A changing and a changed Church

THE CORONAVIRUS Covid-19 has transformed churches, both locally, centrally and ecumenical relationships. In the blink of an eye all church buildings were closed for public worship in March and the Church of Scotland reinvented itself overnight to serve its many and diverse congregations and communities.

Parish ministers, theologians and the Church’s Ecumencial Officer off er a snapshot of the changing landscape.

Parish experience

Ministers and worship leaders have innovated, adopting new tools to stay in touch with congregations and communities whilst seeking to serve those within communities most in need.

The Rev Rosie Frew, minister at Bowden and Melrose in the Scottish Borders is one of many who has turned online to reach out to congregations and communities. She said: “The reach of online church has been surprising. During Holy Week, for example, just on Facebook far more people listened to daily worship than would ever have been at services in the church.

“My biggest concern has been reaching those not online. Elders have all been encouraged to keep in contact with districts and all members have been encouraged to phone others and play the recorded reflections to those not online. I set up a ‘dial a sermon’ facility through Twilio where you phone a local number and listen to a recording of Sunday worship. It has been appreciated by those who have used it and I’m trying hard to promote it.

“As we went into lockdown the three churches in the town (Church of Scotland, Roman Catholic and Episcopal) issued community response cards to encourage neighbours to help neighbours. My parish is comprised of small villages and there is good community support with church folk involved in resilience committees and helping others.

“Messy Church was the first cancellation we had to make back in March. I now post a weekly Bible story and activities on our church website with posts on Facebook and emails directing people there. There are Facebook shares with other congregations and anecdotally I’m hearing of the resources being forwarded to grandchildren and friends all over the world!”

Reaching out is not the only challenge facing ministers and congregations, with restrictions on funeral numbers and a need for social distancing at one of the saddest times on the journey of life.

“People have adapted very quickly. Using funerals as an example, people have found other ways of supporting grieving families, lining the street and clapping , lighting candles or saying prayers as a funeral starts,” said Rosie.

Time has also been saved in travel to meetings with Zoom and Microsoft TEAMS technology deployed.

Whilst the swift change brought challenges, others will remain as social distancing looks likely to remain in place for some time.

Rosie explained: “We are missing out on what is church for so many – not just a time to worship but a coming together in community, companionship, singing, a handshake, a hug, a coff ee. You can never replace that.

“We have been forced into doing church in a diff erent way over these last months and a lot is good, and, with time and training and investment, could be even better. I’d like to retain a mixed economy.”

In Castlemilk in Glasgow, the response of the local church has been to serve in practical ways on the ground, according to the Rev Sarah Brown.

“We have been finding ways to connect and support many people across our congregation and community.

“The biggest engagement has been with households who have needed extra support for food provision. We already had a network of organisations, housing associations, community link health care workers, and churches who work together to respond to the pre-existing food poverty in our community. Those for whom Universal Credit doesn’t give enough to provide food for their households and others who were already feeling the pressure of austerity on their physical and mental health. Some have said we were lucky to have a group ready to respond to the Coronavirus Covid-19 crisis, but I think it is sad that we needed to have a group that is about responding to food poverty – when food is such a basic need

Photo: iStock

“Through Castlemilk Together, one group provides pre-cooked meals to the elderly, another responds to the needs of families and the church co-ordinates the response to adult only households. Our deacon, Paul Cathcart co-ordinates the food distribution, with the church phone line diverted to the manse.”

The Church has also off ered pastoral care to bereaved families with some experiencing multiple bereavements in a short space of time.

But amid the sadness, Sarah says there is still a strong and remarkable ‘spirit of generosity’.

“People are wanting to off er a small donation for their food, retaining their dignity at having something to contribute which is greatly valued. One man phoned to say he wanted to give some of his government food parcel to anyone who was in need. Kindness is still in plentiful supply.”

Future social distancing will be difficult says Sarah.

“Everything that we are about, is about connection, about being with people, about sharing things together. People are really missing being part of something together, as so we have to dream what God might open up for us, that fills that human need for community. Worship at home can be special, especially when you are feeling the presence of others in spirit, but it does not come close to the feeling of the Holy Spirit moving amongst us in the same place.

