On Wednesday 22 January, we were delighted to welcome Rev Dr Liam Hayes, to address a large and diverse audience gathered at New Hall, on subject of why people no longer come to church. Liam shared rich insights based on recent research on the subject and answered questions from our audience. The topic is of urgent concern and we hope that it leads to more questioning and action from all of us about ‘how we can be a good and better church’.
The session was part of our ‘Big Questions’ series of presentations and reflections on contemporary controversial issues, intended to nurture discernment and wisdom through sensitive encounters with dissenting or different voices.
The talk drew extensively on the voices and stories included in ‘Believing, not Belonging’ (2023) – we heard from those who feel that they do not belong. By listening to and reflecting on them, we hoped to offer those who joined the session some understanding of why Christians no longer engage in the liturgical and wider life of their communities.
We hope to use those voices and stories to identify positive and hopeful ways in which Christian communities may be re-imagined and re-engage with those who no longer participate in the liturgical and wider life of their parishes.
To provide an opportunity for those who joined, or later watch the session to grow jointly in discernment and wisdom by listening to and reflecting on the – perhaps unheard – voices and stories of those who feel disconnected from their faith communities.
Reference
Diocese of Brentwood (2023)‘Believing, not Belonging’ A research into why Catholics no longer come to Church: Ecclesial drift, estrangement, and disaffiliation. Available at: CEE-Believing-Not-Belonging-Final-Report_2023-2.pdf
Dr Liam Hayes is the Director of the Centre for Ecclesial Ethics at the Margaret Beaufort Institute in Cambridge. In the Centre’s recent Believing, not Belonging research, Liam opened up a space to listen to the stories, experiences and complex reasons why so many Catholics no longer go to Church and to explore the ecclesial ethical implications of such ecclesial estrangement.
Liam is a Senior Research Fellow at the Margaret Beaufort Institute, and in his doctoral research explored the disjunction between Catholic teaching and practice in the domain of sexual ethics and the significant role that experience plays in the moral discernment of Catholic women and men.
Liam is a priest of the Diocese of Brentwood and worked for over sixteen years with CAFOD as a Theology Adviser before taking up his current post. Liam also serves on the academic reference group of CSAN and on the steering group and academic reference group of the School for Synodality. In his leisure time Liam enjoys cycling, music, cooking and playing the piano badly!