Glitter though dust - discerning the Spirit

 Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Living through a pandemic has changed many things in our world - locally and globally. And we are all still learning how to be in a world that we could never have imagined, in a culture that is still unfolding.

When Path of Renewal was launched 6 years ago, as a 3 year pilot project, the focus was not so much on change, which is inevitable, but on accompanying people through transition - the emotional and psychological responses to change. 6 years on, the effect of that work has been borne out in the ability of folk grounded and sustained by communal spiritual practices to respond to a global pandemic with the resilience built up by learning to discern God’s will and purpose in all our differing contexts and to respond to the invitation of God to live generously in the world

Matthew 10:6-8

Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.

Colleagues have continued to meet together to support and encourage one another through difficult times and to continue that hard work of continuing to discern - What now, God? Who are we being called to be in a new era? How best can we be with hurt and broken people in the communities we are called to serve?

As I have worked with others in discernment, my own discernment is that the next part of this journey is not mine to lead. One of the aspects of the role that I have most enjoyed is creating community and a supportive, prayerful network of workers together in the vineyard, some who got on board early, some who arrived later, all of whom have a vital role to play. Fostering collegiality that is not competitive but that recognises the vast range of gifts and skills we bring to the table that has room for all and caring for the individual worker remains a passion of mine. And the calling to continue to offer individuals and communities space to care for themselves as they care for others is the work that I will take forward.

Liminal spaces - between trapezes- have always called to me with their sense of now AND not yet. That sense of taking a deep breath, diving deep and, with eyes wide open in wonder and awe, travelling through murkiness before emerging to take another breath… remaining alert not just to where we might be going but to the sights and sounds and edges and opportunities along the way - and finding the energy to keep on going, fuelled, not only by the companionship of God but also by the accompaniment of other persistent pilgrims who do not retreat from darkness or avoid the challenges of light when it comes.

Matthew 10:10

You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.

Here’s to the next stage of being beloved of God - in all our crazy messy glory - created in dust, immersed in glitter!

Liz Crumlish now offers Pastoral and Cross Professional Supervision and Education and may be contacted at lizcrumlish13@gmail.com

She recently co- authored with Michael Paterson  Pastoral Supervision: Creativity in Action 

The space between - quarantine

Jeremiah 29:1,4-7

Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles in Babylon
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 

The prophet Jeremiah is given a message to take to the exiles in Babylon - Gods people - driven from their own land, taken into captivity and forced to live in a foreign culture. These were people wondering how to be the people of God in a foreign land, wondering how long they will remain in captivity and how they can ever maintain some sort of identity as the people of God when removed from all that is familiar to them. The message Jeremiah proclaims is one of encouragement to put down some roots where they find themselves:
Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile.
The message to these people is that their business is not to mark time. It's not about holing up and waiting for release, waiting for things to get better. Their business is to LIVE where they are - in the midst of death and destruction.
Although they find themselves in a border land not of their choosing, their task is to discover God in that place with them.
And - To affect the culture in which they find themselves, to make a difference right where they are.
Is it too incredible to imagine that a message written some 2,500 years ago to Gods people in exile has any relevance for the people of God today?
Scattered as we are, locked out of our normal meeting places, devoid of many of the tools with which we normally practice faith, our task, no matter how irrelevant or how marginalised we perceive ourselves to be is to find new ways to positively affect the culture around us.
And to remember and discover anew that it is often in the margins, under stress, that creativity comes to the fore.
I’m not sure that that’s all about taking what we do on a Sunday morning behind sometimes locked doors online. Or about planning how we get everyone safely back into our buildings and what we’ll do there when we emerge. Of course that may be part of it but not at the expense of actually connecting with and impacting the community and the culture around us in the midst of lockdown.

A word I loved to use when I worked in Hospital Chaplaincy is liminal.
For me, that word described perfectly the interface in which I often found myself working - encompassing faith and ritual and tradition and superstition - straddling the chasm that folk often felt when their experience of life and faith to date no longer accommodated the place they found themselves in the landscape of illness - their own or that of a loved one.
That place where there were no easy answers - or any answers at all.
Liminal - a place of transition, a border land.
According to the fount of all knowledge, Wikipedia: “During liminal periods of all kinds, social hierarchies may be reversed or temporarily dissolved, continuity of tradition may become uncertain, and future outcomes once taken for granted may be thrown into doubt.“

In the liminal space in which we find ourselves, locally and globally today, how and where are we finding and signposting God in the midst?
And how is the God we glimpse sitting beside us calling us to be authentic people of faith, a people continually on the move - not simply waiting until we can safely get everyone back in the building and continue where we left off, but a people called to practice faith where we are - listening to the voices of those around - those who are thriving through pandemic restrictions and those whose worst nightmares are coming to fruition? Listening so that we can straddle the gaps with all those in very different places.