She adds: “My hope for the future is that we hold onto our faith and follow Jesus in whatever way he might lead us. That we be able to reflect his compassion, love and humility in whatever lies ahead…. I hope that the Church’s priority for the poorest communities, who far from the margins, make up the biggest population in the world – making them the centre – are who should be leading change within the church.”

The future

Finance will be a big issue for both local and central church, but how might churches and services look when they reopen for public worship and how will the wider Church look?

The Evangelical Church in the Rheinland Palatinate in Germany reopened at the end of April. There were major changes: ministers had to be at least four metres from a socially distanced congregation and numbers were restricted. Sunday schools were suspended as was communion. Stewards manned doors and face masks were mandatory for all worshippers.

The Rev Dr Doug Gay, lecturer in practical theology at Trinity College in Glasgow said: “The Church in the time of Covid-19 has been catapulted online. No longer just the province of brash televangelists, expensively branded megachurches or pioneering fresh expressioners – this has been the year our own parishes went online with a vengeance. He said: “We are still in the very early stages of a huge experiment and many across the Kirk will tell you how steep the learning curve has been as they have scrambled to buy new equipment and new software and learn how to use it.

“My sense is that congregations have been forgiving and supportive for the most part, and grateful to those who have worked hard to make something happen for them.

”In the Kirk we were already committed to a period of significant change and reform which was challenging and disorientating. It feels a bit cruel to suddenly have this further challenge forced upon us.”

He explained: “It’s too soon to make calls about how this will turn out. But here are some guesses:

• the shift online will be significant and many churches will stay with a dual mode in the future

• the looming economic hit to the church as well as to the wider society will be damaging and painful: threatening the existence of some congregations, accelerating some local unions and linkages and accelerating the reprioritisation of national spend

• our churches will have a crucial role responding to local issues of poverty and unemployment

• pastoral care will have enormous mental health challenges to respond to – particularly for younger people who feel their lives blighted by what has happened and its aftermath

• our church and society/public theology witness will need to engage with a radically changed landscape in which the role and reach of the state has been expanded in ways unknown since 1945 “The pandemic raises very significant theological and spiritual questions and as churches we need to embrace these honestly and courageously.

“I hope and pray that the ways in which the Holy Spirit is changing the Kirk through this may make us more ready to meet them and talk to them about faith.”

The Rev Professor David Fergusson of New College, Edinburgh, who convened a Special Commission on reform which was endorsed by the 2019 General Assembly, said: “In terms of governance, we are seeing small executive groups emerge within Kirk Sessions, while the General Assembly has been replaced by a virtual gathering of the Commission of Assembly. A costbenefit analysis of these necessary measures will be important for longer term strategy.”

Perhaps the most impressive impact of the pandemic for Prof Fergusson has been the swift embrace of new technology.

“This is a hopeful sign, especially if we have larger Presbyteries across geographical areas that make it difficult to meet physically more than once or twice a year.

Whilst wary of making long-term predictions, he believes that the increase in the use of technology can have long-term gains for the Church.

“It makes little sense for people to travel across Scotland for a two-hour meeting at 121, if this can be done in ways that are more efficient of time and money.

“If the routine business of the General Assembly can be expedited successfully by a meeting of the Commission of Assembly, then might we move to a biannual General Assembly? This would generate significant efficiency gains for the Church. I look forward to learning the views of those involved in this innovation. “

Equally, whilst gathering for worship again will have benefits, he believes the use of technology can build new audiences.

“The evidence of recent weeks confirms the increasing demand for ‘digital religion’.

Many people may prefer to worship online and to belong to communities of faith in this way – we should recognise that this is a growing constituency.

“Others who are confined at home or in residential care will surely value this opportunity.

“At the very least, we should be looking towards blended congregations that combine live and virtual interaction.

In terms of congregational business, he said: “If the essential business of the congregation can be discharged by a small executive group, might this become a more permanent feature of our polity? Kirk Sessions could delegate powers to such a group, again releasing time for other core activities.”

Looking to the future, Prof Fergusson believes the pandemic will accelerate changes already underway within the Church.

