Message from Tim

A clock or a steam engine?

If you were asked to compare Brighton Road to one of these machines, would you say the church is like a clock or a steam engine? Whereas a clock serves one purpose – measuring time – a steam engine has the capacity to power all sorts of things. So perhaps we might aspire to being a steam engine. If we look at how both machines use power, a clock is probably more efficient than a steam engine inasmuch as less energy is wasted. Such unused energy is measured in terms of entropy, and the quantity of entropy also reflects the degree of disorder, or randomness in a system. So, whereas what happens with a clock is quite predictable, with a steam engine, the high level of entropy means that all sorts of unexpected things can happen!

Any ethnologists in our congregation might detect the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss behind this comparison. He used the image of the clock and the steam engine to contrast two types of society. ‘Cold’ societies are static: great value is placed on equilibrium and continuity and so they don’t change much over time; instead they tend to preserve the status quo. The amount of available energy in a ‘hot’ society, on the other hand, means that there is a readiness to welcome and embrace change as it moves into the future. So – are we hot or cold in Brighton Road? In this case, ‘lukewarm’ is not an option, and it’s a temperature best avoided anyway.

If I’m honest (as I try to be) I think that Brighton Road tends to be wary of change, and so we instinctively tend to operate at a fairly low temperature. Being quite risk-averse myself, I have to confess that I am quite comfortable with this. Yet in these past six months, unforeseen change has been thrust upon us. And what I think is so positive, is the way in which as a church we have adapted to recent events. At the risk of confusing you with too many metaphors, many times since I have been at Brighton Road I have heard people comparing our church to an ocean liner, which is so big it can take a long time to change tack. When Sue and I were in Weymouth over the summer, we saw a number of cruise ships lying idle and motionless off the coast, immobilised by the Covid-19 crisis. Yet at no time have I felt that Brighton Road has been paralysed by coronavirus. We have adapted swiftly and well to change and as a result church looks and feels very different now, and it is still vibrant.

So – thanks to all those involved in preparing our online services, and to all of you who have been faithful in keeping in touch with each other and supporting each other over the summer. Thank you for your faithfulness and generosity in supporting the work by giving, praying and a host of other means. Thanks as well, to all those involved in revamping our website and reopening our building to a range of new activities, to those who have kept Playschool open, who have supported our Family Worship events, our Equipped@BRBC teaching sessions, our early morning Communion services, the ministry of flowers, our cycle rides, walks and quizzes, Youth@BRBC, our housegroups, our incipient plans for a midweek service for younger families... Thank you to those of you who have been there for your neighbours, and who have been witnesses to the truth of the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ in a host of different ways. Some of this looks and feels reassuringly familiar – a lot of it looks exciting and very different. As God has turned up the gas, Brighton Road has started to bubble with enthusiasm, new ideas, creativity and fresh ways of expressing our faith. Some of us will be really excited about this. Others of us will be uncertain and maybe even a bit anxious… But thanks for sticking with us! And please be assured that throughout all this process of change our fixed point is and always will be Jesus Christ – he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)