FAITH IN ACTION

The fourth in a series of features which will offer updates from the Faith Action Programme.

Rev Dr Scott JS Shackleton Head: Faith Action Staff – Ministries & Mission Support

Hi All, Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! My Dad, Rev Bill Shackleton, passed away recently, having served the Lord faithfully through a ministry lasting over 60 years, both paid and unpaid. When asked by my Mum, Margaret, if he was going to stop working (during retirement), he answered with a question, ‘Did St Paul retire, darling?’ Poor Mum. Dad, like many of his kind who came through the Iona Community ranks of Priority Areas Trained Ministers, was ‘old school’, inspired by the example of Christ, one another and indeed, their leader, Rev George MacLeod.

Their ministry revolved around welcoming the stranger, holistic healing ministries and community service. You will see from this month’s Faith Action update that gladly, some things don’t change. In His service, Scott

Rev Rosie Frew Convener Faith Nurture

Forum Hymn 198 in CH4 is one of my favourites – ‘Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live’, with its chorus, ‘All are welcome in this place’. It’s much more than a hymn about buildings, but one about the Church of Jesus Christ where all are welcomed, and welcome is extended.

The wonderful, faithful people who, week in, week out, worship in our buildings, or online, serve and give generously of their time, talents and money.

The ‘jugglers’ who, in busy work and family lives, still need to make time for God.

The ‘seekers’ who are drawn to church because of ‘stirrings in the heart’, looking for something, needing something, needing to let go of something.

Those who ‘live the Word’ in homes and schools, workplaces and the community, who feed the hungry, tend the sick, visit the prisoner, look out for the stranger.

The Church of Jesus Christ – all are welcome!

A Welcome in our Community

John Finch Ministries Support Officer, Priority Areas A man I respect once told me that we were not living in an age of change, but in a change of age. We could use up all the pages left in this entire magazine, unpacking what that really means, but I think he was right. All of us involved in church life can see that societal change has accelerated over the past century and our response has not kept up.

Change can be frightening, it means disruption and is hard to manage. Our efforts are often to slow down, reverse, mitigate the effects. As a denomination, we are in the midst of several, large change processes, running concurrently and people are really feeling it. The relationship between church and parish has altered. Parishes are getting larger and the danger is that the Church becomes even more distant and remote from community life than it can already feel for so many people.

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) sounds like it has absolutely nothing to do with faith. The development of Asset Based work has largely taken place outside of and irrespective of the Church. So why is it one of the flagship pieces of development work in Priority Areas?

ABCD is a model, theory, set of tools, way of being, which we have been exploring in Priority Areas for a number of years. Absolutely key to this way of working is being with people, asking questions about what they care about and want to see happen, and really listening to the answers.

It protects us from bursting out of our buildings to do all manner of activities which we have carefully planned, faithfully paid for and enthusiastically launched into action, only to find that nobody wants them. It builds connection and community by uncovering shared passion and encouraging collaboration. It helps us, ‘as church’, be that welcoming place we want to be, to see the gifts and assets and treasures God has put in people and places around us, and to join those together to make a whole that is so much more than the sum of its parts. Find out more about ABCD in our Learning Programme www. churchofscotland.org.uk/connect/priority-areas/what-we-offer