is evident also, in the lack of return to the various ministries in parishes after restrictions lifted. Many ministers of the Word and Eucharist are choosing not to return to their ministries. Will that be seen for what it is – a red flag alert to take notice? Or will it just be ignored because it is happening quietly?
ENRICHING
My own experience of a house church is deeply nourishing. Like so many others, it started early on in Covid restrictions, in April 2020. It is a group of 12 people and we meet weekly (whoever is available) online to pray together. We meet on two Sundays and two Mondays per month. The gathering day had been Mondays until restrictions were lifted. To accommodate members who were working or had other commitments on Mondays, we decided to meet on two Sundays and two Mondays. Some members combine both formal church and our informal house church.
The leadership is fluid and collaborative. The liturgy is prepared every week by a different person. There is no strict timetable or turn-taking – people just volunteer. One person leads the prayer, while another hosts the Zoom session. The leader compiles the prayer for the day, which has led to some truly inspirational liturgies. The activity common to all our celebrations is a space to reflect and speak about the readings and reflections, and a space for intercessions. Part of the speaking can have a confessional aspect where people challenge their own personal attitudes and behaviour in the light of the Gospel. Nobody is obliged to speak, though, and that is respected.
Sometimes members, for a variety of reasons, cannot attend the liturgy, but there is no shaming or criticism involved. They are simply prayed for in their absence. We keep in touch during the week through a group email. This way members are supported and give support to each other throughout the week. While our group does not break bread together, many house churches do. But we are a Eucharistic gathering – we meet in gratitude and we give thanks for the work of God for, in and through humanity. Like so many of the other house churches that came together during Covid restrictions, our members did not want to stop meeting once all restrictions were lifted. Our community is both enriching and nourishing for our spiritual lives.
In his book Let Your Life Speak, the teacher, activist and author Parker J. Palmer speaks of “when way closes…”. It is a term used by the Society of Friends of which he is a member. It has resonance for where Catholics now find themselves in Ireland and elsewhere, in their faith practice: “…there is as much guidance in way that closes behind us as there is in way that opens ahead of us…We must take the no of the way that closes and find the guidance it has to offer – and take the yes of the way that opens and respond with the yes of our lives.” The critical question now is: will the clerical church keep facing the closed door, or will it turn around and see the way that opens?