The natural human response is to resist liminality and to strive backward to the old familiar identity, or forward to the unknown identity. The ambiguity and disorientation are at times so heightened that the very work required to move forward becomes impossible to engage.
Susan Beaumont: How to lead when you don’t know where you are going







That sounds just about right for the church right now.
There are, inevitably, those who are simply waiting, however long it takes, for things to “get back to normal”. And others, who see possibilities to change everything. And still others who are experiencing such disillusionment with the institutional church, along with systems of justice and government that any way beyond the mess we’re in seems impossible.

Perhaps our task is not so much to learn how to be in a new normal or to plan for a changed future but to listen and listen well - to God and to our community - so that we might discern how to engage with those we are called to be alongside now, seeking prosperity in this land in which we are all exiles.
Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 

Reading the signs

Matthew 16:1-3 
Some Pharisees and Sadducees were on him again, pressing him to prove himself to them. He told them, “You have a saying that goes, ‘Red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky at morning, sailors take warning.’ You find it easy enough to forecast the weather—why can’t you read the signs of the times?

As we begin to ponder what emerging from lockdown might mean for gathering as the body of Christ it strikes me that, in this season of Pentecost with the resurrection stories still ringing in our ears, we are once again invited to identify with the disciples as they worked out how to be community together.
Many of us have been discovering or re-discovering the things that matter about being church. We’ve been relearning and reconnecting with the stories of the people of God in every time and place.
We’ve been identifying with the pilgrims on the Emmaus Road, confused and dejected, trying, and failing, to make sense of the events that have overtaken them.
As Jesus walks alongside them, somehow he stabilises the disciples. How? By rooting them again in the ancient stories of faith which which they have grown up. By tracing for them the presence of God with people all through the ages. Jesus grounds them again in their faith - but he also helps them to begin to write the next chapter, the story that continues beyond the empty tomb. “Their eyes were opened and they recognised him in the breaking of bread.” It was in that ritual, a ritual they had shared with Christ just before he died that they were able to make the connection and recognise Jesus sitting at table with them. It was in that ritual that they were given confidence and energy to race back, in the fading light, to Jerusalem to share the news: Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
We don’t know when we will be able to gather again to share that meal but we have even more stories to tell than those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. In the midst of pandemic, we can recognise the risen, now ascended Christ, along with the gift of the Spirit walking alongside, helping us to reconnect our stories of faith. And, though we are in uncharted territory, isn’t that always the way of the people of God - learning how to make sense of a changed landscape in the knowledge of the living God by our side?
In confusion, grief, hurt, loss and yearning, we are grafted all the more to Christ the vine who enables and empowers us to keep on walking into the unknown. 
NO GOING BACK  
What Jesus did make clear is that everything was changed. There was no going back to “business as usual”. Living with pandemic takes us there too. Some of us may welcome that more than others. For those of us who long simply to go back to what we know, I wonder how much our perception of what we thought we had is real and not tainted by comfort and cosiness? And how much did what we were doing in our sanctuaries impact our communities?
As we emerge from the Easter season and welcome the Holy Spirit, how willing are we to co-write, with God, the next chapter of the story of God’s people? How prepared are we to walk the road in the darkness and uncertainty even knowing that the risen Christ walks beside us and the Spirit leads us? How will we make room for grief and lament and for fear and uncertainty. And, from our own bewilderment, how bold will we be to risk failure so that we can learn the new road that we are invited to walk as people of faith today?
And how patient will we be in sitting in that place of not knowing, that place of dependence  on God, that place to which we come with empty hands and full hearts and bruised and fragile spirits longing for healing and recommissioning as servants of God for this time? How will we read the signs?

