Invisible Divides

Author Natalie Williams
& Paul Brown
Publisher SPCK £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9780281085200

Subtitled ‘Class, culture and barriers to belonging in the Church’, and written by authors who came to Christ from working-class backgrounds, this timely work challenges a longstanding issue – the largely ‘middle-class’ culture of the UK Church across all denominations. I was reminded of John 3:16: ‘…that whosoever believeth…(AV)’, and recalled a cringeworthy incident in a church I was once visiting where, over coffee, I heard ‘We don’t want people like that here…’ indicating a young couple from a traveller community who wanted their baby baptised. ‘Whosoever’ is an archaic word, yet its all-embracing meaning is so contemporary. And ‘whosoever’ should challenge us all to ask whether our churches represent the full breadth of the communities in which they are situated – and if not, why not? An honest and active response to 2 Chronicles 7:14 is in order. The last sentence of this profoundly insightful and necessary book states: ‘…let’s play our part in crossing invisible divides and seeing people from all classes and walks of life come to know him, worship him and serve him together…’ A must buy.

Reviewed by ANDREW CARR

Ministry, Social inclusion