Should you ever be bored and in need of light entertainment, start searching Ebay or some such for wig accessories... I decided it made sense to purchase a wig-stand in anticipation of 'hanging up my hair on the wall'* so set out to find something inexpensive and suitable from said site.  Whilst I was at it, I checked out a few of the other accessories the coming months may necessitate, to discover that almost all of them said "one size, fits most."  I think that is really shorthand for 'probably fits 90th percentile male'.

All of which serves as a reminder that there is a balance to be struck between affirming and celebrating individuals within a wider framework that is 'good enough' for 'most people, most of the time' without assuming that 'one size fits all.'  It is one of the ongoing challenges faced by all churches, recognising that there is no one universal 'shape' or 'size' or 'style' that will 'fit' all, that we are not some kind of amorphous blob that'll 'do' but that our uniqueness is as significant as our universality.

Many years ago when I was being taught theory around pastoral care, one of the writers made a series of statements that is blatantly obvious but encapsulates something of this tension.  Each person is

• in some ways like every other person
• in some ways like some other people
• in some ways like no other person

I think the same is true of churches, and that it is in finding a healthy balance of these attributes that we become what we are called to be.  I don't think it's true that 'one size fits most', more that perhaps many people can find an adequate fit if their uniqueness is affirmed within a wider uniformity.  What makes a church 'fit' different people will be a unique blend of things,it may be size or sttyle or doctrine, but it may not - I have felt 'adequate fit' in churches of all sorts and szies over the years, and to be honest it has been more about authenticity than theology, more about welcome than wow-factor.  Folk who come into the Gathering Place usually comment that they feel that they matter for who they are, and that we neither assume nor demand 'fit' with who what we are.  I think we're getting something about right.

* Among the more bizarre claims of my family is that our Jewish side includes someone who was a music hall entertainer in East London, to whom family legend attributes the creation of some of the dafter ditties of that time, including the following:

After the ball was over, she took out her glass eye

Put her false teeth in the basin, opened her bottle of dye,

Stuck her false leg in the corner, hung up her hair on the wall,

All that was left of her, went to bed, after the ball.

Don't know if it's true, but it lends suitable levity to the situation.