Message from Tim

What’s our ethos?

To ask about the ethos of Brighton Road is to ask about how our beliefs, our attitudes and our moral values find expression in how we relate to God, each other, our neighbourhood and our world. Cultivating good relationships is at the core of our vision of what it means for us to be ‘church’.

But I wonder: is it apparent from our ethos that we are followers of Jesus? To what extent do we model the fruit of the Spirit, demonstrating love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? When it comes to communicating an ethos, who we are matters so much more than what we do.

Then, at a secondary level, I find myself pondering what are the qualities that give Brighton Road a distinctive identity, compared to the twenty or so other churches in Horsham? What is it about BRBC that draws you to the church (or not, as the case may be)? Of course, the ethos of a church is not static: it changes over time. Like your own personality, a church culture is shaped and moulded by events and people. Consequently, when lockdown restrictions eventually are lifted and we start to meet again face to face rather than via Zoom it is likely that BRBC will have a different ‘feel’ to it: we will all have been changed by recent events – and that means that church will have changed as well.

You see, the ethos of a church has no independent existence apart from the people that make up the extended family of the fellowship. This means that when it comes to shaping the ethos of our church, we all have a part to play: it is not something you can leave to other people. But what about if you are not sure how (or whether) you fit in? I am not a big fan of jigsaw puzzles (when I broke my arm and had to stay in hospital as a boy, there was nothing to do but jigsaws and nothing but Wimbledon on TV, and the experience put me off both for life). I do remember how frustrating it is to have a piece of the puzzle that doesn’t quite fit: on more than one occasion, someone has said to me, ‘I don’t think it goes there…’ And course, with a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces that don’t seem to fit easily are still part of the puzzle; you just need to find the right place for them.

In my research, I have learned that you can’t afford to ignore the bits that don’t fit into your framework: insight only develops and progress is only made as the framework is adjusted to accommodate all the data.

St. Paul uses the analogy of the human body: just because a bit of the body feels different, that does not mean it does not belong. If we were all the same, the body would just be like a giant eye or a giant ear – a monstrosity rather than a body. In the Body of Christ, God fits all the bits together so that everyone belongs, everyone is honoured and everyone gives and receives care (1 Corinthians 12:14- 25). So, the richness of our diversity is enhanced as everyone finds their place within the Body of Christ. Just as a body has no existence independently of the parts that make up the body, the church only exists because it is made up of people like (and unlike) you and me.

So – what will the ethos of Brighton Road be like when we start to meet together again? Well, if you are reading these words, the answer to that question depends on you…