On the move

My blog is now posted on the Union website. www.scottishbaptist.org.uk

Just updated earlier today.

Yes First Minister

On Wednesday 23 February 2011 I was given the opportunity, along with 9 other denominational leaders, to meet First Minister Alex Salmond to discuss areas of national concern. These included issues relating to alcohol abuse, restorative justice, reflections on a socially-just economy, and Churches, communities and volunteering.

The conversation was open and cordial, addressing difficult issues and sharing examples of good practice from across the country. The First Minister greatly extended the time available to us to meet with him and we enjoyed the warmth of welcome received in the Parliament.

This annual meeting illustrates the increasingly active engagement between Churches and Civic Society in Scotland, both nationally and locally.

First Minister Alex Salmond said:

"The Scottish Government greatly values the contribution that churches and all of our faith communities make to the social, economic and cultural life of Scotland and their important work supporting communities across the nation. Today’s meeting was open and constructive and I welcome the Scottish Government’s ongoing dialogue with our churches."

As Baptists we are indebted to Action of Churches Together in Scotland for negotiating this meeting each year, and for the warm and gracious welcome I received as a leader of a denomination that does not participate in ACTS.

This meeting reminded me that although the church in Scotland has been in decline for many years, we are still a large voice that others are willing to give time to listen to when we speak in unity and from a perspective of helping others and society as a whole.

Welcome to Stranraer

The latest church to join the Baptist Union of Scotland is Stranraer Baptist Church. This past Sunday they celebrated their 26th anniversary and my visit with them was a huge encouragement to me and, I pray, also to them.

Stranraer as a town is about to face a huge change in its economy and infrastructure when the last boat to Belfast sails later this year. Encouragingly the Baptist church seems well placed to help the town face this new challenge and is eager to engage with the community.

It's hard to capture in words the sense of God's presence, the expectation that God is doing something new amongst them and their desire to see Christ's Kingdom come all over their isolated town.

On arrival in the church building you find a beautifully simple multi-purpose room set out for worship but capable of so much more and used all week. The sound, lighting and projection facilities are what you would expect in a theatre and speak of their desire to do all that they do with excellence.

30 seconds into the opening worship and I knew that I was in for a time of refreshing as the children of the Sunday School sang with all their might, with smiles radiating from their faces and feet dancing to the rhythm of the music.

After the service people mingled. Different generations talking to one another, hugging one another, sharing life together.

They have just registered with Prayer Rooms and are delighted to see people coming in off the street to pray. The congregation are having their 2nd 24hour prayer gathering soon

and they are thrilled at the new lease of life it has brought to them. The kids' club has seen 6 non-church kids choose to follow Jesus in the last few months and they're engaging with all the other Ayrshire churches through their networker Noel McCullins, to dream new dreams of what they can do now that they belong to a wider family and how they can engage with the changing face of Stranraer.

If ever you are in Stranraer, why not look them up. You can find them in the street opposite Morrisons. I'm sure they will warm your heart as much as they did mine.

If there is one book

"If there is one book that you should buy at this year's assembly it should be 'Deep Church'," so said Rev Norman Graham of Denny Baptist Church, and so I did. I left assembly with this one new book under my arm and today I finished reading it. It is a great book, really thought provoking, extremely challenging; for anyone looking to ask questions about why our church does things they way they do them and how they can do them differently, it is a gem.

A few highlights would be comments on the Christian's view of the arts and culture. No one taught me a theology of that in church or at college but now with a daughter whose life is filled with the beauty of music and plans a career as a performer, some simple reflection on common grace, beauty, creation and creativity I pray will help her and the church around her to understand how her life might be meaningful beyond simply being an asset to a worship group.

Yet for me the challenges came most deeply in the chapter entitled Deep Ecclesiology. I am aware and experience the frustration of many that our structures can inhibit the move of the Spirit and a speed of response to a fast changing world. I also believe that we live in a time where institutions are not trusted, particularly by a younger generation and that to throw off the shackles that build up over time and to start afresh is very attractive.

Jim Belcher however stands by his Presbyterian institution whilst seeking to release a movement of God's people into Orange County. I found his understanding of deep ecclesiology extremely helpful. The idea of an institution that releases a movement of God's people scattered throughout Scotland seems to me something of what I long to see happen in the Baptist Union of Scotland and in each of the churches.

For such a turn around to occur it will take a change from control to reliance, from independence to interdependence, from institutional relationship to personal relationship, from security to adventure and maybe most of all from timidity to confidence in what the Lord can still do. As I read this morning in Psalm 127 "unless the Lord builds a house the work of the builder is wasted."

It's worth a read. It would also make a great book to study with friends.

Please pray for the BUS as we go into a couple of weeks of key meetings, charting paths, sharing hopes and praying for the Spirit of God to work in us, revealing the rule of Christ for our lives at this time.