Journeying with the right questions

Over the last month, we've been sharing some of the hopes and dreams and the vision of the Path of Renewal. We've explored our context and culture and how we've come to the places in which we now find ourselves. And we've outlined the need to let go of some things (not least control) in order to free up space and energy for Missional thinking and activity.

One of the crucial discoveries is that we must be asking the right questions - those questions that will allow us to truly connect with others and with the God who walks alongside and is also way ahead of us.

Whatever techniques, gifts or skills we feel we might bring to the work, it is the questions that allow us to drill down beneath the surface to mine the rich soil that just might be the fertile ground in which God nurtures the Kingdom.

The right questions elicit passion, connectedness, common ground and paths to journey.

Asking for directions may not be enough. We may need to journey before we even reach the point from which we might embark on a Path of Renewal.

The congregations and the leaders we have encountered in this process of discernment are all at different stages of the journey, bringing different hopes and fears and expectations, all willing to be companions on the road, holding up the Christ light to shine on the shadows of uncertainty. But all bring a healthy sense of trepidation and of excitement. The prospect of discovering alongside these sojourners the questions God places before us that will lead to springs of Renewal and that will equip us to support and mentor and nurture God's people through what will be difficult transitions is at once exciting and scary and filled with possibility.

The energy of God's creative Spirit drives us on to hold all things in tension as we discover the questions that will lead us forward on a Path of Renewal.

Entering the stories

The Church of Scotland is launching a new pilot project: Path of Renewal. The next three months will be spent in conversation with Congregational leaders who are discerning whether this pilot might be appropriate for their communities at this time. It is, in a nutshell, an initiative that seeks to support and mentor leaders as they experiment with new ways of being church in the places they are called to serve.

An initial round of conferences are being hosted over the next few weeks to begin the conversation, rooting the pilot in scripture, in worship and in Missional thinking. All of these elements are crucial to the Path of Renewal. 

So, too, is hearing each other's stories- who we are, where we have been, what shapes us and the places we serve. Listening to each other's hopes and dreams, recounting "successes" and "failures". And, above all, discerning our place in God's story and, in particular, those chapters yet to be written.

Stories create community. 

Hopefully, as we enter into each other's stories, as we support each other and pray for one another, as we give one another permission to try new things, to experiment with God,we will be creating new stories together that will inform and resource the Church and lead us forward on a Path of Renewal.