The Very Rev Albert Bogle urges congregations to offer a home to ‘spiritual refugees’ who no longer attend Church regularly.

MANY of our congregations have been highlighting the issues that surround refugees who are looking, and longing for a homeland.

During this year’s General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May I met someone who was trying to do something very practical about the problem. He was on his way to London to speak with government ministers regarding some creative opportunities communities could offer to help integrate refugees into our society. In particular he believed churches had a unique role to play in ‘welcoming strangers’. He highlighted his perception that there are many people who have spare accommodation in their homes, who would be willing to house or partially house a family. Finding a home and a community to live in is part of what it means to be human.

This led me to think about the great responsibility congregations in the Church of Scotland have for the hundreds of thousands of people who have no real spiritual home. Research continually reminds us that we currently have a population of people who no longer go to church, but many retain a spiritual dimension to their lives. A great number of these people would define themselves as Christians and can remember a time when they were heavily involved with church activities.

I believe the Church of Scotland needs to take seriously the needs of the spiritually homeless. Sadly we may never see them come over the threshold of a church building, but we have a responsibility to respond to their needs, and consider how we can re-engage with these disconnected members of our family. Funerals and even weddings can be a start but we need to have a more creative strategy.

Historically many congregations have taken people who have not been attending church on a Sunday, and placed them on a supplementary roll. The Church has literally hundreds of thousands of people in this category. Who is looking at these rolls? Who is caring for the hurt and abandoned children of the Church of Scotland? The ones who have been baptised but are now forgotten about?

And what about our baptismal rolls? Who is looking through them to find out where these children are 25 years on? Who is telling them that they have a Christian heritage to claim, and that they would be ever so welcome if they wanted to explore as adults what their baptism was all about?

I’d like to throw out a challenge for us all. Perhaps it is time for a national campaign. A homecoming campaign in which we invite all our families who once shared in worship with us to a gathering like Heart and Soul; a gathering perhaps as we did in Ingliston in 2008; a gathering where we as a church recommit ourselves to the core message of the gospel; a gathering where we inspire each other; a gathering where we challenge each other; a gathering where we make space to walk and talk with others who don’t traditionally see eye to eye with us. I remember Tom Smail, a former minister in the Church of Scotland speaking at a conference in St Ninian’s, Crieff in 1989. He was talking about the need for the Church to become a place where we all work together despite our differences. I remember him smiling and saying something along these lines.

It’s time we put the radical cats and the pious pigeons in the same cage. Yes there will be murder, feathers will fly, and eyes will be gouged out. There will no doubt be “Murder! Police!” but there will inevitably be resurrection.

We need to do something urgently. The call to the whole Kirk to the place of prayer by the Council of Assembly is the place to start, but if we are prepared to pray in gatherings all around the country, the vision will become clear. Should we be booking Ingliston for a homecoming event?

Let’s begin to find new homes and different kinds of homes for the spiritual refugees we come across on a daily basis.

In a small way we have already started as Sanctuary First is becoming an initial touching place for the spiritually homeless. As the contacts increase I’m looking for more support from across the church. If you have a heart for the spiritually homeless, please get in touch.

“Let’s begin to find new homes and different kinds of homes for the spiritual refugees we come across on a daily basis.

The Very Rev Albert Bogle is a Pioneer Minister of Sanctuary First Church Online www.sanctuary/first.org.uk