Uniform or Uniformity

A couple of months ago Lizzy and I attended a conference for Natural Church Development. During one of the sessions we considers the challenges that diversity has on churches. One of the issues that was highlighted briefly was for those churches that see diversity as a danger rather than an opportunity. Chritoph Schalk from NCD helpfully pointed out that diversity can cause uniformity in some organisations, including the Church. On the other end of the scale, organisations, again including the church could be in danger of becoming competitive. These two manifestations of diversity can obviously harm the effectiveness of a church community in growing and deepening its faith. What is needed, to use an NCD word, is symbiosis. Everything working together as one for the health of an organism, the church.

In this blog I want to address the issue of uniformity. As a member of and a leader in the Salvation Army, uniformity has always been a big issue. The Salvation Army appeal in its early life was it's uniqueness as an expression of God's love in action. But somewhere along the line we managed to lose this uniqueness and become uniformed. Not too long ago, if you went to most Salvation Army churches their worship, programme and outlook would be extremely similar, if not the same. Uniformity is not the same issue as the wearing of uniform but are obviously closely linked. In the last few months I have heard and been part of a number of conversations around the specific issue of uniform within our movement. The issues of uniform can only be answered by digging deep into to our understanding willingness to engage with the issues of diversity.

For many, diversity is a scary subject and it can force us to become defensive in our approach to church, worship and mission. There is much comfort in all being the same but it is not a true reflection of God's creation. If we are to be a organisation that is growing and healthy we need to embrace the gift of diversity within our movement.

Matt