AT the end of November 2019, after 30 years of working with the Church of Scotland, I stepped away from working nationally with the Church. Doing the different jobs I have been honoured to do, working alongside some utterly amazing and wonderful people, has been the privilege of my life. Now is the time for something new.
One of the things I found interesting was how many, including some of my colleagues, imagined that I was retiring, getting ready to put my feet up. Few things could be further from the truth. My passion for the gospel, my passion for the Church I love, my passion for those who struggle against poverty and injustice has probably never been stronger and my desire to follow Jesus has probably rarely been more deeply felt. Indeed, it is that passion - and that sense that I have more harm to do - that led to the decision to step, to some extent, into the unknown.
Throughout my ministry - and I think of it all as ministry and as part of the ministry of all God’s people - I have been utterly convinced that the Church is most authentically the Church in its local expressions. I have been privileged to see that in a wide variety of places, perhaps most regularly in some of our poorest communities and neighbourhoods, in my role with the Church’s Priority Areas over a 15-year period. There has hardly been a day gone by when I haven’t paused to give thanks for the astonishing, life-giving things that happen, by the grace of God and the openness of God’s people to the Spirit.