29 June 2025

Because numbers and resources have diminished dramatically within the Kirk, we have been encouraged to look beyond the confines of our own parishes. We have begun to consider our neighbours not as rivals but as partners with whom we can work and worship to the greater glory of God and his world.

In the  North Fife Cluster where I am the Facilitator, we have established a  series of  four rotational services across three charges.  The first was held in Balmerino in March. When I visited one of the other  Kirk Sessions, the elders told me about the strength of the singing  and how well everyone mixed at the hospitality.

In October, we are going to add to this pattern by having a joint cluster service which will include all the charges in the whole cluster. We are focusing on the 350^th anniversary of the Scottish Psalter and calling this event, ‘A Festival of Psalms’.

As interim-moderator at Pittenweem, I have been involved in setting up rotational services between Pittenweem and its neighbour St. Ayle in Anstruther and Cellardyke. Six rotational services have been planned right up until the end of the year and the union of the two charges.

In these services, two things happen. Firstly, we let go of our own building and all the things which comfort and inspire us and travel on to another kirk, another parish, another way of doing things. Secondly, we realise that in travelling next door and beyond, we gain strength and inspiration in numbers and new friendships.

When the Emperor Constantine built churches on the sites associated with Jesus in Jerusalem in the fourth century , they did not house individual congregations. The Christians in the city considered all the churches as their own and worshipped in them on a rotational basis. They called it stationary liturgy, moving from one station to another. The idea is certainly not new!