FOR much of the last twenty years, I have been part of two Christian communities. The first meets on a Sunday morning in a church building on the southside of Glasgow and I give thanks to God for the wonderful people who are part of it. They have sustained and nurtured me in faith.
The second, called Bert, meets on a Monday evening in the homes of a variety of diff erent people. It is a remarkable group of people who help me every day to continue to make sense of faith and to live out the call to follow Jesus in the whole of life. Of course, it isn’t perfect: thank God for that!
In many ways this second community shares many of the characteristics of what has become known as a fresh expression of church. Other than this year we have been celebrating – in a characteristically understated way – our 40th anniversary. This is an important reminder that the Church has been in the process of changing, and being changed, from its very beginnings.