BEING CHURCH IN LONGBRIDGE: PRACTICAL THEOLOGY OF LOCAL CHURCHES IN A POST-INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY by CAROLINE JILL PHILLIPS A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF APPLIED THEOLOGICAL STUDIES Department of Theology and Religion School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham May 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT 2005 saw the closure of the car factory that was once economically, socially and culturally central to Longbridge, Birmingham. Following this, this thesis examines how the Church communicates the Gospel there. Employing practical theological methodology, a case study approach exploring the practice of two local churches using ethnographic methods is offered. An account of their practical theologies and their significance for God’s mission in Longbridge is given. Data analysis revealed that, over many years, ‘post-industrial’ Longbridge had lost its heart and sense of place, wrestled with belonging locally and faced future uncertainty. The local Anglican church uses incarnational theology which views locality as the arena for God’s purposes, and counter-culturally preserves local identity amidst deconstructive post-industrial forces. The local Methodist church emphasizes the ‘social holiness’ of Godself, providing multiple ways to belong and reviving relatedness between local residents. This thesis demonstrates the complexities of shaping a practical theology within a rapidly- changing, destabilised environment, whilst claiming the importance of locally-based church practice. Although the churches cannot offer blueprints for ecclesial life, their comparative experiences indicate principles for a practical theology of local churches in post-industrial communities, based upon vulnerability, commitment to presence and a conscious seeking to serve God’s mission afresh. Dedicated to the memory of Rev. Richard Goodhand 1951-2013 Post-industrial priest and friend ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank Rev. Canon Dr David Hewlett and Rev. Helen Cameron for their invaluable academic guidance and personal encouragement throughout the production of this thesis, and to Dr Nicola Slee and Rev. Dr Adam Hood for their ongoing support and advice. My thanks also go to all the staff and students at The Queen’s Foundation who have accompanied me throughout the research process and influenced me in many ways. I thank the Church of England for the opportunity to undertake research as part of my training for ordained ministry. I am also grateful for the support of Rev. Richard Goodhand, my training incumbent in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, and to colleagues in Mansfield Deanery and the Diocese during the final stages of writing. And finally, I am indebted to the ministers and congregations of St. John Baptist Parish Church, Longbridge, and Longbridge Methodist Church, and the people of Longbridge, without whose co-operation, honesty and welcome this research would not have been possible. It was a privilege to have shared a part of their ‘post-industrial’ journey. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 0.0 Introduction 1 0.1 Methodology: practical theology 3 0.1.1 Qualitative research 9 0.1.2 Participant observation 10 0.1.3 Questionnaires 14 0.1.4 Semi-structured interviews with church participants 15 0.1.5 Semi-structured interviews with ‘non-church’ informants 19 0.1.6 Documentary and other data 20 0.1.7 Reflexivity 20 0.1.8 Analysis 22 CHAPTER 1 – LITERATURE REVIEW: CULTURE AND THE LOCAL CHURCH 24 1.0 Introduction 24 1.1 Congregational studies 24 1.2 Denominational cultures 30 1.3 Ethnography and theology 31 1.4 Contemporary culture and the local church 35 CHAPTER 2 - NARRATING THE CONTEXT: LONGBRIDGE 45 2.1 Longbridge: from agricultural countryside to industrial suburb 45 2.2 The changing face of Longbridge: the plant and the community 48 2.3 The redevelopment: ‘a new heart for Longbridge’? 51 2.4 The socio-economic context: post-industrialism 54 2.5 The local narrative: the experiences of the residents 62 2.5.1 The Austin: vitality and identity 62 2.5.2 The closure 66 2.5.3 Towards post-industrialism: a long journey 69 2.5.4 Imagining the future? 75 CHAPTER 3 - NARRATING CHRISTIAN PRACTICE: TWO LOCAL CHURCHES 80 3.0 Introduction 80 3.1 The Parish Church of St. John Baptist, Longbridge 80 3.1.1 Stability and continuity 85 3.1.2 Commitment and participation 87 3.1.3 ‘Feeling fragile’ 90 3.2 Longbridge Methodist Church 98 3.2.1 Welcome, openness and relationships 103 3.2.2 Belonging: the spiritual and the social 110 3.2.3 ‘Moving on’ 114 CHAPTER 4 - THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST, LONGBRIDGE: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 117 4.0 Introduction 117 4.1 St. John Baptist Parish Church, Longbridge 118 4.1.1 Parish and place 118 4.1.2 Belonging at St. John’s: membership and stewardship 130 4.1.3 De-stabilising the foundations 136 4.1.4 Losing its place 141 4.1.5 Presence... and engagement? 