Look to the healers

These are incredible days filled with darkness and with light, with hope and despair, with predictability and surprise. They are days in which we can, in one moment, take hold of our professional competence and, in the next, realise that nothing could have prepared us for ministry in such times and that there is nothing in our metaphorical toolkit that will see us through. And, in this season after Easter, it’s possible that we can identify with the roller coaster on which the disciples seem to ride - those heady days of occasionally glimpsing hope and joy and those plummeting days of recognising that still they could not comprehend. Those restorative moments when it seemed they had a place in the mission of God and the arresting times when they went into processing overload and had no idea which piece of string to attempt to unravel first.
We see it in all the different ways our colleagues react - from those who gleefully put into practice their technology expertise or who enable the folk who can, to those who are paralysed by observing the Herculean efforts of others. We witness those who are nimble and adaptive alongside those who are more sluggish and reactive. We are in awe of those with energy to implement a dozen new ideas before breakfast and empathise with those who simply don’t know where to start or what to tackle first, whose elephant simply won’t be decent enough to divide into bite sized pieces that they might tackle. And, of course, some of us are even managing to be all of these caricatures in any given moment or day.
When all our normal defences, the apparatus of our work, is taken from us, as it has been, to what do we resort?
Richard Holloway very helpfully describes something of the confusion that was embraced 40 years ago when AIDS was emerging as a global challenge, describing how it brought out the best and the worst in folks and exhorts us, in the words of Camus to “strive to be healers”.
It may not be within our gift is to determine, how our communities of faith and the communities we serve will emerge from this pandemic. We are, however, in a position to model love and vulnerability, exploration and commitment. We can share our wondering and our uncertainties as well as our faith in a God who majors in resurrection.
None of us would have chosen this way of cultural renewal and it is not simply opportunistic to recognise that, in time, we might emerge with wisdom and strength, with greater faith and hope. However, that is not, for now, our focus. Our task is not yet to attempt to make sense, to establish a new normal or to attempt to tidy things up. Rather, in the midst of trauma, while clinging precariously to the roller coaster ride of these days we could do much worse than “strive our utmost to be healers”.

Glimpsing resurrection

Matthew 27:61
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

I’ve always been intrigued by the tenacity of the two Marys who sat by the tomb. Why didn’t they simply leave when it seemed clear they could do no more? They had endured a long night and day, accompanying Jesus through all the horrific events that led to his death - the trials, the procession, the crucifixion, the final cry. They witnessed his body being removed and laid in a tomb. And still they waited and returned early after Sabbath. And their reward? Was to witness resurrection firsthand.
On so many levels it makes sense that to witness resurrection we have to stay close to the tomb. Yet often we are busy looking for the next new thing, rushing on from the place of death to work out what we should do next. Indeed we are encouraged not to allow our thoughts to linger on what has been lost but on what has been found. It is counterintuitive to sit with death. Especially in a church anxious for survival, eager to move on to restoration.
Perhaps faith and praxis has to be much more counterintuitive. Perhaps when every other area of our lives is crying out for life to return to whatever a new normal might look like, after this pandemic, even though we know we will be irrevocably changed, perhaps there is a call for people of faith to be slower. Partly because we are often the ones called to minister and accompany people through death and mourning. But also because we want to wait on God to show us the way of resurrection today. We’ve always claimed that we are about discerning the mission of God, about letting God direct our paths. That discernment is going to be critical as we emerge from this time of global trauma and crisis. A quick fix is neither desirable nor sustainable. Rather, attuning our hearts to the “slow work of God” as Teilhard de Chardin puts it will be vital for finding a way through. Yes the rate of change, the rate at which we we’ve had to respond to adaptive challenge has accelerated but we are still called to accompany folk through transition, to care for hearts and minds and to nurture souls. To do that, we must attend to our own souls. That’s why we must be prepared to linger by the tomb - so that we might see for ourselves those discarded grave clothes that symbolise those things by which we no longer need to be held and point to the new beginnings that are possible. Only once we have watched and waited and glimpsed resurrection will we be commissioned as the women were on Easter morning : “Go Quickly and tell the good news.”

Weeping or singing a new song - or both?

Psalms 137:1-4
Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem
By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our harps.
For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?

