‘A very real challenge’

WHEN the General Assembly approved the Presbytery Mission Plan Act in 2021, while some understood the radical nature of the changes being proposed, and the then Convener of the Faith Nurture Forum spelled it out, no one truly envisioned the unsettling effect which it would have on the whole of the Church of Scotland.

There is no congregation or parish unaffected by what was agreed, nor is anyone truly content with what is happening. The Church of Scotland is facing the consequences of nearly a century of not engaging with the consequences of the Union of the Churches in 1929, when the Free Church united with the Church of Scotland. At that time, the same arguments over buildings and the right space in the right place were being had in the Assembly Hall, as well as in presbyteries and congregations. What to do? We have too many buildings and they are too close together. We need to address the needs of the unchurched! Well then, and on many occasions in the last two years, there have been various responses, including sticking heads in sand, our building is better than theirs, we have lots of youth organisations, so where will the Brownies go, we are a thriving church. The responses then as now are endless.

The reluctance to engage with these realities over the decades since 1929 means that we are faced with the unenviable task of making changes which should have been made in our grandparents’ generations, but never were. The Chalmers Lectures called for radical change and the whole church has done its best to rise to the occasion. Some believe that it is not radical enough, while others think we have been too radical, and we all know that you will never please everyone.

The Presbytery Mission Plan Implementation Group (PMPIG) was set up by the then Faith Nurture Forum to respond to the requirements, not only of the Act, but also to the enormity of the challenge.

“ Think about Alloa or Portobello or Huntly, where you can almost stand outside each building and have a conversation with the other and barely have to raise your voice.

PMPIG has had as its members ministers as well as a deacon and elders, who are all feeling the weight of the planning process. These men and women are not immune to the realities that each face on a week-by-week basis in the congregations and pews, with talks of unions and team ministries, parish grouping and dissolution. It has been said that PMPIG sits in an ivory tower. Please be assured, every member of PMPIG knows what it is like to engage in change and some, to be told that a building in which you have been worshipping for decades is designated B, to be let, sold or otherwise released. The pain felt by the Church is the pain also felt by the men and women given the unenviable task of being a member of PMPIG.

As you might understand, the members of PMPIG have a heart for those in the pews. Sometimes when the Group is engaging with the Presbytery Committee the questions are asked: Have you spoken to the congregations. Do they understand what you are trying to do in your time and place? Have they been heard?

This should not be an exercise just at presbytery level. We know what the past has meant in terms of buildings and ministry. For us to address ourselves to the present, we also have to have an eye to the future and to ensure that we are ready for what lies ahead. For the future to be a hopeful one, we must be committed to celebrating what is going well, and to find the places and the people we would like to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with, but for either structural reasons, inertia or lack of imagination, we have not been able to. The most important thing is to acknowledge that for new things to begin, we must take the courageous step, to stop doing some of the things we have always done.

Look around your village, town or city. During the Disruption of 1843, the new church did not always go to new parts of towns and build there. No. They built a Church within ear shot of the old one. Think about your situation. Think about Alloa or Portobello or Huntly, where you can almost stand outside each building and have a conversation with the other and barely have to raise your voice. This is what we face as we courageously let go of buildings now.

We have, for the most part, done the hard things, and as Mission Plans begin to be implemented and enacted, there will be a time soon when the implementation phase will come to an end, and we can get used to a new reality. But there is still a very real challenge. The planning process thus far has been us speaking inward to each other.

There is the next step. The Church of Scotland must be aspirational as we move into the future. The next step is to look at more nuanced challenges, which may prove to be pivotal as we move into the future. How do we work ecumenically: there are so many things to be explored, and also opportunities, in that regard. As all the churches reduce in number, then we must look at what we have in common and what can be shared.

There is also the opposite of reduction and that is growth. If all we do is talk about what was, we will not have the capacity to talk about the new thing. If we want the Church to grow, then we need to think about those places and people who have not heard the Gospel. That means planting congregations in the large number of new build areas around Scotland. We need to find the adventurous spirit of our forebears to go with few resources, no building and perhaps a few families from local congregations and reach out in faith and hope and love. Could you be part of doing a new thing?

PMPIG are a small group of people who know that no matter the support they offer, and the experience of the last three years they try and use, no one will be content. The General Assembly decided to undertake a courageous and honest process, which doesn’t sit comfortably with who we want to be in Scotland, but we must move on. We are not the Church we were, but we need to acknowledge who we are, and build in faith for the future.

Today we sit at that uncomfortable place between the approval of Presbytery Mission Plans and their implementation, where we don’t quite know what the future will look like, and many posts for ministers are in the process, but not quickly enough, to see the changes and for us all to settle into this new thing. It will come, but until then we must remember that we are called to be people on the move, and although this movement perhaps has not been felt for a while, we have now taken the step. Sometimes when we are most unsettled, is the time when the most creativity and growth can happen.