From The Editor

EDITORIAL

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SEPTEMBER – and the church year is back in full swing. The summer days are fading fast as old routines return: schools and colleges are back for a new term and a new generation is heading out to work or on to further education at university or college.

Yet at this traditional new start to the church year, when many academic institutions are preparing to resume work, how many of us commit to learning?

I’m not talking about learning that is deeply involved or will result in a paper qualification, but rather a gentler form of learning – perhaps the type that comes through reading a little of the Bible every day, or spending time with others, or volunteering. This is not what would be called formal learning, but is part of the experience that enriches life – and ultimately deepens faith.

Earlier this year, an old school friend spent a month sharing learning that she had made every day for the full month. She committed to this task and asked friends to take part. The learning could be from experience: never leave home without an umbrella, for example, or simply knowledge acquired through reading a news item or performing a new task. The experiment was absolutely fascinating.

Friends across the world took part and shared every day with their learning, making it an interesting and enriching experience.

What would happen if every church made a commitment to share learning in this way (on an occasional basis)?

Young and old would be able to share gifts – crossing generations with the young likely to share 21st century learning and gain wisdom through the experience of older people.

“By committing to analysing and sharing, a new understanding could develop that learning takes place not just in a formal academic institution but everywhere and every day.

The commitment need not be for a month, but perhaps for a week with shared learning being swapped on a Sunday now and again.

The shared learning could be themed around, for example, hospitality (and the practicalities of church welcome) or organising all the elements of a special service, or on a practical level, of maintaining church buildings, including soft furnishings and all the elements such as lowers and communion ware. It could also be a commitment to learn more about our Church in terms of structures and how it all works – Presbyterianism is democratic but not always easily understood beyond the local church.

By committing to analysing and sharing, a new understanding could develop that learning takes place not just in a formal academic institution but everywhere and every day.

But not only would learning be shared – understanding and faith would be deepened through fellowship and a commitment to work and share together at the start of a new church year.

Lynne McNeil Editor

This article appears in the September 2018 Issue of Life and Work

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