How then can they call on someone they have not believed in? And how can they believe in someone they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher? Romans 10:14.

The latest statistics on religious affiliation in the UK do not make easy reading.  The number of people who identify as Christians has fallen below 50 % of the population for the very first time, representing a 15% drop since 2011. More disturbingly, those claiming no religion at all have jumped to 37%, which amounts to no less than 22 million people.  On top of that Muslims have now increased to 6%.
 
The Christian figure will inevitably include a majority whose allegiance is merely nominal and who will probably never enter a place of worship apart from attending family occasions like christenings and funerals, so the situation is actually far graver than it appears at first sight.
 
So what do we do about it?  Obviously we pray about it because God’s honour and glory are at stake.  We must bring this problem to Him and ask for His guidance, which alone can take us in the right direction.  The first thing is to wake people up.  The looming fact of death has been carefully side-stepped for the past century and it is a long time since the Church talked honestly about the end of the world and Christ’s Second Coming to reign as King and judge of the living and the dead.  The current universal obsession with Climate Change can be put to good use here, especially in dealing with the young, who seem to be the most worried about their future and are also the hardest group for the Church to reach. 
 
The Old Testament prophets forecast much of what is now happening several hundred years before Christ was born and He, the Apostles and the Book of Revelation in their turn filled in much extra detail about what would be the signs of the times.  The main point is that Holy Scripture tells us that this world is coming to an end.   One catastrophe will follow another - until the planet finally catches fire – almost exactly what the Climate Change people never tire of telling us.
 
Fine, so what now?  The Church no longer has the monopoly of the religious market place, as it had maybe only fifty years ago.  We are now in competition with Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, materialism, individualism, environmentalism and an abundance of couldn’t-care-less-isms.  It is high time for us to get marketing.  And in true marketing fashion, we have to make crystal clear what is our Unique Selling Point. 
 
All other religions treat God as some sort of supreme being, quite remote from this world and somewhat nebulous and hard to pin down.  Our rousing message is that the invisible God decided to become visible Man – in every sense a human being like us, but the ultimate model of human perfection.  The Incarnation is the cornerstone of our faith – the Unique Selling Point from which everything else will follow.  As St. John proclaims at the very start of his Gospel, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory.”  And as the perfect Man, He alone is able to deal with the two great enemies of our human race, sin and death.
 
Because God became a human being, He deals in relationships, inviting us to be His children and intimate members of His family.  This Christmas we saw the Bishop of Burnley explain this powerfully in his address at the Midnight Mass televised from Blackburn Cathedral on Christmas Eve.  If only we had a few more episcopal communicators like him, able to make the most of a rare opportunity to get the Gospel message across to those outside our church doors.
 
Interestingly, we have a plethora of new songs and hymns incorporating some great Christian doctrines, like “In Christ Alone”, fine in their own didactic way, but maybe we should also think about bringing back some of those wonderful relationship hymns in Golden Bells that speak so powerfully to the Christian’s heart as well as his head.  “What a friend we have in Jesus”, “I’ve found a friend, oh such a friend!” and “O love that will not let me go” spring readily to mind.
 
And while we are at it, perhaps we should also consider bringing back the good old Mission Service, like Father Dolling did so successfully among the poor of his Portsmouth dockside parish in the 1890s.  An opportunity just to sing and preach the Good News that Jesus came to this earth to save sinners and give them eternal life; simple, uncomplicated, focussed and yes – emotional!  People are in desperate need, spiritually and materially and perhaps for the very first time this century we have the opportunity to reach them while they are receptive to our message.