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Finding the Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage: the search for a route running from Europe to Asia through the ice covered seas of the Artic and over the top of the Americas thus drastically reducing the distance of trade routes between the two continents was the dream of sailors for hundreds of years. The only problem was the ice. In winter the artic sea waters completely freeze making passage impossible and any boat caught in the waters is trapped until the summer thaw, if it happens. Even during the summer months the ice is ever changing making a passage almost impossible to find. Add to that the fact that until recently the waters were uncharted and you have a challenge of the highest proportions. The Northwest Passage was a draw for explorers, adventurers and entrepreneurs alike.
I confess, at the outset to knowing very little about the history of the quest for the Northwest Passage; no more than was contained in a recent television documentary . Yet as I watched that programme I began to realise that there were distinct parallels between the church and the two explorers who were its subject. The church stands on the edge of an artic circle and has her own Northwest Passage to discover. The destination that she is looking for is herself, or at least that form of herself that may exist in Western Europe in the next 50 to 100 years. Many commentators have recognised the fact that, in Europe, we live in the time of biggest change in the church since the establishment of Christendom in the 4th Century. We are rapidly entering post-Christendom. It is uncharted; Stuart Murray writes, ‘we really have not been here before’ . It is hostile; “post-Christendom is not an easy environment for discipleship, mission or church” . It is potentially fatal; Christendom and Christianity have been effectively wiped out in regions before, it could happen to us . If the church in Western Europe is to survive, it will have to navigate these icy and dangerous waters and find a way through. The question is, is the Church in a fit state to do that, and if not, what do we have to become in order to be the Church in 50 years time. The stories of two legendary Northwest Passage explorers, Franklin and Adamson, can give us some clues.
Franklin’s attempt to discover the Northwest Passage in the mid 19 century was the greatest expedition ever mounted yet ended in failure with the loss of the entire crew. Adamson led the first successful attempt at the beginning of the 20th Century. Their methods could hardly have been more different.
Franklin’s attempt was in many ways an attempt to conquer the artic by brute force and the supposed superiority of the Victorian culture from which he came. He led a crew of around 120 men in two massive ships; the best of their day. He took with him the products of their advanced culture (one obvious yet fatal example being the large quantities of tinned food ) and its trappings. Having been caught in the ice for some years an escape attempt involved dragging lifeboats over the ice. The attempt failed, but when, later, one of the boats was discovered, it was found to contain such things as carpet slippers, silver ware, and a French New Testament. As the programme makers pointed out, it was the inability to discard the trappings of a Victorian culture which Franklin and his men thought would be the reason for their success which in the end contributed to their failure. Similarly an attitude which was deeply rooted in their culture may well have cost them. The idea that British Victorians might have learnt anything from the likes of the Inuit, characterised by them as mere savages, meant that they were unable to learn how to live in a hostile environment from the very people who knew how.
Adamson’s attitude is very different. Where Franklin tries to dominate the environment, Adamson, in the words of the programme makers, dances with it. He aims to travel light, choosing to use a small Norwegian sealing boat and a crew of only half a dozen. The crew is made up of only those with the skills necessary to do the job – navigator, engineer etc, and none of the scientists and others whom Franklin takes with him for secondary purposes. Adamson is focussed on one objective only. To that end he makes sure that he is not only the expedition leader but the master of the ship. He knows that historically ships masters have often overruled exhibition leaders, but on his trip there will be one clear leader.
Adamson also focuses on experience. Franklin is the only officer in his party to have been on a polar trip before, whereas Adamson chooses those who are experienced in sailing in the conditions they are likely to face. He also learns from the experienced, spending many hours talking to the Norwegian seal hunters who regularly sail in the icy artic waters. Such a thing would have been anathema to the British Admiralty. Preparing well before the trip, by learning to do such things as hunt and ski, Adamson is also willing to learn whilst on the expedition. During the winter when the boat was ice-locked, Adamson deliberately makes contact with, and learns all he can from, the Inuit. Though there are ways in which his mission is endangered by such a policy , it stands him in good stead not only for this voyage but for his many expeditions to come.
The other experience which Adamson benefits from is the experience of Franklin. Indeed it is Franklin’s tragic failure which inspires Adamson in the first place. Following the loss of Franklin’s crew no other attempts were made to find the Northwest Passage, and even Adamson had to lie about the nature of his expedition in order to raise the necessary backing. Both men ventured into the relatively unknown, but Adamson benefited both from the charts that Franklin was able to make, and more significantly, the charts made by those who spent many years searching for the lost crew. Franklin’s failure motivated and benefited Adamson’s success.
As the church in Western Europe sets out into an unknown and inhospitable environment it does so in continuity with what has gone before. There is, of course, much to inspire and teach us from the history and courage of the church within whose tradition we stand. But there is a great danger that it is the very things of the church which in the past has made it seem strong, secure and successful, that could threaten our ability to survive in the future. Even those things which are best about us; which have and still do ‘work’ may need to be jettisoned if we are to travel light enough to dance with the culture in which we will find ourselves. Everything from creeds and sacraments to the way we engage with society and forms of worship and community need to be re-examined in light of where we are headed.
We need to travel light, ready to be flexible, focussed on what is essential, able to take courageous and unexpected decisions . We need to be willing to be humble enough to learn from the unexpected people: those who have gone before us (though finding them may be difficult ) and those who already inhabit the culture.
Some of us may simply need to start – unprepared and unsupported. Adamson found it very difficult to find backers for his expedition and found himself at the point of bankruptcy. With his creditors about to take possession of his boat, Adamson and his crew simply left. To have waited longer would have been to wait too long. There is no guarantee that in 50 years time there will be a church in Western Europe. It has been effectively removed from cultures before now. If we are to find our way through the Northwest Passage to the church that may or may not be there at the end of it, then to wait much longer and to take much with us may be too long and too much.
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