‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’  – Mark 1:17

Jesus was speaking to ordinary fishermen whose lives would never be the same again.  Jesus extends the same call to women and men today: come, follow me.  These words are both an invitation and a command; it is a call that is both liberating and demanding.  It asks us to leave behind the familiar, to trust Him, and to welcome a new and different future.  If you are a Christian, reflecting on the cost, content, and promise of this call is a life-long exercise. We can never exhaust its implications; it shapes our very identity and purpose.

It is therefore wholly appropriate that the simple but profound words, ‘Follow me’, were taken as the theme of the General Assembly (GA) of the Church of Scotland (CoS), which took place in Edinburgh last month. This theme underpinned the many reports and decisions and provoked a basic question: What does it mean for the CoS (with all its diversity, baggage, and hang-ups) to respond to Jesus and his call in 2019?

It is too easy to rake over the long history of the CoS and expose poor decisions, costly mistakes, and failures of leadership.  Statistics readily demonstrate that by every meaningful measure the CoS is in a tailspin of decline, its membership is ageing, shrinking, and disengaging, its central structures outsized and unresponsive to a rapidly changing outlook.  But what are we called to do about it?

This year the GA was challenged to spurn its long-held bias towards stability, continuity, and the maintenance of well-established structures, and to hear again the dynamicof Christ’s call.  The result was an almost unprecedented series of decisions with significant and far-reaching implications.  Below I have attempted to summarise some of the decisions and plans that were made.  We must remember that none of these decisions will be meaningful in themselves unless individuals and congregations commit to hearing and responding to Christ’s call for themselves, depending upon him, and responding to him in faith, love and hope.

Planning for mission(not maintenance!)

  • £20-£25 million Growth Fund to birth new ideas at a local level
  • Focus to engage with those under 40
  • Formation of 100 new worshipping communities in the next decade

Encouraging faith formation(following Jesus in the whole of our lives)

  • Creation of a single, easy and accessible platform of faith and nurture resources
  • Production of resources to help make Church an accessible and welcoming place for the ‘Millennial Generation’ and ‘Generation X’ – typically the ‘missing generations’.

Developing leadership(ministers still have a role to play, but increasingly others will be taking the lead)

  • A flexible education, training and support programme for everyperson in the Church including material on leadership
  • Changes to Initial Ministerial Training to allow more flexible routes to ministry.

Financial/Buildings reform

  • Reconfiguration of Ministries & Mission (the payments each congregation make to the central pot to fund the ministries of the church)
  • Working towards buildings that are, “Well-equipped Spaces in the Right Places”
  • Sale of unnecessary buildings (unburdening congregations)
  • Sharing of financial resources between congregations (sharing the load)

Structural reform(boring but vitally important – bad structures waste resources and hamper mission)

  • New central structure with new charity trustees
  • 20-30% reduction in central offices
  • Reduction of Presbyteries to 12 (from c.50)
  • Refocus of staff from central to regional
  • New models for local churches working together (networks & hubs)
  • Review of size and function of Kirk Session, Presbytery & General Assembly
  • Special Commission investigating effectiveness of Presbyterian Government for 21stcentury

Please do pray for the Church of Scotland. These changes and plans, even if wise and necessary, will be costly and painful for many.  Please pray even more for the church in

Scotland, that communities (not least Partick) would hear for themselves the compelling and saving call of Christ.