MINISTERS and elders from across Scotland gathered in Clydebank on October 31 for a two-day presbyteries conference, convened by the Council of Assembly. The aim of the conference was to help lay the groundwork for a radical action plan to guide the future of the Church as it meets the challenges of mission in the 21st century.
The call for a ‘radical action plan’ came from the 2018 General Assembly, which rejected a proposed 10-year strategic plan, instead directing the Council of Assembly to return in 2019 with a more radical plan for 2019-22. Church members were also asked to consider the ideas of the Glasgow University theologian the Rev Dr Doug Gay, expressed in a series of lectures in 2017 and his book ‘Reforming the Kirk’.
The proposed over-arching theme of the action plan is Jesus’ call to ‘Follow Me’, to run over the three years, encouraging people to develop and deepen their faith, supporting churches engagement with their communities, and discovering new ways of being witnesses to Jesus with the courage to leave old ways behind.