By Jose Reader
The Church of Scotland’s Moderator left Kiwi Presbyterians in no doubt about the importance of ecumenism in the life of the Church during her recent visit down under.
Having been the Church of Scotland’s ecumenical relations officer for the past 15 years, before taking up the Moderator’s post, ecumenism is an important part of the Right Rev Sheilagh Kesting’s ministry. She is making reaching out to other Christian denominations a priority for her year-long term as Moderator – which is part of the reason for her visit to New Zealand.
From what she saw while here, Sheilagh believes that ecumenism is alive and well in New Zealand, and may even be ahead of where Scotland is at the moment. She says denominations in this country “are not afraid to work together”, and cited examples of small informal ecumenical groups working on particular initiatives. This willingness to work together is not so common in Scotland, she says.
Presbyterian and Uniting parishes the length and breadth of New Zealand extended hospitality to Sheilagh and her chaplain the Rev Shelia Maxey during their week-long visit in October.
Sheilagh spoke highly of New Zealand’s multiculturalism - something that she says is not as prevalent in Scotland. Her first night in New Zealand was spent speaking with people from Pacific Island and Asian congregations, and the visitors were also treated to a traditional Maori welcome hosted by Te Aka Puaho’s Wellington pastorate later in the week.
In Church of Scotland’s case, membership is currently around 500,000 but is decreasing by around 30,000 per year, she says.
“Scotland is becoming increasingly secular and multicultural, and we’re learning about what that means for us.”
As in New Zealand, declining membership has implications for the number and location of church buildings. A recent Church of Scotland General Assembly decision asked presbyteries to identify mission priorities and the resources (including buildings) needed to achieve these mission goals.
Presbyteries have taken a consultative approach to developing their plans, including discussion with parishes, according to Sheilagh. For instance, where it is identified that a particular building is not suited to the mission plans of that area, the presbytery has been asked to make time-bound plan for resolving that issue.
The decision of Assembly to reassess mission priorities and resources only happened within the past few years, says Sheilagh, so the Church is only now starting to see some changes emerging as to how land and buildings are used in support of each region’smission programme.