Things are beginning to hot up this week in the church office. We’re planning quite a lot of activities over the next few weeks. And of course once again its my favourite week. You’ve guessed it “On the Street” has to be organised for Sunday. The theme this month is ‘Dancing on the Street” it seemed good at the time some six month’s ago, when planning out the themes. Well, no doubt we’ll come up with something. I’ll spare you the details on the blog.

May Elections

All the invitations are out to the local Councillors and prospective MSPs, to join us for a “hustings” here in the church on the 1st May. Its important that we encourage people in the community to get out and vote on the 3rd of May.

On Thursday I’m in London to meet up with the Chaplain General and Senior Officers of the forces to talk about how we can share some of the ideas of Church Without Walls with those who are in the forces.

Friday Night is Ceilidh Night here in Bo’ness. We’re hoping to raise quite a lot of money for our forth coming visit to India. A team of 12 people from the congregation are off to Chennai for two weeks to develop the relationship we have with three of our partner churches in South India.

At a more practical level, we are also getting organised to attend the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, starting 19th May, we have the contract to stream out all the Sessions live on the internet. may is going to be so busy because we have Paul Clark from Union Biblica visiting us. Paul will be the guest of the Vine Trust, as he tours round Scotland meeting the various congregations and organisations that have supported the work in peru over the past years. If your intertested in hearing more about the work of the Vine Trust, why not visit with us here in Bo’ness on the 20th may, when we will have Paul as our guest speaker at both services.

This is a crucial time for the Church Without Walls idea, or movement as some are calling it. We need to keep our focus as we continue to plan the national CWW Event in 2008. Let’s remember keep it simple, our core business is worship. We as the Church of Scotland are in the business of creating sustaining and developing worshipping communities. This is the whole essence of Article 3 of our Articles Declaratory with reference to “matters spiritual”.

To do this more effectively the Special Commission anent Review and Reform wrote about the need to change our mindset. It suggested the centre exists to service the local. As an institution this will mean consistently redirecting our resources from the centre to the local. So how do we define local?

Local Defined
Surely one definition of local church is where it can be demonstrated there is a robust expression of congregational or district groupings working together with a renewal plan to make worship an experience of excellence for all ages. Local will also recognise new forms of groupings of believers which are being built around natural communities. Could this be in cafes or cyberspace? We may have to discover another definition for a local congregation one which may not need a minister or a Kirk Session or even a building as we know it.

Thinking out of the box in creative ways has to become the order of the day for those who are called to serve at the centre. Resourcing the people of God in local parishes, where many feel exposed, under valued and sidelined is to bring them into relationship with the whole of the church again. Doing this will go a long way to healing the divisions and hurts that are commonly expressed in the disadvantaged areas of our land. I’m glad that this is becoming more and more an important factor in the agenda of many serve on the church councils. Many of our members live on the edge of poverty and violence. It is to make the statement that requires to be heard by every parish throughout the land – we trust you, so we will help to resource you.

Presbytery as local

The report produced by the Presbytery Boundaries Committee way back in 2001 makes for fascinating reading. It was suggesting a regrouping of Presbyteries into much larger units. They failed to convince the Assembly to back their proposals that year. In many ways I believe the real change in the life of the church will not simply come about by organisational restructuring. At the beginning of our deliberations as the group writing the CWW report, we were tempted to think that changing the structures would change the heart of the church. In reality, it is an easy road to go down, the shear activity in changing structures can be seductive. John Tiller writes: The gospel community relates to church structures as a new building to the scaffolding which surrounds it; reforming the structures is like reorganising the scaffolding: it may be necessary but it does not in itself alter the actual building. Creating alternative new structures is like replacing the scaffolding; it may be useful, but then again it may be a waste of time. ( The Gospel Community, p51)

The real change comes about when we talk of the hidden work of the Spirit. To some this may not sound radical enough but it is radical. The radical question is not, can we reform the existing church structures, or will new ones be created when revival comes? Both questions are superficial. Christ himself sought to do neither. He did the hidden thing. I think by this I mean the training, the out of sight work. The radical key to bringing about effective change is often that which we cannot see at the outset. From time to time it will become evident, but we must not confuse it with structural reform. We talk of the Spirit changing us but do we train ourselves and the worshipping community to be available to expect the transformation. I think I am saying talk is not the same as training.