In these strange days of Covid-19, with worship gatherings cancelled and all the things we’d normally do to show our care for one another now considered too risky, it’s so easy to feel dejected, perhaps even useless. (Ask me how I know that?) Isn’t it for such a time as this that we responded to God’s call to become ministers of the gospel? What is our purpose if not to reach out physically, spiritually and emotionally to those we are called to serve?
How can we sing the Lord’s Song in this new and strangest of lands?
What did God’s people do in exile? They sat down and wept. They cried out to the God of their ancestors to show them how to be God’s people in a foreign land.
As we find ourselves feeling exiled in these days, as we discover that the familiar songs and the familiar patterns are of no use in this foreign territory, may we take time to feel the loss. And then, from the midst of that loss, may we know God’s purpose for us as we embrace a new reality that we might never have imagined. God’s call has not diminished. The gospel imperative  to love one another is not diminished. Who knows what we might trip over in the darkness, who knows what discoveries we might make that will enable us now - and in the future - to BE church rather than simply do church?
Instead of rushing around trying to find ‘virtual’ ways of doing all the things we’d normally do, how about taking the time to sit down and weep? And then, follow God’s lead as we find new songs and new patterns and new vocations revealed by God who is in every age the ground of our being.
Stay safe, stay well, stay connected - for the love of God.

Intentional and Provisional

Ephesians 3:16-17

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 

The Choluteca Bridge in Honduras was built to withstand hurricanes - and it did. It withstood Hurricane Mitch in 1998. However, the resultant flooding caused the river it spanned to chart a different course - and so the bridge became redundant.

As the third tranche of ministers and congregations embark on Path of Renewal, I’ve been struck again by the intentionality and the provisionality of what we are about together with God.

We are intentional about seeking God’s direction and about incorporating into our daily lives practices that will help us in being more aware of God at work all around us and the invitation God extends to us to become involved in that work.  Sometimes that involves rediscovering ancient paths and learning from old monastic disciplines. At other times, it involves finding some new digital practices (and digital sabbath) that allow us to deepen our connection with God and the world in this age. And so we find ourselves being taken in directions we might never have envisaged. 

Perhaps less dramatically but no less significantly, there is an awakening to the subtle changes that are happening as those we engage with and mentor notice too the pervasiveness of God and seek to pay attention to the numinous in our everyday. 

As the awareness of God’s presence grows, what we are noticing is an openness to experiment, to embark on new terrain rather than traversing well known routes, learning to navigate as opposed to simply reading the map.

Even as we chart a new course, however, we are conscious of the provisional nature of any structures we put in place or of any ventures on which we embark. God is always doing a new thing and calls us to be responsive rather than reactive, light of foot yet rooted in love.

Follow me

At our most recent Path of Renewal Conferences, one of the things we considered was the call of Jesus to “Follow me.”
In some ways (though certainly not others) a vague call. We considered how it is often helpful in following that call and in helping others recognise their call to embrace vagueness. Vagueness allow us to be responsive and flexible.
This has always been an important element in the Path of Renewal movement. We accompany one another on a journey in which we discover what it is that Christ calls us to in each of our different contexts, both as the body of Christ together but also as individuals on whose lives Christ makes his call.
We went further than that, though, to look at discernment. How do we discern the specifics of the vagueness of the call, “Follow me”.
That, too, has been an important part of Path of Renewal - that we make space and take time to discern the uniqueness of God’s call in each place and for each follower. Making space and taking time are not easy when we are already part of busy communities of faith. Journeying together on Path of Renewal has proved how difficult it is to create the space required and the pressure that is around to maintain the busyness of being disciples. What we have learned anew is the vitality of spending time with God, not just speaking but listening deeply. And we’ve shared with one another the spiritual practices that help us and sustain us in that.
The vagueness of Christ's call is not accidental - it necessitates our walking closely with him, listening, being sure of what our immutable values are, our gospel imperatives, and being prepared and able to change everything else.
Following Christ demands that we are equipped with the same responsiveness with which Christ encountered those whom he met in all sorts of ways in so many places - staying close to Christ enables us to do that.
It is important, now more than ever, for disciples to embrace the tasks of discernment and relearn how we engage in that to enable us to be faithful, obedient and responsive to the call of Christ.

Being intentional

Acts 16:13
On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

Whenever I arrive in a strange place, instinct calls me to seek out a river or some other body of water. Walking by moving water enables me to process and shake off the burdens of the day and create the space for new experiences. The rhythm of walking, accompanied by the movement of the water bring refreshment and Renewal.
When the first apostles seek out the river as they go from city to city, they do so with purpose. They are intentionally seeking out those places where folk might gather so that they can engage them with the gospel. Their instincts took them to those places where people had reason to be. Be it the river or the market square, those early evangelists sought out such places with intention - so that they might engage in the mission of God.

