The Church in 2121

The Rev Dr Ken Jeffrey is Senior Lecturer in Modern Church History at the University of Aberdeen.

My job as a historian is to help people remember the past, rather than indulge in speculative fantasies about an unknown future. Nevertheless, I am happy to use what little imagination I have to envisage what the Church of Scotland might look like in 2121.

There will, undoubtedly, be many things that will change, while I hope there will be other things that remain the same, notwithstanding the mysterious unknowns of the future.

The changes: times and places of worship will become more fluid. I imagine many fewer church buildings and more creative opportunities to praise the Lord outdoors during the week as we continue to reconnect with creation, God’s ‘big book.’ I think there will be fewer organs and I am uncertain about the future of the communal singing of four or five hymns in services. I expect contemplation and silence will become more important in our worship practices. Mission will also continue to evolve as we seek to make connections between the Good News and the changing scenes of the world’s life. I hope for a more wholistic Gospel for all the world that is less preoccupied with individual and personal salvation.

The things that will remain: I anticipate we shall continue to listen and respond to the Word of God. We shall carry on baptising our children and remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

The unknowns: Artificial Intelligence will undoubtedly change our lives and our world as this technology develops in ways we cannot fully comprehend. Might Ian McEwen’s Adam have become a minister who is programmed to preach inspirational sermons and provide faithful 24/7 pastoral care? Who knows!

Ultimately, the one thing I know for certain is that Jesus Christ will still be Lord in 2121 and, as the church’s one foundation, our future will always remain certain and secure in Him.

Emma Vaughan of Kilbarchan Parish Church 

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced our congregations into a new era of churching. Many ministers took to live streams, virtual services, and dial-a-sermon options.

Overall, this style of preaching has been a success. I’ve heard from countless people that they have ‘attended’ church more over the past year than before online services. Why? Because church could suddenly fit into most schedules.

In 100 years, I predict Sundays won’t be associated with church. I predict church will take place throughout the week with smaller congregations and shorter services. ‘Church’ will be considered more of a social club where people can gather and discuss faith, catch up, and provide support. Traditions, sacraments, and rites will be relaxed; more of a conversation than preaching. The word ‘religious’ could be replaced with ‘spiritual’ – opening doors to other denominations, faiths, and simply those in need. There would be no pews, no favourite seats to fight over, only an open hall.

Those not there in person will be able to catch up online – Church On-Demand let’s say! Church could be anywhere people want; their dining room, bedrooms, even while in the bath! It would possibly be more of a private thing. People praising, loving, and understanding however they want.

After all, the church is not a building. Covid-19 has taught us that more than any song could.

Paul Beautyman has been a minister, youth worker, Mission Development Staff worker and presbytery youth advisor. He is now a freelance trainer and supporter of Christian youth workers 

Youth workers were declining in numbers by the 2020s but this changed as people began to value their strengths. To a Church increasingly irrelevant to many, youth workers brought energy, insight and an approach that enabled Christians to reach out beyond their church walls. To give generously. To take risks. To love the outsider. To find God’s wisdom in the ancient ways of pilgrimage or anywhere the dancing Spirit of God led them.

Trusting their youth workers, churches grew in confidence and began to find that the links they were forging with schools and community groups created warm relationships. In these relationships the words and actions of Jesus became real, and lives were transformed. This adventurous and creative approach challenged many. To those who embraced it, they saw the growth of small clusters of Christian communities, like salt or yeast, flavouring their communities with God’s love, justice and joy. A major turning point was in the 2040s when youth workers began to be appointed as the leaders in teams including ministers, counsellors and community development specialists. Their collaborative and reflective approach honed over years of innovative youth work were seen as central to enabling the flexible responses required to equip their co-workers, or volunteers as we call them now, to be the salt and light needed in their communities. Sadly, not everyone embraced this adventurous approach, choosing to seek the safety of their established ways and preserve their ways of worship. By 2121 their congregations had dwindled.

There will, undoubtedly, be many things that will change, while I hope there will be other things that remain the same.

In 2121 though people of all ages were worshipping God, serving their communities, loving their neighbours. To these risk-takers came the rewards. And they had been led by their youth workers.

Paul Cathcart, is a Deacon at Glasgow: Castlemilk 

The parish system as we know it will no longer exist. The Church will still have a commitment to all the people of Scotland, but locally we will operate in areas much larger than now. These areas will be closer to what we know as Parliamentary constituencies served by a variety of ministries both paid and unpaid.

Our reliance on, and attachment to buildings will not be an issue as we will have moved to a model which relies less on physical space. We will be in a new wave of spiritual connection and identity.

Worship will not be seen as something we do, rather it will be an outpouring of what God is doing. Our meetings will be times of fellowship rather than business, people will be more valuable than property or traditions.

Denominations will have learned to work together more fruitfully meaning the church will be in a time of unity not seen for a long time previously.

