LETTERS

Another Way?

Two letters in August’s Life and Work attracted our attention – Mission Planning Stress and Recruitment Crisis. The first identified the frustrations we have faced with the uncertainty created by the mission planning process; the moratorium on buildings spending; and having to deal with a long vacancy. We can sympathise with these frustrations. The second also highlighted the lack of ministers and suggested a scheme to upgrade OLMs to full or part time ministry, concluding ‘our greatest resource is our people’.

We have been in vacancy (along with our linked charge) since January 2022. Fortunately, prior to the departure of our minister a number of our congregation went through basic training and guidance on leading worship. With the support and encouragement of two Interim Moderators, Rhu and Shandon Church has established a ‘Worship Team’ of eight individuals. Initially, we worked together with pulpit supply ministers, preparing and delivering prayers and then preparing and delivering reflections. Now together, or individually, we take the great majority of our weekly services and have also officiated at two funerals. Using the Church of Scotland weekly worship guidance and Spill the Beans resources, we have been able to create simple services of approximately 45 minutes that can respond to seasons, current and local events, very much in the words of the individuals.

This has been received very positively by our congregation and would seem to be a good model for other churches. We welcome a minister for communion and baptisms, but we do not have to continually search for pulpit supply, leaving more for others and, of course, costing our church nothing.

It has given our church the opportunity to grow into the local community in a simple, non-threatening way and it has increased discussion about teaching and content of services. We have also seen a modest increase in attendance. Could this be another way forward when ministers are in short supply?

Andrew Nisbet (Session Clerk) and Sue Thornley (Property Convenor), Rhu and Shandon Church

New Patterns

I appreciated the letter from Bill Wishart, Vice-Convener, Faith Action Programme, addressing the challenge of recruitment to our ministries, and welcome the attention that this is being given by the central church. However, I still wonder if we are tackling the matter radically enough.

Given the critical situation that we face, and the likelihood that, given current predictions on vocations and retirals, this will only get more difficult in the next few years – necessitating further rounds of presbytery planning – the time has perhaps come to depart from our usual patterns.

One proposal, noted in C MO’Brien’s letter in the August Life and Work is an accelerated programme of ministerial/diaconal education, akin to that adopted after the Second World War. How about a two-year programme of on-the-job training for all new candidates, supplemented by block-release for essential studies? This approach would have the benefit of drawing on the immense range of experience and theological knowledge within our presbyteries, a largely untapped resource at the moment. It would also, inevitably, call into question the continuing role of our universities in initial education for the ministry.

In my view, our dependence on the universities limits our options for change. We ought to shape our own programme of practical and theological education, yielding a church award, and contract in help from outside, including from university staff, as and when the need arises.

We have reached the stage now, when business as usual is not an option.

Dr Adam Hood (Rev), St Andrew’s Wallace Green, Berwick-Upon-Tweed

‘One Community’

I read with interest your excellent articles in the August edition apropos disabilities and the wonderful work that is being done to make Church settings more inclusive.

Firstly, all credit must go to Life and Work for highlighting such important issues and also for the candid testimony of Thomas Baldwin in his first-hand account of being a parent of an autistic child.

I applaud the excellent work of Katrona Templeton and her ‘Reachout together’ project and also Steve Owens and the ‘St Thorlack’s Community’, may the Lord bless Katrona, Thomas and Steve and all those in similar positions in their endeavours and struggles and through his holy spirit guide others to embrace these issues.

Whether physical or mental, a disability can have a profound adverse impact on an individual’s opportunity to realise their full potential and I would encourage any attempt towards a shift in understanding or opportunity to ameliorate access for those with disabilities to be thoroughly explored and openly encouraged and not necessarily dismissed owing to personal opinion or preference, rather, looked at from both sides of the coin.

To elaborate on this point I take the example of the growth of online worship, where one might argue that this has the potential to have a detrimental impact on the traditional notion of the “church community”, from a person with a disability’s perspective, it presents a wonderful opportunity for them to take part in worship without facing obstacles which would make them reluctant to attend in person worship, such as perhaps an autistic person with profound social interaction difficulties or someone with ADHD, anxiety, claustrophobia or depression. On a personal level, I know someone who benefits greatly from the recording of services at our local church of St Paul’s in Milngavie, who would love to attend services in person but owing to an anxiety condition struggles being in a church service setting but is afforded the opportunity to take part in weekly worship and feels very much part of the congregation.

As Christians, we are one community regardless of how we are most comfortable worshipping.

John G McMenemy, Milngavie

Payments Debate

In these image-obsessed times, your correspondent Duncan C McGhie (‘Pulpit Supply’, August 2023) is right to express concern about the presentation of the recent increase in pulpit supply fees. Presentation is important nowadays, but the headline increase could have been presented differently. During this year’s debate, General Assembly was informed that pulpit supply fees had been static for a number of years. Commissioners were told that even this large increase was not enough to restore the fees to the level they would have been at, had they been increased annually. This is roughly the same argument we hear from NHS staff, but at least the Church has now taken a step towards addressing the shortfall.

That is a positive presentation of the same news. The Church has given itself some authority to speak about the public sector pay discussions mentioned by your correspondent.

If it is to maintain that higher moral position, the Church must ensure its own pay scales continue to reflect social wage levels. I am a Reader, benefitting from this increase. Ministry is a calling, money is of secondary importance. I have never timed how long it takes to prepare and conduct worship, but I suspect that even the increased amount leaves me close to the national minimum wage.

The underlying problem is that the Church does not have a consistent approach to payments for ministry work.

Presentation is important, but until the Church comes up with a consistent system these seemingly arbitrary increases are still likely to happen and will often look odd.

Bill Henderson, Blantyre

‘Pure Joy’

At the time of writing I am away up to Fochabers for a Christian Open Air Festival called REFUEL – not for the first time – and brought my latest book with me – found in the pages of this magazine “A Man of Understanding” by Diana Janney (which featured in Life and Work earlier this year).

I could not put it down, not my usual type of reading, but will be given to many of my friends over the next months for gifts – brilliant writing – brilliant connection with readers – in fact a pure joy! Do get to your local bookshop before your summer holiday – you will be most pleasantly thrilled, I can assure you!

Patricia Chapman, Edinburgh and West Lothian Presbytery