Above: Tttrkic Alevis front Ardahan, in tlrc nortlrcast ofTurkey, on the outskirts of the Ardahan MoLtntains. Tllousands of Alevis are believed to live in the city of Ardahan, but despite their nunbers, tlrcy still face persecution by the Turkish authorities. Below: Yowtg wornen prayingin the Cent house, Istartbul. Ilker Gurer has been a freelance photographer since 2004. His work concentrates on urban transformation and htntan strengthin the face of hardship. 14 <strong>Movement</strong>
A wounded body Jessica Rose, author of Church on Tria[ examines I i the church community and finds it wanting. Church means many different things to different people, but whether it is 'two or three gathered together', or two or three hundred at a Sunday service, or the huge structure of popes, patriarchs, priests, people, monks and nuns, it always involves a community. At the same time the church is the continuing incarnation of the God who became human and part of our history it is the body of Christ. If Jesus the man were - to walk in to one of our churches today, would he recognise his own body? Sometimes, we can say yes. The body functions in recosnisable wavs: rr I ngfC) SG)gms as groups of p"opl" giving to be no each o.ther.mutual ,tYppott: lt continuity between praying together and the WaV -' pgOple behaVg parr or socrery, reacnrng our ro help others and speaking out for justice and for the care of creation; as a community of prayer bringing us closer to God; and as a 'community of saints' connecting people across time and space. It was-the first of these that interested me when I decided to write about church life' I mvself grew up rn a vicarage, and shook tOWafdS ln" a.rr, from off my feet when each other. LTj;':l":ffi:;'.i*jj"f; Only many years later did I find myself very involved in church, and decided to see what other people's experiences were like, and how they might relate to being Christ's body. I found, of course, a huge range of experience - much of it good. For example, a university chaplain described what she sees in her college chapel: 'Newcomers are met by a real generosity motivated by faith, which says, "You may be isolated, and this may not be your cup of tea and you don't have - to stand up and say you believe all this - but you are welcome anyway."' And when Teresa's husband had a long stay in hospital, people from church visited regularly: 'I cannot tell you,' she said, 'what a godsend that was, because I was under such pressure with work and visiting hours. I would walk in and see someone from church the relief that would give me, to know - that someone cared enough to spend a little time with him.' The support a community gives may be more subtle. When I first started going back to church, I was looking for a God-space, a place to pray, maybe some music, ritual or a building to help me to do that. I began by going to services at an enclosed convent where no-one spoke to you: it was both hospitable and undemanding, and there are quite a few people who need this kind of space. 'I have a big problem in taking an active part in the church', said Ted, a regular churchgoer, 'I don't participate in any groups or take any offrcial positions. But I go every Sunday and I feel I need to be there and I want to be there'. Being part of the church community can also be an important part of how we experience ourselves. John, for example, started singing for services in his college chapel because he liked singing, not because he believed in God - he didn't. But he soon began to read about Christianity, and eventually was baptised. 'Becoming a Christian helped me find a sense of forgiveness', he said. 'Forgiveness is built into the Christian story: Jesus accepts all the consequences of sin and lives through them on our behalf. He overcomes, and helps us overcome.' John's experience is that the church, too, lives out this story. 'The way Christ overcomes is found actively in the church', he said, 'in the way people are Christ-like. I was made welcome without reservation. This was something and practical as well as theoretical.' Sometimes, however, the redemptive story can be hard to find, and church life can be a rough ride. Sooner or later we run into conflict, and what really disturbs people is when there seems to be no continuity between prayrng together and the way people behave towards each other. 'So much time is wasted at PCC meetings,' said Bill, 'So much bitterness over absurd little things. People are just not willing to engage it drains - the whole point of it.' Jane, a pastoral worker, says she often unwittingly upsets people. 'I try to do something and it turns out that "somebody else always does it" or more often it turns out - that somebody else always does something that <strong>Movement</strong> 15
Change language