The very Rev Albert Bogle challenges the church to ask what it can’t leave behind in reforming for the 21st century.

IN THIS column I ask the question: are we as a national church ready to embrace the changes required in order to be a dynamic, Spirit-led community? Are we offering to the people of Scotland a servant church, one that is willing to nurture and embrace disciples outwith our present structures and activities?

The shape of church is beginning to radically change, as posts become vacant and fewer traditionally trained ministers are available. We are a church in transition, with many of our church leaders ill prepared for what lies ahead. A few congregations have begun to wrestle with the challenge, but a great many more can be likened to people standing on the deck of a sinking ship singing hymns from a past generation, ignoring the chaos all around.

However, we must not consider what is happening to us as an excuse to settle for what seems inevitable. We must see it as a challenge to rise to the occasion and be the church for our time.

The focus of ministry must continue to be about building up the people of God for service in their daily walk with Christ. This may mean the style and shape and times of worship will change. If, in doing so, we become more effective in our calling, is that not a good thing?

It may well be that the church of the future will be built around the internet, friendships, and hospitality in our homes. At its heart will be the Gospel of forgiveness and reconciliation, if it is going to continue to be true to the core values and teaching of Jesus.

Perhaps we need to ask ourselves what it is that we can’t leave behind as we move from ‘ministries under settled stones’ to ‘ministries among living stones’? For me, we must carry with us the Word of God which reveals to us the history and the story of the Gospel of grace for all people. We must carry the water that speaks of the transforming work of the Spirit through baptism, and we must remember the bread and the wine which nurtures us into one body, making us a community of faith gathered around the table of forgiveness and fellowship.

How we organise ourselves to be effective witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the burning issue facing the 21st century Church of Scotland, and I am suggesting that we need to be prepared to understand parish ministry from many different perspectives. These perspectives may not always be centred around settled buildings.

From experience and research we know there are those who have encountered the living Christ through reading the Gospels, outside traditional church life. Others have come to know Christ through ‘the living epistles’: Christians from all walks of life, who daily live out the Gospel of grace by their actions and lifestyles among their neighbours and work colleagues. Thousands upon thousands of Christians are often unaware that they are being witnesses to the hope and the power of the resurrection at work in our world, often in situations where ‘the church’ has not yet been or cannot go.

We need to encourage each other to see that the power of the Gospel is not about political change, although it may well influence that. It is about personal change. It is about the rebirth of the individual in order that collectively we can live in relationship with God and our fellow humans. Did Jesus not teach us that the summary of the law of Moses was ‘love God and love your neighbour as yourself’?

“We are a church in transition, with many of our church leaders ill prepared for what lies ahead. A few congregations have begun to wrestle with the challenge, but a great many more can be likened to people standing on the deck of a sinking ship singing hymns from a past generation, ignoring the chaos all around.”

Sanctuary First is at the vanguard of a different way of being church, seeking to create an alternative worshipping community, centred around the sacraments, while at the same time seeking to help local congregations make the transition from what might be called the traditional Christian fishing net – to the internet.

The Very Rev Albert Bogle is a Pioneer Minister of Sanctuary First Church Online at www.sanctuaryfirst.org.uk