From The Editor

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WRITING the number of the new year felt eerie and not a little scary. As a child I could remember working out how old I would be at the turn of the 21st century and found it unimaginable. Yet, here we are 20 years on from that date.

At the time I was contemplating the dawn of a new millennium, the world was a markedly different place. I was a child, heading for the end of my Sunday School years. My local church – one of two in the small town where I spent my childhood – was always busy for Sunday morning worship and Sunday School took up seven pews on one side of the church. It felt a warm and welcoming place. There was no shortage of volunteers to undertake any task. The Church of today would have been unthinkable to all at that time.

Today many churches fret about decline, a lack of young people in the pews, maintaining buildings and money. The Church of Scotland is at a crossroads in its history. Structures are being overhauled and reformed. The prevailing hope is that change will make life easier for everyone involved in congregational life to share the profound message of the Christian faith and reach out anew to their communities.

There will be hostility borne of fear of change and fear for the future. But the dawn of a new calendar year offers an opportunity for refreshment and to try to consider even small changes.

The Church in which our faith is rooted by Jesus Christ was not housed in a building: it was an itinerant flexible body comprising disciples seeking to lead by example and encouraging others in the simple message: ‘Follow me’. It was not bound by rules or regulations (although some today are necessary) nor bound by a tightly controlled timetable. The Church was where Christ and his followers were.

“The prevailing hope is that change will make life easier for everyone involved in congregational life to share the profound message of the Christian faith.

As the Church overhauls itself and returns to its gospel roots, the place of the early Church should not be forgotten. Buildings do not wholly represent the Church – it is the gathering of people, young and old, united in a common desire to seek, listen and feel the quiet, still presence of God in a family of love and welcome. It is the actions of the people – in God’s name – that matter.

At the beginning of a new year – a time of uncertainty, not only for the Church of Scotland but our wider communities – resolve not to be rooted in the past, but to look forward to the future – and consider the possibilities of change and remember change can lead to improvement.

Lynne McNeil

Editor