The failing church

The founder of the Samaritans explained why despite being a vicar he deliberately made the organisation an entirely secular one.

“‘Many people were driven to suicide because they were too gentle and loveable for the rat race,’ he says in Before I Die Again. ‘And where could they find refuge? Who would understand them, and not make them feel inadequate? Not, on the whole, the church. In fact, in a different way, the church’s standards were as destructive as the world’s standards. Church people were all too often narrow-minded, censorious, judgemental, intolerant, conventional… So the people for whom the world was too harsh would never think of turning to the church, and if they did, they would be likely to feel worse as a result.'”

What a tragedy that this is all too often true of many churches. I trust it is not true where I go but sadly I do recognise these tendancies in all too many churches.