06 Mar 2023
Rev Peter Crumpler, associate minister at St Paul’s Church in Fleetville, writes for the St Albans Times.
Enthusiasm – I love it. Give me passion, excitement, fascination and joy over calm detachment and a cool distance anytime.
Maybe that’s why I love the range of brilliant community organisations thriving in St Albans and the district around.
I visited the St Albans signal box on one of its recent Sunday afternoon openings, and loved the enthusiasm and knowledge shown by the volunteers. I knew nothing about signalling or the history of the box, but really appreciated the warm welcome and demonstrations from the team.
I’ve experienced the same joy and enthusiasm watching St Albans City FC play at their Clarence Park ground, visiting the Organ Museum in Fleetville, meeting the team producing the community radio station, Mix 92.6FM, the volunteer guides at St Albans Cathedral or the film-buffs at the Odyssey Cinema.
Add to this the wide range of community choirs, interest groups and societies that are thriving in our city, and you realise how much we would miss them if they vanished from our community life.
Enthusiasm is infectious, and our historic city is bristling with people playing their part in making our area so vibrant. This enterprising new community newspaper is just one more example of local people wanting to make a positive difference.
In the churches, we don’t always do enthusiasm well. Research shows that many Christians fail badly at passing on their beliefs to the next generation. Faith, it seems, is not as infectious as a passion for a football club that can often be passed down a family through decades.
Maybe it’s something about being reserved. About not wanting to show that what we believe really matters. It’s part of the English character t o not talk about religion. It’s something some people feel is very personal and might give offence.
Many churches run a wide range of community groups – without articulating the faith that drives them to want to make a difference in their local area.
I don’t get excited talking about religious rituals and traditions. But I love it when I hear people talking about their faith – a living faith that has made a real difference in their lives. Perhaps prompting them to launch a new charity, or a group that helps people with a specific need.
Or maybe a faith that drives them to leave behind a high-paying city job to work in the health service on lower pay. Or to take their skills abroad to work in a developing country and train local people to replace them.
That’s the type of enthusiasm that works for me. It’s about a passion that makes a difference in people’s lives – both themselves and the people around them.
Just as the team in the signal box communicated their passion and their enthusiasm to me – and to the many other people visiting that afternoon – maybe we people of faith should be more passionate and open about what we believe. And the impact this faith has had both on our lives, and in the community around.
