Kirk’s strategy urges congregations to reach out to the wider community
The Church of Scotland has been forced to rethink its role in society as it adapts to life in the “Post-Christendom age”, documents seen by The Herald show.
A new national strategy unveiled later this week will call on Kirk leaders to help vulnerable youths in the country’s poorest areas, whether or not they are Church members, as part of a wider engagement with Scottish communities.
In a new strategy document to be launched in Glasgow on Wednesday, Church leaders write: “The ongoing debate is whether the Church in the so-called ‘Post-Christendom’ age now occupies a place on the fringes of society along with other organisations in the third sector. Does this leave the church in a position of irrelevance, which is ‘out of touch’ with the people around it?
“Or is this a good thing because of the fluid and flexible response the Church can then make to be a force for good, transforming from and with the margins of society?”
Whichever position is accepted, the document notes, “a firm and necessary grasp of the sociological and spiritual realities will always be a starting point for Christian ministry”.
In this spirit, the Kirk will renew efforts to engage with troubled young people in 58 “priority areas” across the country – of which 38 are in Glasgow.
Church leaders have stressed the new focus is not a “recruitment exercise” intended to convert children and teens but rather a programme to “promote personal and social development” and give youths a voice in society.
• Full story at The Herald.