Power and control in both civic society and church will have completely shifted away from the centre to the local. People will feel more empowered, their natural gifts will have space to develop as the sacred replaces the bricks and mortar. We will no longer group people according to age or gender, all people will be treated as valuable rather than because of any aspect of their physicality. This will mean the church will be naturally diverse and reflect our being made in the image of God. We will no longer need to seek opportunities for minorities because there will be no minorities, only equals. The Church will have taken a lead in bringing about a society who look after the most vulnerable and able to find a place for all in the Kingdom of God.

Dr Murdo Macdonald is Policy Officer of the Church of Scotland’s Society, Religion and Technology Project 

As we survey the changing landscape, we need to look not just to the church in Scotland, but further afield – MUCH further afield.

Of course, it’s nothing new for the Church of Scotland to look beyond our geographical borders: influenced from the beginning by the reformation in Europe, participating in the Westminster Assembly, and sending missionaries to share the Gospel in many corners of the globe, the early 22nd century saw the establishment of the Extraterrestrial Presbytery, to serve colonies on the moon, Mars and beyond.

Climate change has dramatically altered the landscape of the parishes we serve – coastal cities have largely been submerged, and the warmer, wetter climate means that the Grampians now boast a thriving wine-growing region.

Our reliance on, and attachment to buildings will not be an issue as we will have moved to a model which relies less on physical space.

The widespread availability of the technology to communicate telepathically means that ministers can transmit their sermons directly to our brains, and each week’s new hymns are written with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Much pastoral care and evangelism is carried out by sophisticated chatbots, and the routine use of virtual reality means that our spiritual engagement has also changed radically.

With the ability to grow replacement body parts, human lifespans are now routinely hundreds of years, so parish funerals are few and far between.

Direct payments of offerings using virtual currencies have long since superseded the use of physical cash. Church buildings aren’t needed, as it’s no longer necessary to come together in the same physical space in order to enjoy fellowship (haptic technology means we can feel the hugs our avatars give each other).

Many, however, hanker after the old ways of doing things, pointing to Christ’s incarnation as emphasising the importance of personal encounter, and to the need to physically taste the bread and wine of communion.

Sally Foster-Fulton is Head of Christian Aid Scotland 

The Church is the body of Christ, so I pray that in 100 years, we will be where Jesus is. In the Nazareth Manifesto, he said that he was here to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim the year of jubilee. In his iconic Beatitudes, he threw down the gauntlet, claiming that his vision was a world where the poor were blessed, the hungry were fed and the ones in mourning were comforted. He didn’t just turn over the tables in the Temple but turned power on its head. And even then, he warned that justice would be a hard-won slog, requiring consistent love.

So, the Church stays and loves. She keeps on praying and marching for peace, bringing support to survivors of war and violence, standing in solidarity with sisters and brothers experiencing exclusion, calling on governments to put people before profit and embracing the challenges of the day with an eye on eternity.

Who knows what the world will look like in 100 years? Look at the last century. The universe blinked and we invented mass communication systems that connect us across our globe instantly. We have the capability to travel almost anywhere, even to other planets. Our innate drive to evolve has brought many gifts but has exposed cracks that have become craters. We have industrialised the planet to the brink of extinction and must, with urgency, change direction.

May the Church be at the centre of reclaiming respect for creation. The gap between rich and poor is hard-wired into our economic systems. May the church be at the heart of justice, dismantling systems that keep people poor. The church is the body of Christ. I pray that in 100 years, we will be where Jesus is.

Darren Philip, Youth and Children’s Development Worker, Livingston United Parish Church 

To a citizen of the 1400s, the dramatic change coming in church and society with the invention of the printing press would have been unimaginable.

Similarly, when I was in Sunday School, no one could have foreseen the downfall of flannelgraph, let alone conceive that we would be able to spend a whole year worshipping together over Zoom from the comfort of our own homes. It is impossible to know what new technological revolution lies around the corner that may completely reshape the Kirk of the next century, but maybe there are some clues…

As I write this, we are in the season of Ascension, and I am looking at a painting of the disciples searching for Jesus in the cloud. Perhaps this could be the location of the church of tomorrow – ‘the cloud’.

The church is the body of Christ. I pray that in 100 years, we will be where Jesus is.

We are already beginning to see the beginnings of highly realistic virtual reality environments which allow the user to feel as if they are physically walking through a far-off location. If this could be coupled with reliable holograms in the church building mirroring the user’s movement, it would be possible – via the cloud – to attend church ‘in person’ without ever being there. Just imagine: through the VR headset, you could see, hear, smell, and walk around your church building from anywhere in the world, while your hologram would appear in the real place and could talk, sing, and ensure no one else sits in your seat.

In such a world, a congregation could be global, given the freedom to worship in any community regardless of geography. It might also become much more ecumenical, as the attachment to denominations and buildings gave way to a new way of being.

At the same time, however, it is also worth imagining the church taking the opposite path. In an increasingly virtual world, the human longing for ‘the real’ will only ever increase. The church could offer a place of solace from the virtual and do what it does at its best – meet together in the real, sharing real touch, breaking real bread, tasting real wine. In a virtual reality world, that could start a revolution…