WHILST congregations and presbyteries begin to prepare to think radically about the future of the Church in Scotland we need to be careful that we guard the good.
At this time of the year when gardens are being prepared for the winter, the gardener, while pruning and removing weeds and overgrown plants, needs to be careful not to throw out the good with the bad. So it is when an organisation undergoes a momentous change that care has to be taken to ensure the core values remain. We certainly require to be radical as a national church, but we also require to be passionate about the essential things we believe in that make us radical. Often these things are expressed better in signs and symbols as well as words.
I remember the huge backdrop made for the National Gathering of the Church of Scotland in 2008 at Ingliston. It read ‘All You Can’t leave Behind’ Above each of these five words was five things we need to be Church. Water to baptise, and make new followers. Bread to sustain and turn followers into disciples. Wine to renew the life of the Spirit in the church. The cross to deny self and follow; and the Word like a torch to direct our path. These signs and symbols were a reminder to us that a ‘Church Without Walls’ needs to travel light but also needs to travel with content that will nourish and sustain and grow followers into disciples.