Church without Walls
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Church without Walls.
Background
In 1999 the Church of Scotland's General Assembly set
up a special commission - the Special Commission Anent
Review and Reform - to draft a report into challenging
the Church into a new way of communicating Christ's work
with people of all ages, in all sorts of different times
and circumstances.
The subsequent report published in 2001 was called
Church without Walls.
Since its publication a host of imaginative discussions,
practices and events have helped individuals, congregations
and presbyteries embark on an exciting journey adapting
to challenging and changing environments to making a
real commitment to following Christ.
In 2005 the whole Church celebrated the journey of
discipleship and explored what it means to be shaped
by the four themes of Church without Walls, namely:
the Gospel; the locality; friendship; and the gifts
of the people.
In 2006 and 2007, over 400 congregations shared in
"Re-energise" motivational gatherings to share
the Church without Walls vision, and in "Energy
Boost" day events to offer people tools to make
the necessary transitions.
The next staging post on the journey of this movement
will be "Church without Walls 2008 - A National
Gathering" at Ingliston Showground, Edinburgh,
on 3 and 4 May 2008. The two day event will be modelled
on the ancient Jewish Feast of Tabernacles with tents
and marquees, a symbol of a church that is learning
to travel light into the future. For more information
click
here for Church Without Walls website.
Changing mindsets
At the heart of Church without Walls is the move to change
mindsets. These are:
From church focus to Christ focus - following
Jesus to see what church forms round him.
From settled church to church as a movement -
going where people are rather than waiting for people
to come.
From a culture of guilt to
a culture of grace - freeing people to love and
be loved while not counting the cost.
From running congregations
to building communities - working towards a relational
reformation.
From isolation to interdependence
- encouraging churches to work together.
From individualism to teamwork
- seeing teamwork as essential to all ministry.
From top down church to upside
down church - putting the local church at the
centre of the agenda.
From centralised resources to development resources
- releasing funds to encourage local vision.
From faith as security to faith
as risk - looking for new courage to break out
of old routines.
To find out more about Church without Walls and how
the report is being put into action in communities across
Scotland, use the links on the right hand side.
Contact us
If you have any difficulty using this section of our website,
please contact the webteam
using our feedback form.
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