The Very Rev Albert Bogle explains why it is important to deal with the results of the ‘cultural tsunami’ that has engulfed the landscape of the Church.

WE as a denomination could easily be sleepwalking into oblivion.

The temptation is to pretend all will be well, when in fact we are being urged by the Spirit to ‘Waken upon and strengthen the things that still remain – while we still have time!’ (Rev 3: 2).

A great cultural tsunami has turned the social and spiritual landscape of church life, certainly in the western world, on its edge. A whole generation of church ministers and elders are feeling they are reading maps that no longer relate to the terrain in which they find themselves as leaders. In the past, faith was passed from generation to generation. We are living in a time when the chain of memory has been broken. This kind of disruption brings with it fear and doubt. leading to a kind of spiritual isolation among churches and a denial of the reality they have to face.

The result is that congregations and ministers can find it hard to collaborate with their neighbours in the next parish, let alone begin to think about engaging with the needs of the world church. Many of us end up working in our own little silos. In doing so we inadvertently dig trenches to protect ourselves from the world around us rather than becoming bridge-builders into that world, bringing peace and reconciliation, giving and receiving cooperation and support, and rediscovering the power of friendship. We need to remember when we step out over the boundaries that we are not alone. The Holy Spirit is our counsellor and guide. We have a map reader who becomes the navigator, steering us over the difficult terrain.

All of us who are in leadership within the Church need to take seriously the call of Christ to go and make disciples. We need to recapture the spirit of reformation that was abroad in the Kirk when the Church Without Walls Report was first published in 2001. Every congregation and Kirk Session in the land should seriously revisit the report and let it speak once again to the Church. The report invites us all to simply take up the call that Jesus made to the first disciples. ‘Follow me’.

Make no mistake. The Church has a glorious future. Denominations however have no divine right to keep on going. It is only when we remain open to the transforming and reforming presence of Christ among us that we can exist as a church. We must allow the Spirit of God to teach us how to navigate the storms of change, so that we are able to ride the waves of a changing culture and stay afloat. If we stay close to Christ we will automatically become a people of prayer and it is from the place of prayer that followers of Jesus catch the vision to “reshape the world around”. The call to prayer by the General Assembly of 2017 needs to be high on the agenda of every minister and Kirk Session in the Church.

It seems to me that scripture is continually reminding us that our vision of God’s Kingdom is too small. Jesus himself invited his disciples to lift up their eyes and look at the fields. He told them it was spiritual harvest time! In other words you need to be in the fields before you can harvest them. Jesus invites us to not simply sow the seed but to gather in a harvest. We need to be people who reach out beyond the walls of formal church and understand ministry as a means of serving in a variety of communities.

“Very few people today live and work and socialise in one small community. I wonder if the days of parochial ministry as we have known it are in fact already long gone? Could we as a denomination be seeking to hold on to the past because we are afraid our shape won’t fit the future?

Very few people today live and work and socialise in one small community. I wonder if the days of parochial ministry as we have known it are in fact already long gone? Could we as a denomination be seeking to hold on to the past because we are afraid our shape won’t fit the future?

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