Intentionality still goes a long way in gospel sharing. Wherever our routines take us, it’s what we do in those spaces that will shape the nature of our encounters. And so our daily routines, offered prayerfully to God, can become opportunities to witness to the hope that is within us. We don’t, necessarily have to change those places we hang out or even adopt different practices - but we can be more intentional about living out and engaging others with the faith that shapes us.
Every space is sacred space and the way we occupy space with the expectation of encountering God shapes the encounters we have with others.

Stories of Transformation

In the lastest round of Regional Conferences for congregations engaged in Path of Renewal, we’ve been encouraging folks to tell their stories. And folk have been generous in their sharing - as well as honest. Stories shared haven’t simply been all the shiny bits of things that have gone well - but sharing of work in progress, of wrong turnings and changes in direction. There has been a recounting of risks taken and of lessons learned.

There is something about stories that allows both the tellers and the listeners to find a communal point of connection, a shared place of vulnerability. There is the opportunity to see, in a story, a moment of inspiration and of possibility.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity. Brené Brown, Daring Greatly.

We’ve heard of  a minister being banned from the weekly cafe outreach...  of a congregation with no buildings... we’ve been inspired by the tale of Granny Sparkle, great inter generational corroboration between the church and school community... we’ve heard of experimental work with dwindling numbers of young people ...of leadership development... of generational characteristics disrupting Session meetings.

As well as inspiration and consolation, all of the stories contribute to the reality that none of us has the answer or the solution to how we can effectively join God in mission today - EXCEPT, to show up, to pitch in and to let God be God, using what we have and the gifts we offer.

We should never underestimate the power of stories in transformation and the comfort and inspiration there is in sharing. The sense of being in this together with God enables us to journey on in faithfulness and obedience and to continue to create communities that encourage and support risk taking for the sake of the kingdom of God.

Dwelling In the word

Over the last three years, one of the Spiritual Practices we have encouraged in those who are involved in Path of Renewal is “ Dwelling in the Word”, a practice that allows us to hear, discern and to speak aloud God’s word for us in a particular moment.
The slow, patient, persistent introduction of this practice into our gatherings in so many different contexts has affected our culture in ways seen and unseen. Unleashing the power of God’s word has led to barriers being broken down, confidence in discerning the mission of God and personal and communal transformation.
As well as being a tool for discernment, Dwelling in the Word also helps to frame and inform our meeting together. By starting our time together listening out for God, we set up a reverence and an expectation that affects how we are with one another. We see the Spirit of God weaving her way in and around all our encounters and discussions that ensue as we continue to meet.
Just one of many examples, for illustration: listening to the words of Jesus echoing through the crowds who were preventing a blind man from getting to Jesus and considering how Jesus reached out to the excluded and marginalised individual (Luke 18:35-43) allowed those engaged in the exercise to know themselves heard and regarded by Jesus and the rest of our time together was informed by hearing Jesus say “Bring him to me” and “What do you want me to do for you.”
Of course none of this should surprise us  - but as we’ve privatised faith and professionalised preaching in so many of our congregations, it has required a slow work of gentle persuasion to encourage individuals to trust that God speaks to and through them. Biblical literacy in Dwelling in the Word has no relevance. Rather, it is the hearing, sharing and responding to the prompting of God in the shared moment that is vital.
A vital spiritual practice and a tool for transformation.

Auchterarder - "Out there"

Path of Renewal has involved working with ministers in charges, with the proviso, from the outset, that the minister should then gather together a group of folk who will engage with the missional context in each parish and work out what it is that God is asking of them in their particular time and place. Ministers are being equipped to equip and empower others to respond to God's call on their lives.
Over the three years, some of the congregations involved have become vacant and, in two charges, where seeds had taken root and where folk were grasping the nettle, following Christ's commission to "Go and make disciples" it has been a joy to continue working with and celebrating progress in growing missional communities.

The congregation in Auchterarder describe the task like this:

"Path of Renewal's purpose is timeless in that it is to honour God and spread the good news of Jesus in a fast changing world... Connecting with the two thirds of people who claim to believe in God or some higher spiritual power who are not in church. The challenge is to be variable in our approach and portable with our message... a bit like BBC iPlayer which is a variable and portable way of accessing our favourite TV programmes. Engaged in ministry "out there" in public as Jesus did."