145 CHAPTER 5 - LONGBRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGY 151 5.1 Longbridge Methodist Church 151 5.1.1 Serving the community: outgoing love 151 5.1.2 Social holiness and a new connexionality 154 5.1.3 The centre of the circle: pilgrimage towards perfection 173 CONCLUSION 183 6.1 A theology of vulnerability 188 6.2 A theology of presence 188 6.3 A theology of seeking 189 APPENDIX A - RESEARCH AGREEMENT AND ETHICAL CODE 191 APPENDIX B - PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET 193 APPENDIX C - SAMPLE OF FIELDNOTES: EXTRACT FROM FIELDNOTES FOR FIELDWORK AT LONGBRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH 195 APPENDIX D - CONGREGATIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE: ST. JOHN BAPTIST PARISH CHURCH 196 APPENDIX E - CONGREGATIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE: LONGBRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH 198 APPENDIX F - GUIDE FOR SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH CHURCH PARTICIPANTS 200 APPENDIX G - INTERVIEWEE INFORMATION SHEET FOR SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS WITH CHURCH PARTICIPANTS 202 APPENDIX H - SAMPLE OF AN INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT: EXTRACT FROM INTERVIEW WITH ST. JOHN’S INTERVIEWEE J 203 APPENDIX I - SAMPLE OF DATA ANALYSIS: EXTRACT FROM THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM FIELDWORK AT LONGBRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH 205 APPENDIX J - SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM FIELDWORK AT ST. JOHN’S PARISH CHURCH, LONGBRIDGE 208 APPENDIX K - SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM FIELDWORK AT LONGBRIDGE METHODIST CHURCH 212 BIBLIOGRAPHY 216 Published materials 216 Unpublished materials: primary sources 223 INTRODUCTION 0.0 Introduction The closure of the MG Rover car plant in Longbridge, south Birmingham, on 8th April 2005 proved to have far-reaching implications. Internationally, it signalled the demise of a once- global player in motor manufacturing. Nationally, it symbolised the loss of ‘the last bastion of the indigenous British motor industry,’1 and yet another episode in the story of the decline of large-scale industry in Britain. Across the city and region, the economic impact of the loss of nearly six-thousand jobs, and the knock-on effect in related supply-chain industries, was huge. Former employees, many of whom had worked there for a considerable length of time, found themselves in a vastly-different employment market, calling for local politicians and strategists to respond accordingly. Locally, however, for the communities surrounding the plant, the closure’s impact was complex and far more than economic. Since Herbert Austin first opened his car factory there in 1905, the plant and its locality had an intense and multi-layered relationship. Subsequent development of housing and infrastructure was, in large part, to serve this industrial expansion, and for almost one-hundred years, Austin’s factory was the main source of economic vitality in the area. But alongside providing employment, the plant was part of the place’s physical and social fabric, central to its identity, patterns of community life and the stories of many local families. The demise of the plant therefore brought significant change 1 Gillian Bardsley and Colin Corke, Making Cars at Longbridge: 100 Years in the Life of a Factory (Stroud: The History Press, 2006), p. 153. 1 for the locality, further compounded by its demolition and the redevelopment of the vast site on which it once stood. It is the community surrounding the Longbridge plant with which this thesis is concerned. More specifically, considered from a theological perspective, it seeks to explore Christian discipleship and practice, examining what it is to ‘be Church’ in such a setting. The changes undergone in Longbridge, surrounding death and new life, community and identity, economics and justice, raise profound questions to the Christian faith, what the Gospel means and how it may be effectively communicated there. This research will explore how the Church does this in the ‘post-industrial’ community of Longbridge and the theological principles it employs. Recent literature exploring the nature of ‘Church’, notably the Church of England report Mission-Shaped Church,2 has highlighted the dialogical relationship between Church and context for authentic Christian practice, demonstrating that the Church is fundamentally missional in focus. This thesis offers an in-depth study of how the Church enacts this mission within a particular context, and in so doing, contributes to knowledge surrounding this contextual approach to ecclesiology and mission. The research also has affinity with urban theology, concerned with theological reflection on the social, cultural and economic features of urban life. Most specifically, through the analysis of this context, it focusses specifically on ‘post-industrial’ urban settings.