The emergence of a common vision.
Some believe there appears to be an emerging picture of the Spirit at work in our Church committees. Some people are beginning to think similar visions. We must not however, look to the structures to shape the church. It must be the Church that shapes the structures because the Spirit is shaping us. We may have to exercise patience and flexibility as the grassroots renewal takes place. The discovery of the functions of the church locally will determine the shape of our organisation centrally.

The Shape of the Church
There is only one shape for the church and it is a shape that was suggested to us as a Commission from the most unlikely of sources, the atheist Professor of Sociology at Aberdeen University, Steve Bruce. He writes; “ the only area of life the church can compete with any secular institution or social practice and win is in the glorification of God “(unpublished letter to the Commission)

In many church communities we have moved away from the heart of worship. There is no music in our soul and no soul in our music. It is a much more fundamental change that needs to happen. We need to recognise the power of worship. We are a people made to praise God. Perhaps our greatest achievement as a movement will be the extent to which we can recover for the Church of Scotland a sense of doxology.

The Vision & Purpose of the Church
Our vision is to have in every community throughout Scotland a vibrant loving caring, growing community of worshippers in touch with the emotion of God; allowing everything within them to praise God. Communities of prayer where people come to encounter love and forgiveness of God the Father through the grace of Jesus Christ.

The recovery of authentic worship within the context of natural communities is our sole purpose. This is summed up in the words of Jesus when he said, love God and love your neighbour as yourself. If I love God I am worshipping him, if I love my neighbour I am longing to bring her to the place where she too is worshipping God. The how of this is summed up in the phrase, a church without walls. We must not restrict the place or the practice of worship.

While worship must encompass the broad sweep of everyday activity, it should be noted that the renewal of the church historically has always been accompanied by a renewal of doxology. The local church is at its most effective teachable place, when it is caught up in the emotion of worship. It is at these high points the compassionate, loving, caring, life changing Christ reveals himself. In these teachable places, the risen Christ reveals himself. In the words of the 1662 Anglican Communion Service, “it is our bound and duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise.” It is also in these places that the Church is united both in earth and in heaven. Theological differences disappear when God’s people are brought to the place of doxology, because the Spirit is at work in our hearts changing our mindset.

The recovery of praise in the jail at Philippi brought about the release of Paul and Silas, and the conversion of the jailer. It should be our chief priority to teach the people of God to sing the praises of God. For too long our lips have been silent. In the same liturgy from 1662 there is a phrase. “ O Lord open our lips and our mouths shall show forth thy praise.” It is my desire and longing that St Andrew’s Bo’ness would become sold out on worship. Come fill us again!

This picture illustrates for me how Christmas and Easter are all part of the same wonderful redemption plan. The above cross started out as our Christmon tree. It’s a great way of teaching the whole congregation about the links between Christmas and Easter, using a symbol that becomes alive with meaning. Easter is such a dynamic time of the year that when Easter Monday is over I’m ready to sleep for a week.

I’ve been away from my desk for a few days, trying to chill out a bit after Easter. I must confess however that my mind has been thinking on so many opportunities that I believe God is opening up for us here in Bo’ness. Over the next few months I’m going to be concentrating my mind on the areas where we will be expanding and growing our ministry. I’m delighted that we have been successful in attracting some professional input into the way we begin to manage this growth.

Some of you may recall that our motto last year was ” launch out into the deep” I’m convinced that as we continue to be obedient to the Lord and start fishing we will begin to see some amazing things happen. Already I can see signs of these things beginning to happen. Thanks to our grant award from “Children in Need” there will be an additional member added to the staff in the next few months to develop our work with families. This will be a valuable addition to the existing team that works with various age groups in the church. It will also allow us to reach out into the community and offer additional services.