• The congregation are hosting a drop in café, initially set up by the NHS and the local Council that helps folk connect, recognising countering isolation as a factor in wellbeing. And the church mini bus helps folk get there.
• There is a range of activities with children, young people and families throughout the community.
• Participants in other activities, from lunch club to men's group to walking groups are encouraged to introduce friends to share in food and fellowship and, in time, faith conversations.

"Action often speaks louder than words and in 2018 our journey along the Path of Renewal at APC has been moving increasingly into the things we do, rather than just the things we say. The Kirk’s Path of Renewal process started intentionally with words, in this case as found in the Word of God, which is and will remain at the core."

What's the story - in Burra?

Debbie Dobby, minister in Burra, one of the Shetland islands shares their story of Path of Renewal:

Changing perspective

Path of Renewal has changed us. We have a much more inclusive view of who is part of our church, it is not just those who come on a Sunday. Our church is all who participate in its life, those who help us in cleaning and maintenance, those who decorate the church for special events, those who see the building as theirs. We are more tolerant and understanding of one another and of our community. There is no longer a “them and us,” now it is just us.

Sharing Faith

We are now more confident in speaking about our faith outwith a Sunday. We can express our differences and listen to another’s point of view without feeling intimidated or threatened. We have listened to each other, much of our conversation taking place over a Saturday breakfast of bacon butties. Path of Renewal has allowed and encouraged to have conversations that would not have happened otherwise. We have learned to trust one another.

Fellowship

Out of Path of Renewal has come Your Space, where the church is open one day a week for people to come and have quiet space, with WiFi, free tea and coffee. A craft group meet for two hours during this time for chat and friendship, and have welcomed new people, one person comes because, “it does me good.” The ‘welcome stop’ where folk can make a cuppa and use the facilities has proved popular with visitors during the summer.

At Christmas to celebrate our wide church family we had a party in the village hall and invited all who are part of our church, we had over 50 adults and children, who enjoyed an afternoon of fun, fellowship and food.

Path of Renewal for us has been an interesting and challenging journey, with the odd detour along the way, but we have changed, and we have loved it.

Finding our niche?

Ephesians 4:4-7

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

I had a really interesting discussion with a retired farmer last week: he was sharing how, with all the pressures and setbacks that continue to assail farming communities, farmers are having to be fairly creative, finding 'an angle' that will get them noticed and encourage folks to choose their produce over others.

Just a few days before, I'd listened to a young farmer describing how he had managed to leverage his way into becoming a 'barista-preferred' milk supplier. After months of trials and failures, he'd finally convinced a coffee shop to accept his farm's milk as their preferred option. That success led him on to other ways of specialising - the farm has recently achieved organic certification and, his latest pursuit, currently being crowd-funded, is the ditching of single use plastic by going back to bottling milk. He"d already sourced and restored the machinery necessary for washing and filling bottles but crowd funding was needed to purchase the glass bottles which are really expensive.

This resonated with some thoughts I've been having about church- What if the people of God, gathered as community "found their niche" in all their differing contexts?

I don't mean finding a gap and filling it.

Rather, by waiting on God, by taking time to discern the peculiarity of our gifts together, to discover that one thing that we can do well in and with our community alongside God.

It seems we're always looking for the next thing, or simply trying to keep things on the road. But what if we were to stop and ask God: what is required of us for this time and this place? What would church look like then?

And would we have the nerve to do what God asks of us (no more, no less) and trust others to live into their calling, each playing their part in building the kingdom?

Ephesians 4:15-16

But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Knowing our Story

 

Mark 1:9-11
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

Sometimes in our attempt to fit in or keep up, we look for the shortcut to success or pursue goals that are more important to others than to ourselves...It’s impossible to be intentional and deliberate if you don’t articulate and prioritise what’s important to you.

(Story Driven - You don't need to compete when you know who you are. Bernadette Jiwa)

Just one of the observations made by congregations involved in Path of Renewal is the sense that we are engaged in kingdom work together. It is not about growing one congregation at the expense of another but discerning the mission of God in each particular context. It is also about embracing the reality that Christ has given all kinds of gifts to the church and that we operate out of abundance and not scarcity 

Ministers are experiencing collegiality rather than a competitiveness as they learn and grow together and, as they share their vulnerability, there is a real sense of being held and affirmed in their calling and encouraged in their leadership.

Early on in the process we considered - and continue to recall - that we are called, affirmed and equipped by God for the tasks of mission today.

