Having been politically active over the years, one of the things that I notice is that on the many street demonstrations that I have attended, the British have no difficulty in shouting in public.

One of my colleagues on a neighbouring estate says the group outside a pub called ‘The Crow’ shout, periodically, to the group outside the Chip shop which is about a 100 yards along the road. A car will draw up opposite the pub. The people there will shout across to the car. The car moves along to opposite the chip shop. The people in the car will shout across to them. A set of loud, short, staccato phrases take place.

At the Rugby ground, or the football pitch, shouting is taken for granted.  Yet put the same people in worship, whether in church or otherwise, they have great difficulty in managing to shout at all. Some barely raise a whisper. In the Anglican situation, which I know best, even the natural opportunities like the acclamations in the Thanksgiving prayer, where shouting out, ‘Christ has died. Christ is risen, Christ will come again.’ would seem the obvious thing to do, shouting is avoided. We even find them sung gently to a four-part, and sometimes more, harmonies.

I don’t have a great mission to get people to shout on any and every occasion, except at those times we would expect our passions to be aroused. Holy Week moves us to silence, to tears, and also to anger. It evokes a whole complex of emotions.

I do think shouting is a culturally natural expression, and one particularly natural to the British white working class culture where I work. Yet we seldom express worship in this medium at all. Such is the resistance to shouting, the best I have managed to do is encourage people to Call Out.