A community resource

The Rev Dr Richard Frazer explains how churches can ‘mirror the Realm of Christ’ in communities.

“YOU need to discover where the burns rise in your parish.” This was the advice of a colleague as I began my ministry in rural Perthshire in the late 1980s. I have valued that idea ever since.

A parish minister is a ‘theological resource’ to a community and a portion of the landscape. Knowing where the burns rise means becoming familiar with the story and topography of a place. In Genesis, the role of human beings is to “tend and serve” the garden of creation.

My colleague used to describe himself as a ‘country parson’. He farmed his glebe and knew his place and people well. There is something noble in focussing on the parish. According to the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh, knowing a single place and community intimately becomes an aperture through which one can see the world.

Ministering to a place and to a whole community is important to me. People in the wider community often want to support what we are seeking to do. The habit of church going may not have taken root, but they believe in the values for which the church stands. Winston Churchill famously said of himself that he was, “not so much a pillar of the church, more of a buttress, supporting the church from the outside”.

I believe we are always at risk of underestimating just how many people in our wider parishes are actively committed to the idea of the church as a community resource. At Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, where I have been minister now for more than 20 years, we rely on an army of volunteers and supporters from within and beyond the congregation to help us accomplish all the work we undertake.

They help us keep our doors open to welcome the stranger and countless tourists, many of whom are pilgrims. Others help us in our work to support the arts, and recently a woman who has begun to attend worship said to me: “I came for the music but stayed for the prayers”. Others support the vulnerable and bump into the Spirit of Jesus already at work amongst those who struggle. We could not have accomplished all we have if we had not harnessed the support of people in our community who believe in our vision.

“ As increasing numbers of local churches close, I have noticed that community groups want to step in to help keep the church alive.

As increasing numbers of local churches close, I have noticed that community groups want to step in to help keep the church alive. People recognise that, whilst the church is a place of worship, it also has a wider role to serve the community. In the past, the Church of Scotland pioneered access to education. “A school in every parish” made Scotland one of the most well-educated nations in Europe, kindling the flowering of enlightenment thinking and much besides. The Church pioneered ideas of democratic governance through our evolving Presbyterian system. It sought to support the most vulnerable and develop systems of social and medical care that were accessible to all.

This is our story. It is a vision we need to recapture. The Church of Scotland has been the “salt of the earth”. A friend pointed out to me, however, that, “the dish would be indigestible if we were all salt”. I hope we never lose the idea of the Church as a community resource, working with willing partners, shaping our communities into places of justice and care that mirror the Realm of Christ. Amidst all the seismic shifts that are taking place in the Church of Scotland just now, let us not lose sight of that wider vision. 

The Rev Dr Richard Frazer is minister at Edinburgh: Greyfriars.