INVISIBLE DIVIDES - Natalie Williams & Paul Brown

How many books have you read written by people from a working class background? Compare the number of sermons you have heard from those of ‘middle class’ with those from ‘working class’? Analyse your church leadership (elders, PCC, worship leaders, etc) - what is their make-up? A recent survey from EA highlights 81% of adults in evangelical churches have a degree where it is 27% in the rest of the country. Yet Jesus disciples were genuinely diverse and Peter, whose first sermon is recorded in Acts 2, was neither educated nor middle class.

These are some of the questions that you find yourself considering when you read this book. Written by 2 authors who came to faith from a working class background. Both, now, are in church leadership but they share their struggles in getting there with some powerful insights about our predominantly middle-class church. The message in this book is powerful and prophetic and needs to be heeded.

Here are a few of the points they raise:

· 60% of our country describe themselves as ‘working class’ (unchanged since 1983) and 82% of them think class is a massive issue in our country. Yet well over 80% of our Bishops went to private school!!! This is a shocking statistic for a church whose mandate is from a God biased to the ‘poor’.

· Why is it that despite all our religious input and fervour the vast majority of poor estates are without a functioning, active, lively church?

‘The simple hard truth is that, in the poorest parts of the country, we are withdrawing the preachers. The harvest is rich but the labourers have been re-deployed to wealthier areas. We are seeing the slow and steady withdrawal of church life from those communities where the poorest people in the nation live.’ (Quoted in the book from BP Philip North)

How much of our ‘Christian-ness’- our Christian culture - is, in fact, middle-class values? Here are just some of the cultural differences she highlights that provoked and challenged me:

We interpret hospitality as ‘inviting people round for a meal.’ Natalie tells how this used to terrify her and she had no idea how to behave (‘should I bring wine or not?’). She compares this with her childhood where she can not ever remember having someone ‘round for a meal’ but conversely grew up in a community where she could walk into a neighbours house at any time knowing she would be welcomed!! She didn’t have to book a meal weeks in advance or wait to be invited.

Our church events can be equally alienating: ‘Evangelistic events never serve pie and chips, for example. And the events themselves are never working-class social events such as bingo. We want hospitality but churches do entertainment. You want to pull me out of my environment to come to your event or show.’

What about savings and house buying? Is this really Christian or just middle-classness? Should this be a focus of our discipleship as it was hers? Why is house ownership so important? Jesus died with nothing?

What about ‘personality’? Its hard to do it justice in such a short review but research is quoted where: ‘for the middle classes ‘personality’ is about acquisition, achievement and stability….for the wealthy / upper class it is all about connections, because it is financial, political and social connections that are most valued.’ Very different conversations were had in the homes of the 2 authors as they grew up where humour plays a much larger role. The middle class expect their children to learn in school and further studies where for the author, he learnt on a building site from other labourers and you find yourself appreciating the values he highlights from that. How do you greet new people in your church? is it with a load of questions - perfectly acceptable middle class approach but maybe offensive to others. These are some of the cultural insights I’d never considered in my own country.

So much of our interpretation of ‘releasing the oppressed’ is actually doing good to the poor, as ‘middle-class Christians enjoy helping the poor much more than the poor enjoy being helped.’

I should also add that this book does not try and address the issue of race. The authors acknowledge this. Both authors are white and, wisely in my view, don’t attempt to cross the boundary into issues of ethnicity sticking to their experience, research and unique insight….and I think that’s ok. They would be the first to champion, I’m know, a similar book on race or other diversity issues.

Worth a read important to drink deeply from it’s message.