Church attacked for being the church

It’s still amazing to me how quickly one can go from being elated to disappointed.

Recently, local media ran a front-page story from the Canadian Press with the headline, ‘Church holds ’big influence’ over Southern Ontario town.’

I was hopeful that I would read a fair, balanced exposé into the church truly being the church, holding to their values while serving the community of Norwich.

I should have known better.

The article begins by attacking the church for holding to a fairly commonly held belief among Judeo-Christian groups, the preservation of the Sabbath, or not participating in Sunday shopping … and actively encouraging businesses not to open on Sundays.

Perhaps it’s a surprise to those in media, but there are many people beyond Norwich who have long felt that Sunday shopping should never have become the ‘law of the land.’ However, that ship has long sailed, but fortunately, Ontarians of all stripes are still able to chose where and when they shop … and to protest, with their dollars, those shops and shopowners with whom they disagree.

Now let’s do a little math in conjunction with the ‘big influence’ claim. The reporter accurately included the fact that the Norwich area has 11,000 residents. Let’s be extremely generous and allocate a full 10 per cent of that population to membership in the Netherlands Reformed Congregation.

I can almost assure you that the church membership is not anywhere near 1,100 active residents, but let’s maintain that number for the argument.

Exactly how big an influence can 10 per cent of the population have on every business in Norwich? I’m sure that there will be some financial impact if those supposed 1,100 boycotted every business, but if the profit margins in Norwich depend solely on that 10 per cent, perhaps another business model or focus is required.

But, of course, the main problem with this church in Norwich is not their understandable commitment to dissuading Sunday shopping, it’s their perspective on sexuality issues.

The shopping angle was merely a tactic to show how “out of touch” this church is with an ‘enlightened’ province … because who would ever think of disagreeing with a provincial mandate?

It’s interesting to me that the majority of the article references the efforts of Oxford County Pride, and the concentration on preventing the church from doing the exact same thing they are doing.

And what is that?

Using their voices and energy to affect the change they want to see in their community.

The remainder of the article portrays the church as delivering mafia-like threats to businesses, devising a plan to “place adherents all over Ontario,” and having the audacity to educate their children in a way that aligns with their faith.

I’m not sure how big an influence this church actually has in their community, but I do know this: It’s not nearly big enough.

Rev. Brad Peters is the senior pastor of Murray Street Baptist Church, 175 Murray Street. He can be reached at [email protected] or 705-745-4376.

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