Recovery and learning

Dave Kendall believes the Church can learn lessons from football’s Tartan Army.

WHEN my son asked me if I would go with him to the UEFA Euros 2024 Group Stages I really didn’t think it would turn into the wonderful experience that it was.

I doubted we would get any tickets but we had collected enough supporters club points to qualify for all three Scotland games. My wife and I had seldom been parted for more than a few days at a time, almost entirely for necessary work reasons, in all our 38 years of marriage but she said that I had to go as a “once in a lifetime” experience. My daughter noticed that AC/DC (one of my favourite bands) were playing in Munich when we were there and managed to get us tickets -I first saw them some 47 years ago in a small club in Newcastle and have loved them ever since so this was very special to me.

Why would I want to talk about this in my Church blog and subsequently in Life and Work I hear you ask?

Well, much has been said about the Tartan Army, the great behaviours, the international friendships made, the extraordinary lengths some put into getting there and back, the superb atmosphere, the sense of purpose and the resilience shown as the football team struggled through the tournament. I only saw trouble once and the fans quashed it themselves before the police ever needed to intervene. There was a sense that everyone knew what was expected of them and showed mutual respect regardless of nationality or the team that they supported at home.

While we were away I found myself in a position where the majority of my day to day concerns evaporated for two weeks and my son and I just enjoyed being together and touring around the extraordinary sights that Germany has to offer. How often does this happen in our lives that we have time and space to think? As I travelled back I wondered why we get so engrossed in our daily lives making mountains out of molehills and potentially missing God’s purpose for us in the process.

I am left wondering if anything will change in my life in a lasting way as a result of this experience. It was a sort of “Paul’s rapid spiritual transformation on the road to Damascus” moment for me. I felt God’s presence acutely a number of times when I was away as there were many very quiet, contemplative moments as well as the hustle and bustle on match days. Visiting the site of the war graves just outside Stuttgart was one of those moments that had a huge very sobering impact on me.

I have always felt that a really important part of our required culture change is to strive to be the kindest, most caring church possible where we live up to the values taught in the Bible. Our aim needs to be to support each other in doing God’s work and to try to leave any baggage and negativity behind. Harking back to the wonderful stamp that the Scottish fans left on Germany shows it can be done, as can recovery and learning from disappointments along the way.

The next few years are vital to our Church so we need to aim to have that “tartan army spirit” of togetherness and go to the same extraordinary lengths that will enable us to revitalise our Church and take God’s word across Scotland leaving a lasting impression for many generations to come. No doubt we will encounter difficulties and challenges along the way but this should not perturb us as long as we maintain our sights on the Church of Scotland vision.

I saw a little social media message on my travels that really resonated with me.

“It doesn’t matter how many Sundays you sit in Church or if you think you are saved. God sees what you do and how you treat people. That’s what really matters”. Amen to that.

Dave Kendall is chief officer of the Church of Scotland.