Bewildering change

The Rev Dr Richard Frazer reflects on the resurrection message for those in the Church of Scotland today.

“IT feels like we are being formed to administer palliative care.” That was the stark comment made to me not long ago by a group of candidates for the Church of Scotland ministry.

Over the years, I have known a few ministers who have worked as chaplains in hospices. Those who have engaged in ministry to people approaching the end of their lives will testify that it is hugely rewarding work.

These students were not, however, talking about offering end of life care to their parishioners. They were talking about ministering at a time of the demise of many congregations. All across Scotland, churches are closing and the sense of loss is running deep. It is not just individual congregations; there is a sense amongst some that the entire institution of the church is facing oblivion. I have even heard fellow church members suggesting that, at current rates of decline, there will be no Church of Scotland left in a generation or two.

Ministering to a congregation through the ending of generations of continuous worship and service can be painful. It also requires a profound sensitivity when one reflects on the story of a particular congregation and the people it has formed in faith and the ways in which it has promoted justice and caring in the community it serves. We must honour that narrative, especially when the people with responsibility during a time of ending can feel so raw and even guilty that they are the ones to oversee the closure of their church. Ministry in such circumstances is important and valid.

At the heart of our faith is our trust in resurrection. I was out walking with a good friend the other day and we were talking about the church, an institution we have both loved and served for many years. We were feeling the pain. My friend quoted the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung, who said that often people confuse resurrection with recovery. He suggested that many of us in the church hope for a day when the church will re-find its lost glory and he wondered if that was a false hope.

As I thought about my friend’s comments in the days after our walk, I began to reflect on the resurrection experiences related in the Gospel. So frequently, the disciples who encounter the risen Christ do not at first recognise him. What they encounter is not what they had known or what they had expected. Resurrection brings about dramatic and often bewildering change. The disciples lament for something they have lost and that leads to hesitation and doubt about what risen life with Jesus promises. The other characteristic that shines through the post resurrection life of the fledgling church, however, is the immense courage, passion and vigour of the disciples as eventually they begin to embrace this new, post-resurrection world.

“ I have even heard fellow church members suggesting that, at current rates of decline, there will be no Church of Scotland left in a generation or two.

As they journeyed with Jesus before his arrest and crucifixion, they were often squabbling, confused and frequently misunderstanding of his message. Beyond the resurrection, they become people of purpose, passion and courage. Of course they do not always get things right, but there is a new story to tell.

For us in the church today, the loss is real, and it is a painful and hard road to walk for many, but people of resurrection hope know that death never has the last word. We may not rebuild the church as it was and neither will we sometimes recognise signs of the emerging church when they come. Ministry may involve palliative care but it is also about anticipating the new, even if that can at first seem unfamiliar.