One area that I feel I want to write about over the next few weeks is the place of doxology and worship in the life of the Church. I hope this will be a good lead up to the recording of our next church praise album in the middle of June. No doubt there will be postings about that coming up.

In everything we seek to do as a church we need to continually remind ourselves that our core business is worship and prayer. we believe this can take many shapes and forms, but we need to understand that when all is said and done we live to worship. I think creating the daily opportunity to worship in the morning and the evening has been a blessing to me. However I hope that we will be able to encourage more people within the congregation and the community to join us in our daily devotions from 9.15am – 9.25 am and from 5.00pm – 5.10pm. It is my desire that we create a living dynamic creative christian Community here in Bo’ness.

Despite the rain and the fact that I was shattered. It was up and on the road this morning to walk part of the West Highland Way. Inglston on Easter Sunday evening was still ringing in my ears as we made our way up to Crianlaroch and took a view of Glen Bogle.


When I say, Inglston, I’m talking about the Praise Evening entitled “Resurrection” that took place in Edinburgh last night. It was a remarkably good event. Very well attended. I would imagine there must have been about five or six thousand people. It was held in the big shed that is used to buy and sell cattle during the “Highland Show”, so you can imagine the place is not ideal for sound. The event is put on by Origin who I believe are a make up of both professional and non professional musicians. The group also had quite a large choir. In truth I take my hat of to them for attempting to do what they did, without charge. In all it was a great night and I wish them well.

I was particularly interested in seeing this venue as it looks like a possibility for our next big national Church Without Walls Event in 2008. It gave me a lot of heart, I think our CWW 2008 Event will be a great success.

Can I say it was great to see that we nearly walked the whole of the West Highland Way today. A big thank you to Mike Munro for organising the relay event. Over thirty people took part in the sponsored walk to raise money for St Andrew’s very own Radio Station entitled Valley FM. This year it will be broadcasting from the church again for 17 hour per day for 2 weeks from the 16- 30 June. So we hope our walkers have raised a lot of money.

When we started out on this whole adventure of taking the message to the streets I never thought it would end up back here in Bo’ness. Yesterday was Good Friday, we took to the street with our Labyrinth and it was an amazing success just listen to how people in the streets of Bo’ness responded to the event. We were asking the question, ‘Is Easter Fact or Fairytale?’ ‘Is Easter Fact or Fairytale?’

This will be the topic that I plan to speak about tomorrow in church. It is my hope that more and more people will meet the risen Christ for themselves. It was really quite moving to hear 21st century disciples in Bo’ness professing their faith and love for Jesus. In a week where Bishop Jeffrey John, has denied the meaning of the Cross, suggesting that it is insane to believe that one man can and has died in the place of others for the forgiveness of sin. It seems to me that this is what makes the preaching of the cross look foolish to them who are dead to Christ. Its not about head knowledge its about the heart being stirred. Its about facing the dire consequences of our sin, and realising that a loving God is not one who turns his back on sin, on the contrary he pays the cost of removing it from our lives just like a cleaner would do. Now that idea comes to us through revelation not academic thinking. Have a look at this video, entitled In My Place ‘In My Place” recorded a number of years ago, but still very much to the point.

This has been an interesting day. I passed from being a BBC conttributor, to being a pastor visiting a widow who just lost her husband last week, to sorting out contents for the Easter services in the midst of fielding at least 10 phone calls. Finally to end up experiencing a Passover Supper as a teaching experience. All in a days work.

The BBC interview regarding church attendance was a bit of a damp squib. The release of the hostages took up the headlines and rightly so, however it meant that our 15 minute slot was more like a seven minute slot. I was really proud of the two teenage boys who spoke about their connection with the church. They spoke well and gave a good account of themselves. The representative of the secularist reported that he was delighted that the survey proved that fewer people were attending church. I was simply pointing out that we were here in the community because we wanted to serve the people of Bo’ness in the name of Christ. It’s not about numbers as such, our work is more about living the life.

