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Moderators musings

I am on the home stretch. I’ll be relin-quishing the role of Moderator of the General Assembly in October. Thank-you for your support, encouragement and hospitality; I’ve had a great time.

It’s time to take stock and consider where we are as a Church. What are the issues that give us hope and delight? What worries us and gives us a sense of despair? What pervades our conversations and the meetings around our Church?

What’s most concerning is not often spoken about. It’s an “elephant in the room”; massively present but unacknowledged. It’s the question of the growth of our Church, and also its counterpart, which is clearly demonstrated in our national statistics and keenly felt in our smaller congregations: decline.

We’ve all got theories and explanations about why we have been in decline as a Church: the influence of societal changes such as secularisation and individualism; alternative decisions by younger generations; the growing of the Pentecostal megachurch. It’s much harder to strategise for an arrest of the trend. What would it mean to have a growth plan in every congregation? Or is the trend inevitable?

So what are we planning? Many will have already heard of “Press Go”, a strategy to be presented at the General Assembly. By using the unified resources of the whole Church, this strategy is designed to promote growth ventures, particularly in places where present congregations struggle to find funds. It is based on the type of church outlined in Acts 2 and Acts 4: “None of them claimed that their possessions were their own, and they shared everything they had with each other” (Acts 4:32b).

There are others who are advocate growth in terms of our Christian maturity and theological depth. The Knox Centre for Ministry and Leadership has set up some great workshops to encourage training in leadership.

I have been encouraging parishes to measure their health not just in worship numbers, but in their influence and impact on the wider community. A “Christ-centred, community-facing” church, with an incarnational approach, touches the lives of many more than those who worship on Sundays.

The Communications team’s “Standing Out” and my “Tools for Mission” workshops throughout the country have been instrumental in encouraging “growth” in the difference churches make to a community’s shalom – in peace, justice and compassion. However, we must be mindful that to carry out this mission, we need increasing numbers and committed people.

Growth in numbers; growth in theology; growth in mission: will our strategies be enough to stem the decline? Perhaps that depends on how faithfully we listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church. We will know God’s blessing if our strategies to implement growth, rather than being self-seeking attempts to ensure our survival, are aligned with the Biblical vision of “the kingdom of God, close at hand”.

We are in God’s hands. Let us praise the one who gives a sure future.

Grace and peace be with you all,
Pamela