Looking to the future, Prof Fergusson believes the pandemic will accelerate changes already underway within the Church.

“We need a more decentralised organisation with devolution of resource and decision-making powers to fewer but larger Presbyteries. Reduction of personnel in the central organisation of the Church will also continue, as will disposal of excess property.

“The church’s financial problems will presumably worsen, at least in the short term, through loss of income from the collection plate, letting of halls, and investments.

“Our commitment to territorial coverage has remained a firm aspiration of the General Assembly. But might there be ways in which this can be enhanced by the use of digital technology? More creative thinking is now needed, particularly in the missional strategies of the anticipated larger Presbyteries.

“In my view, ministerial recruitment remains our biggest single problem. How will the current crisis impact upon recruitment? I find this almost impossible to predict at present, but whatever happens we should not lose our focus on this challenge.”

Photo: iStock

The Ecumenical

The Church of Scotland’s Ecumenical Officer, the Rev Dr John L McPake highlights changes with ecumenical partners in a short space of time.

Three questions: What is WhatsApp? The majority of readers will have no difficulty in answering that question because it is highly likely that you use this app to connect and stay in touch. What is Zoom? If you didn’t know before, you probably do now. The technology associated with Zoom, and other similar technologies, has enabled a revolution in communication during the Covid-19 crisis and beyond. What is Ecumenism? If the first two questions were relatively easy to answer, the third poses somewhat more of a challenge even in these enlightened times. However, there is more than a little evidence to suggest that Ecumenism, as well as the use of WhatsApp and Zoom, has flourished in these past months.

In March of this year, as the nation stood on the cusp of lockdown, the Scottish Church Leaders’ Forum formed a WhatsApp group. That august sounding body is composed of representatives of the Church of Scotland, the Catholic Church in Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the United Free Church of Scotland, the United Reformed Church, the Methodist Church, the Quakers, the Salvation Army, the Congregational Federation and the Baptist Union of Scotland. The Forum itself is part of the emerging Scottish Christian Forum and had met on a very occasional basis before then. In response to the Covid-19 crisis it took off . Church leaders were suddenly communicating in a way that they had not previously done and were interacting on a regular basis in a world responding to a global pandemic not seen on that scale in a hundred years.

So, for example, the Forum enabled the first Call to Prayer @ 7pm to be issued on Sunday March 22 and on the Sundays following, Equally, if we could do in English, then why not in Gaelic? Gaelic translations of the Prayer quickly became the norm and this was picked up by BBC Alba. Further, if the Forum was composed of representatives of the traditional Scottish churches, why might other churches not join with them in commending prayer? Thus, to the ranks of the traditional, there has been added the Evangelical Alliance (Scotland), the Church of the Nazarene, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Minority Ethnic Churches Together (MECTIS).

If the Forum could WhatsApp and commend prayer, might it not also Zoom? As so many have discovered, this was entirely possible and so it did. However, Zoom-ing is not the preserve of Scottish ecumenism and so Scottish church leaders also participated in calls with British and Irish church leaders. Thus, church leaders from across Britain and Ireland have been able to reflect together on the challenges that we face in responding to this crisis. In similar fashion, General Secretaries and Principal Clerks, Treasurers and Finance Officers, have come together to share insight and understanding, vision and opportunity.

The challenges we face are considerable but we are not alone.

The Church of Scotland has particularly benefitted from the knowledge generated and shared in the forums hosted by Churches Together in England and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and gained insight from co-operation with the Irish Council of Churches and Cytûn: Churches Together in Wales.

In returning to the theme of prayer, a statement supporting the Global Prayer Initiative: Thy Kingdom Come 2020 in May was endorsed by many churches and saw congregations from across the country joining together in a season of prayer that truly spanned the world. It is in prayer that we draw near to the heart of God.

What is Ecumenism? It is when Christians of diff erent traditions live out in cooperative partnership their response to the prayer of Jesus in John 17: 20-21, ‘that the world may believe’. WhatsApp and Zoom help, but Jesus thought of it first and what has begun in a time of crisis surely points ahead to how we might better live out our response in times to come.

This article appears in the July 2020 Issue of Life and Work

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