18 August 2024

I am concerned  that when smaller charges are subsumed into larger units, ministry is reduced to  ‘needs must’ and this will prejudice the smaller rural units. They require ministers to have more time to stand and stare, to build up relationships which may or may not lead anywhere  and to work with all ages and all community agencies. The value of this work may be lost without a specialist dedicated to the task. Here are six  areas of specialist training:

1. breaking down the division between secular and sacred – in the rural charge this is much more diffuse and more in keeping with the true nature of the Gospel where God is at work in all places and all people

2. integrating  young and old – in the rural charge people are not so self-conscious of these age differences and work together in community events and initiatives

3. embracing  the pace of the natural world and nature’s discrete  modus operandi – results are not immediate nor immediately recognisable, God’s work  is hidden too but clearly he is the ultimate harvester

4. understanding the different strata in a rural community – land-owners, farmers and farm-workers, commuters, people who have lived there all their days

5. developing an ability to think out of the box which is necessary in charges which do not conform to  traditional Kirk structures nor readily accommodate  ‘one size fits all’  solutions

6. celebrating the natural cycle of the year and how it integrates with the Christian Year, exploring opportunities for making use of the outdoors for services, pilgrimages, all age activities 


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