Anyway its another opportunity to bring the message of church before public. I sometimes think that arguing about figures is a pretty sterile thing. Its not about the numbers that attend it about the quality of relationships that people encounter, above all its about helping people begin to make the first faultering steps in faith. I think Jesus once suggested that we might find fewer people on the road, especially the one that calls for self denial and cross carrying.

Talking about “cross carrying” I ventured out to the cinema last night, we went to see “Amazing Grace”. I can’t say its the best film I’ve ever seen, but I think it was a brave and workmanlike attempt at making the “cross carrying” of William Wilberforce believable. The problem with feature films is that they often require to tell a story around a central character. Wilberforce in this film becomes the focus of the anti- slavery laws. The film however, tries to show that a number of people where involved and not simply one man. John Newton—a former slave ship captain who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace”he is credited in the picture as the one who convinces his friend Wilberforce to take up the cause of the slaves. In so doing Wilberforce is taking up his cross. He finds himself becoming ill as he fights for the freedom of the slaves. All this makes us become painfully aware of our need to stand up and speak up for the things we believe in. It is this same passion that drives Moses many thousand years earlier to stand up for the freedom of Israeli slaves.

Which brings me to my Passover meal this evening. This was a truly memorable evening. Maggie spent a lot of time getting things right. She gave an excellent explanation of the context of te meal, as well as cooking a leg of lamb. I came home this evening thinking how sad that upper room must have been. The Passover, normally was an evening of hope and freedom, but for Jesus that night would be full of bitter sweet memories. Betrayal, denial, and isolation. Yet no doubt there was evidence of a love that would later eventually lead a group of frightened men to become world changers.

I guess its not so much how you start as how you finish that matters. Which brings me back to my BBC discussion re the Tearfund Survey. The most important thing for the church is our finishing. On Good Friday Jesus had the last word when he cried ” It is finished!”

A poll, conducted last year among people aged 16 and over, suggests that one in four UK adults attends church at least once a year.
REGULAR UK CHURCHGOERS
Northern Ireland: 45%
Scotland: 18%
England: 14%
Wales: 12%
Source: Tearfund
Tearfund said 53% of people identified themselves as Christian, compared with almost three-quarters who had in the last census in 2001.
But it said that its survey indicated that three million people who had stopped going to church, or who had never been in their lives, would consider attending “given the right invitation”. This could be a personal invite, the chance to accompany a relative or friend, or the offer of help during difficult personal circumstances, it said.

So you can imagine that I was interested when the BBC rang me this afternoon to comment on the poll. It turns out their going to come to the Bo’ness tomorrow to interview some of the folk who hang about the church on a day to day basis. Tomorrow will be a busy and noisy day. I believe a music work shop will be in full swing from 10am – 1.00pm. The researcher asked me another interesting question. Do you have people who attend your church who are not what you would call fully pledged Christians? Of course we do I told her. We’re the church for the people who don’t go to church. in other words we like to think that we can give people space to walk and talk as we journey together on the faith experience.

What I thought was interesting regarding the poll, was the fact that some people are just waiting for the invitation. So why are we Christians so inhospitable when it comes to inviting our friends and neighbours to church. Of course the truth is so many of our buildings are still anything but user friendly. I was hearing about someone who had attended an outpatients department in one of our local hospitals. It was the fact that the room and the surrounding area was so user friendly, it made the person feel at ease and indeed looking forward to going back again. I think we all need to up our game when it comes to making church acessable and also when it comes to giving invitations.

We’re planning to show the “Passion” on Good Friday afternoon in the church at 2.00pm. We decided to do this because we felt that some people might find it helpful to come and sit in the quiet of the church and reflect upon the reality of Calvary.

