Changing times, same needs

After a funeral service which I had led recently, I was chatting with one of the mourners, who was a relation of the deceased.  In reminiscing, she looked back to the time of her own wedding, which was, I think, back in the 1950s.  The wedding took place in the Leicestershire village where she lived at the time.  The lady said that the number of people attending the wedding was around 120, of which about 100 were relatives.  What I found really interesting was that she then went on to mention that all 100 of the relatives who attended the wedding lived in the same village!

This reminded me that there was a time, which has to a large extent disappeared, when families tended to live close to one another.  This newly married couple had the constant love and support of siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts & uncles etc.  Though families are never perfect, I am sure that for many people in days gone by the support, care, wisdom and friendship of various family members proved invaluable, and a great support network.

There has been much recent publicity about what has been termed an "epidemic of loneliness" in our society.  I wonder whether that, and a number of other social problems of our time, have at least partly been caused by the disappearance of many of those family support networks.  Even families which have maintained strong bonds over the years often find that geographically they are a long way from each other.  Tracing my own family tree revealed that for many generations, down to my own generation, my family had always lived in Yorkshire.   Now, very few of us live in that beautiful county (though I hope that one day I may return!)

One of the images which is used of Church is "family."  The Gospel writer John, speaking of those who rejected Jesus, goes on to say,  'Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.' (John 1.12).  Through Jesus we are welcomed into God's family!

In recent years we have been blessed with new people being welcomed into the local churches where I serve as Minister.  They have been attracted by the warmth of the welcome and love which they have experienced, and have become part of our church families.  Of course we don't always get it right, but at its best (and as Jesus intended it to be) Church should be like a family, offering the love, care, support and encouragement which we all need at times ('Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn' - Romans 12.15).  In a society in which many are afflicted by a terrible sense of loneliness, it is as important as ever that we be the kind of Church to which we are called!