Present Realities, Future Hopes - A Diocesan Lay Consultation

Posted: 24 August 2006, 11:45

In May 2006 the Bishop organised a Diocesan Lay Conference in order to discuss with church members from across the Diocese, the present condition of the Diocese and his vision for the future. Diocesan Clergy were not allowed to attend! What follows is personal account of that day from a member of All Saints', Glencarse.

On 6th May I attended a Lay consultation organised by the Diocese of Brechin, along with Lorne Heriot-Maitland and Louisa Leader. The event, which was organised and facilitated by our Bishop, John Mantle, took place at the Abbey Church Hall in Arbroath, right next to the historic Abbey. Representatives from nearly all the 27 churches in the Diocese were present. The focus of the day was 'Present Realities - Future Hopes' and we launched into the programme with a short prayer and a hymn. There were three main sessions, each of which was launched with a presentation from the Bishop:

After each session there was an opportunity to ask questions, and for discussion, both informally over the breaks, and also in discussion groups. I found the whole event informative, positive and a wonderful opportunity to engage with people from our sister churches.

The Bishop started out by reminding us that we are the church, and that the role of the clergy is to serve and support us. In the first session he painted a stark picture of the real situation facing us as a church (and as a diocese) and stated that the choice facing us was either to 'Expand or Expire'. He stressed the gradual decline of the established churches, especially since the beginning of the 1960's, and after a small growth spike immediately after WWII. This decline is evident in all the established churches in Europe, with the exception of certain evangelical sects and congregations. It was interesting to note that this 'European' decline is not evident in other parts of the world, and that it may possibly be due to our relative affluence, and to a society that has become increasingly self-centred and 'time critical'. It was pointed out that 2033 has been highlighted as the year when, on current trends, the Church of Scotland may cease to exist!

Against this somewhat gloomy backdrop, the Bishop painted a picture of hope and reminded us that, as Christians, our primary calling is to go out and 'live' the Gospel in our daily lives, and also that one of the key reasons the Church exists is for the healing of humanity. Rather than resigning ourselves to the negative aspects of change, we can look to the reality of the changes in our communities, and then assess what we can do in our own lives to help re-build the Christian ethos in our neighbourhoods, thereby enhancing the overall sense of community.

Our diocese is geographically very spread out, and we in the Carse are right at the southern tip. A few of the churches are in a healthy position in terms of attendance and finance, while others are not so fortunate. The Bishop pointed out that it is not the policy of the Episcopal Church to close down struggling churches, and showed us examples of neighbourhoods from which the other established churches have withdrawn (or are withdrawing) leaving the Episcopal Church as the only church. Unemployment, depopulation and the fact that we have a relatively small number of churches compared with the dioceses of St Andrew, Edinburgh or Glasgow, mean that we are finding it difficult to pay for our Bishop, his part-time secretary, and the funds that aid the poorer churches. The worst case is that our diocese could cease to exist and be merged with that of Aberdeen. The Bishop also pointed out that, out of necessity, he spends nearly 80% of his time looking after financial issues!

Coming back to the 'Expand or Expire' message, he urged us to expand our thinking in terms of how we can expand our love, and also our giving. With regard to the expansion of love, he highlighted the idea of re-building a sense of community and purpose, of living the Gospel in our daily lives, and of having the courage to enter in to other peoples territory, rather than trying to persuade them to enter ours. With regard to expanding our giving, he pointed out that the average weekly per head contribution needed across the diocese to make us financially stable is 6 (although this can vary from church to church).

Finally, he finished on a call to action and suggested that we all set ourselves the task of preparing an action plan or programme to cover the next 3 years - the focus of which should be how we can expand. He asked the vestries to prepare for war - war against inertia, war against inactivity and war against a 'can't do' mentality. We finished the day with another prayer and with an inspirational hymn.

On the way back in Lorne's car, we chatted and agreed that we all felt very positive about the day. We appreciated the frankness of the Bishop's message, and also of being able to see a true picture of the realities facing our church.