However this film is not for the faint hearted. I can well understand why it has been described by some critics as ‘religious pornography’. To the uninitiated, it could appear to be yet another piece of sanctified Hollywood violence. For Gibson it is a graphic study of Isaiah chapter 53. . “He was wounded for our transgressions… and by his stripes we are healed.” This is the scripture that appears on the screen before a word is spoken and it is the key to understanding the movie.

I have no doubt about the sincerity in which the film was made. No doubt Gibson knew what he was doing when he made the flogging scenes last forever. I’m not sure if his judgement was right, though? I also wonder about the wisdom of trying to separate the death of Christ from the context of his life. Gibson tries to make links with Christ’s life through flashbacks and when he does this it works really well. However, these are too few and some of the flashbacks may have fallen victim to the demands of editing. The question is, can you truly speak of the passion if you only reveal a limited knowledge and understanding of the ministry and life of the sacrifice? Jesus appears as a stranger to the viewer. You only meet him during the last twelve hours of his life. Very little history goes before the great sacrifice and we never really get more than a glimpse into the life that was being laid down.

It was a brave thing to attempt, but is it possible really to understand the Christ if you have only encountered him suffering? This, of course, is the question Gibson poses when he introduces Simeon the Cyrenean to carry the cross. Here is a character who resents the implications of being involved with a criminal and ends up a believer. Maybe we all run away from suffering too quickly; maybe this is what this movie is trying to tell us?

I’m arguing that the story of Christ’s passion on the cross needs to be contextualised; but, having said that, the film is a powerful meditation of the suffering of Christ. Paul speaks in Philippians of entering into the sufferings of Christ. No one can truly do that; but from a Roman Catholic perspective Gibson sees himself as a believer who is putting the sacrifice of Christ out there for all to see,” Behold the Man” . This is a visual representation of the Mass. In the Mass, he sees the body of Christ being perpetually broken for the sin of the world. To him there is a sense in which this is still going on. This is the detergent for all our souls. We turn our eyes away. We dare not look. The death of Christ is shocking! Gibson has given the world an understanding as to why many in the ancient world saw crucifixion as a scandal.

From a reformed viewpoint, we believe that the sacrifice was once and for all, hence we tend to speak of the glorified Christ. However to get to the Glory there has to be the suffering. In all this there is perhaps a balance we Presbyterians need to reflect upon. I won’t take bus loads to see this film because I think you can only go to the cross by yourself.

It may well be that I find myself slipping in to a cinema within the next few weeks to reflect on aspects of the film that I’m sure I have missed. I’d like to view the resurrection scene again. I’m not sure if Gibson’s resurrection scenes actually do what he wanted them to do? There are clever links with the Turin Shroud and I believe much research went into making these parallels. The moving of the stone and the empty grave clothes were all powerful statements of the physical resurrection. The appearance of the risen Christ was less convincing.

As a film and a piece of art it will remain controversial, as does the theology of the cross itself. If you go, don’t expect to be entertained. Ask yourself. “What do I really think about Jesus of Nazareth who is called the Christ?”

Lord,
I was just wondering -
which church you’d attend
if you visited our town?
Would you still want to go to the Synagogue?
Would you be a Presbyterian?
A Roman Catholic?
A Baptist perhaps?
Maybe you’d be a Charismatic?
I mean, after all,
you are really into healing and miracles!

Lord I’m asking this because,
I’m not sure you’d fit into our church.
We like things to be predictable,
respectable and dignified.
We’re serious,
but not too serious.
You may be just a bit too radical
for our culture.
You see we might “think it”
but you “say it.”
I don’t think the Vacancy Committee would choose you

You don’t mind me being honest?
You know – speaking my mind,
Lord,
You really gave the scribes a hard time.
Not to mention the Pharasees.
You didn’t take prisoners.
You were about people over precedent.
What would you think of all our red tape
our Kirk Session,
our church laws,
Our services,
our robes,
our pews,
our way,
of doing
things?

Lord , you said,
You’d what ?
love it – if its from the heart?
Ah now you’ve got me!