In each of the three years of involvement on Path of Renewal, we have journeyed with Scripture that develops each of those aspects of who we are - beginning with the story of Jesus calling his disciples and sending them out to the harvest, then journeying with the risen Christ on the Emmaus Road and, this year, considering the five-fold gifts we have been given and how those complement the gifts of those around us. All of these scriptures have enabled us to better discern the mission of God and the part we are called to play in that mission today.

Mission begins then, with remembering our story - remembering by whom and to whom we are uniquely called.

Mission involves being reminded that we are God's beloved - and in that knowledge, in the light of that story, we are challenged to use the gifts that we have been given, enable the gifts of others and, together to build the Kingdom.

Writing in the sand

John 8:3-9

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

This incredible story of grace in the gospel of John testifies to the practice of putting aside tradition, taking a moment to breathe, and opening ourselves to the possibility of other options that become apparent when we don't simply succumb to what has always been.

As Jesus doodles in the sand, he creates a moment for reflection, for contemplation, for consideration of alternatives rather than acting on default. A simple space for breathing made space for a new perspective.

I'm sure there were those in the crowd that day who grumbled at Jesus' seeming indecision. I'm sure there were some who were disappointed that he didn't assert tradition or even institute something new. And yet, his simple doodling enabled others to be awakened to a grace filled possibility - that of setting aside their righteousness and showing compassion for others, a compassion in which there was the potential for change and for growth.

As we begin to review the experience of the first tranche of congregations involved in Path of Renewal, it is apparent that, at the very least, what has been achieved is that space for grace. A space to step back, take a breath, review the defaults and begin to achieve a new perspective. God enters that grace filled space changing hearts and minds, changing a culture that feels as though it is set in stone.

There is a time and a place for drawing a line in the sand and beginning something new. There is also a time and place for doodling so that a fresh perspective that can be the seed of renewing an inherited culture is planted. What will emerge is as yet unknown but a seed sown in love and grace carries the potential for a great awakening to the wisdom of God and the mission of God for the world.

Pursuing new ideas in Melness and Tongue

Path of Renewal in Melness and Tongue

At Melness and Tongue, the Kirk Session and Minister were 100% enthusiastic about beginning the Path of Renewal project at the start of 2016. But it did take some time to figure out and understand what Path of Renewal was all about! Initially, the recruitment of a part time worker who would free up some time for the minister to be engaged in Path of Renewal, took up a lot of time.

Some folks were brought together to form a New Ideas group, the name being chosen to reflect what they were about, consisting of two Elders (one in their 40s), two members of the congregation, two newish attendees (one of whom was 25 years of age), and two men in their 30s/40s who were interested and supportive of the congregation, but were not attending regular Sunday worship.

 

The New  Ideas group was enthusiastic about developing new ways of being Church that would help to draw others into Fellowship, although not necessarily lead them to join in traditional Sunday worship. At one of the occasional Church & Community lunches, a survey was conducted, asking participants: “What is Missing from our Community?” and “How could that Gap be Filled?”. Several things were suggested, but one that appeared several times was “There is no Dog-Walking group”. 

Other New Ideas that emerged were: Messy Church, Creative Space, Family Games Events/Group, Christian Music Group, Community Shed Group, Dog-Walking Group. This was a significant set of new activities. Knowing that they could not all be  launched at once, it was decided to begin with the Dog-Walking Group, which was the easiest to organise and would raise the profile in the Community. After starting the Dog-Walking Group (meeting weekly), a trial Family Games afternoon was organised and,  most recently,  Messy Church began, the third of which will be held in June. 

 

In addition, there was a willingness amongst some of those who preferred not be in the New Ideas group, to be more involved in preparing and leading traditional Sunday Worship, to free resources for those developing New Ideas. With the advent of the Dog Walking Group, Messy Church and the Games event, friendships are developing, conversations are deepening. and ecumenical relationships are being strengthened. Developing a Community Shed, a Music Group and a Creative Spaces group are ideas that, hopefully will be taken further in time.  What is clear is that God is at work and we are being invited to join in, learning and growing as we go.

God's mission and our transformation

"Don't focus on whether you are dying. Focus on God's mission and your transformation."

Tod Bolsinger, author of Canoeing the Mountains.

It seems inevitable that any institution would rather talk endlessly about change or even instruct change when that change will not, in fact, carry any personal cost to those charged with driving and defining the future course of the organisation. And so statistics are quoted, dire predictions are shared and, when those predictions are realised, folk can rest in the knowledge that they were right.

