The end of the church as we know it?

While surfing last night I came upon a great thought-provoking article called 'The end of Christendom'. It's posted at opensourcetheology.net and is well worth the read.

The two opening stories made me chuckle, but what made me sit up and think is that they are true stories. I post them here in the hope that they may inspire you to read the rest of the article. Here they are:

"In a London school a teenager with no church connections hears the Christmas story for the first time. His teacher tells it well and he is fascinated by this amazing story. Risking his friends’ mockery, after the lesson he thanks her for the story. One thing had disturbed him, so he asks: ‘Why did they give the baby a swear-word for his name?’

"One Sunday in Oxford a man visits a church building to collect something for his partner who works during the week in a creative-arts project the church runs. He arrives as the morning congregation is leaving and recognises the minister, whom he knows. Surprised, he asks: ‘What are all these people doing here? I didn’t know churches were open on Sundays!’"