A purposeful if messily chaotic flat tangle of filaments old and new, stretches across the handle, backplate and keyhole of a small outbuilding’s only door. The spider’s web resembles the careful artistry of a special effects technician for a gothic horror film, although in this instance I suspect that the creator is hidden away in the keyhole. A second glance reveals that the web is a visual clue inviting an obvious conclusion: it is quite some time since this door has been unlocked and opened.

Which begs the question why? Perhaps this little storeroom is empty and disused; or could it be that the owner has passed away? Whatever the truth I am left pondering such questions without the prospect of finding any answers. The enigma of the web remains intact.

As someone who has spent almost all of my adult life as a person of faith I struggle with the fact that so many people nowadays display such little interest in opening up and exploring the wonders and blessings of religion for themselves. As each year passes the spiders webs of scepticism, woven together from threads of disinterest, negativity and outright rejection, seem ever more apparent upon the traditional doorways to Christianity. The lock mechanism rusts, the hinges seize, and collective memories of what lies inside fade.

All of which is hardly surprising when you consider that for so many decades traditional expressions of faith had focussed upon Sunday churchgoing to an act of worship as the central tenet of their identity. By and large this pattern of behaviour relied upon the willingness of non-attenders to cross the threshold and join in with the gathered church community. As a ‘strategy by default’ this was complacent and short-sighted, coupled as it often was with an unwillingness to embrace the novel. As culture shifted with each new generation the inherited church, with the exception of a few outliers who braved the new, didn’t keep pace and adapt. New streams and traditions, often drawing the disaffected from other congregations, expanded to fill the niche.

So today we live with the reality and the challenge of re-engaging with society in ways that have meaning for the missing generations. This involves getting the gifts and blessings out of the fusty old outbuilding and into the heart of the community. It involves the courage and humility to accept that those who will be new to faith are not going to open a door which looks so unattractive. From now on we no longer wait for ‘them’ to come to ‘us’. Rather we will, together, discover the joy of faith as it arises in the interconnected web of everyday relationships which we call our local community. It is to that precious web that God is calling us. It is there that faith becomes real and life-changing. It is from that precious engagement with new places for new people that the church of the future is being born.

The spiders web on the door is a blessing in disguise for those of us willing to accept its disturbing message.