What is much more difficult and way more costly is to BE the change that we need to be. To submit and be challenged by personal transformation in order to effect organisational change. Indeed it may even be that our personal transformation is not enough to change the institution. But that does not mean that we should avoid it. 

When God called Moses out of his self imposed exile to go and lead God's people out of Egypt, Moses recognised all too well how ill-equipped he was for the task but, in humility, he responded to the call of God. And all through the years in the wilderness, time and again, Moses was forced to return to that place of inadequacy and ineffectiveness, that place where only reliance on God allowed God's purpose to be fulfilled. The Moses we see glimpsing the Promised Land, a land he knew he would not enter, is a man who was prepared to submit to incredible personal transformation, the kind of transformation he could never have imagined. Other leaders emerged along the way and were mentored by Moses as he modelled for them the transforming power of God.

As we navigate our way through this wilderness season in the church today, our task as leaders is not to provide answers but to model transformation through which God equips us for the journey, calling us into God's mission today. At the very least, that requires humility and dependence on God. It requires us not to lead with answers but to lead with questions, the kind of questions that seek to discern God's will and purpose for our lives and that enable and empower others to discern God's will and purpose for their lives. God's preferred and promised future is writ large in Scripture. God's peacable kingdom has been outlined by priests and prophets through the ages. That kingdom will be realised when we respond to the challenge to be transformed as we participate in the mission of God.

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Noticing signs of the Kingdom

Sherwood Greenlaw Parish Church

I have noticed that …

people are smiling more
and talking more in our church. 
Some people are praying more,
others are caring more,
and some are thinking more. 
 
I have noticed that people are willing to give things a try,
and experience something new. 
people want to get involved,
and we now have a number of babies and young families
coming regularly to church on a Sunday morning. 
and more parents
have supported the Remembrance Day
and the Uniformed organization services. 
 
I have noticed people being kind,
and saying thank you
for what other church folk have done for them. 
not many folk fall asleep during the sermon,
and people in our community
recognise some of the things we are doing as a church
to be good and healthy and wholesome.
 
I have noticed new people joining our choir,
And the fun that the Time out Group have at the manse.
people are being generous
with their time, talent and money.
People are asking questions,
And probing for a deeper understanding about God.
 
I have noticed, faithful men and woman,
who come week in and week out to worship,
and bring something of themselves to Sherwood Greenlaw,
and offer themselves for the work of the Kingdom of God.

I have noticed, growth and optimism in people,

and a real willingness to take on board
new opportunities as they arise,
that expand the Kingdom of God in this place.
 
All this suggests to me that God is not dead here.
That something of his Spirit is afoot in what we do,
A little spark of the Spirit
that seeks to kindle a deeper fire for God and this Kingdom work.

 

 

Rev John Murning, of Sherwood Greenlaw Parish Church in Paisley, reflects on their journey through Path of Renewal:

Local Partnership

Rev Julia Meason

Another Path of Renewal Congregation shares their story:

Shapinsay Parish Church is located on an island of about 300 folk.

In the summer we have a cafe which is open every day but in winter months there is no natural gathering space for people. We noticed that lack of opportunity and decided to enter into partnership with the Shapinsay Development Trust who have a new building, far better located than the church is. They give us the building free of charge, we provide homebakes, teas, coffees and some activity for the children.

 

It is very successful. We certainly tapped into a need - people come along, enjoy one another’s company, we build relationships. As an aside we raise money for local charities (people like to give a donation for what they’re getting).

Our learning is that it is possible to build something new on a small island that is successful when we identify a true need in the community.

We have had our sabotage when we were accused of taking trade away from the local cafe - which we are not since it’s not open when we operate! We intentionally chose to operate in winter months only in order not to compete. It upset us quite a bit until we realised it had nothing to do with us - it was part of a bigger issue with somebody else and we were used as an argument.

I think all of us realised also how much we were hoping the coffee afternoons would bring people to faith and church. This didn’t happen and our loss is this deep disappointment.

There are good things happening though - folks are more than happy to volunteer to bake and host, whether they’ve got a church connection or not. Some began taking ownership of the place too - recently a family who have been very faithful at coming along, started sweeping floors and tidying up afterwards. They joined us for the beach clean up we organised in our community. I feel they’re beginning to feel like they are one of us, that they belong. And that is a truly great thing.