Ministry in a Secular Age

By Rev Dr Sean Gilbert

Seminary in St Paul, Minnesota, fits easily into that unique category.

Addressing the topic of secularity and its impact on the practice of present-day Christian ministry, Root moved seamlessly between poignant stories, video, and complex ideas, leaving the sixty attendees at Uniting College in late May with much to ponder. In fact, supper was ignored for a time, such was the engaged conversation arising out of Andy’s hour-long input.

Root outlined four time periods of secularity, ranging from nearly to zero five hundred years ago to the present age, whereby the accumulation of knowledge via the natural sciences and a givenness of material reality, has progressively built a protective frame around what is clearly immanent. Transcendence – another name for the active presence of God – is then logically ‘excarnated’ from daily human experience. For within this secure framing, God is neither looked for or needed!

Christian ministry in this present shuttered social environment faces challenges, yet Root also pointed out its potentialities. Namely, today both religious belief and unbelief exist within common realms of ‘fragilisation,’ meaning that for the believer, doubt is never far from consciousness and for the unbeliever, the recognition of transcendence often tugs at one’s sleeve. It is into these lived and raw realities (thus potential places of empathic connection) that Christian ministry can still reverberate; not by way of imposition, but rather via the vulnerability and encouraging nature of Christ’s love. Root’s analysis, built upon the work of Charles Taylor, is by no means just ‘academic.’ It has concrete implications for the way the Christian Church can continue to minister in the very midst of secularity. And that is not to fear or demonise it, but to further understand its common influences and cultural shaping. As he writes in one of his most recent books:

‘The church can only proclaim the story – particularly inside the immanent frame – when the church remembers it is not the primary subject or star of the story. The church has its ministry, mission, and purpose when it forgets itself. Its mission and purpose is to concern itself with the ministry of God who is acting in and for the world.’

The Zoom recording of Dr Andrew Root’s lecture is available from Uniting College upon request by emailing: info@unitingcollege.edu.au.

Reference