Mission and Discipleship
Council |
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MISSION AND EVANGELISM
Overview
The Council's Associate Secretary, with responsibility
for mission and evangelism, is the Rev Alex Millar. Here,
he gives his thoughts on the council's work in this area:
Alex Millar
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"There is an opportunity to highlight
mission and develop a holistic, co-operative and
collaborative approach to 'congregational development'.
A major emphasis is on offering support, resources
and services to churches that are seeking to invest
in the |
fundamentals of nurture, worship and mission, and to serve
the needs of their local communities."
Areas of work
The Mission and Evangelism Task Group is responsible for
encouraging new initiatives and to offer access to expertise,
research, development and training.
| It is also charged with
working collaboratively locally, nationally and
ecumenically. The group aims to respond to new mission
opportunities in contemporary Scotland and be alert
to larger trends in theology and spirituality. Other
activities include faith-sharing and support for
the rural church. |
Supporting the rural church: Dunlichity Parish,
Inverness-shire
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The council's task group also has responsibility for the
following projects:
Netherbow: Scottish Storytelling Centre
Part of the work of the Mission and Evangelism Task Group
includes working collaboratively with the Netherbow: Scottish
Storytelling Centre based in Edinburgh. The centre is
a partnership between the Church of Scotland and the Scottish
Storytelling Forum, supported by the Scottish Arts Council,
Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian and the City
of Edinburgh Council. As the base of both its busy national
network and its rich on-site programme, the centre embraces
modern purpose-built education and performance facilities
alongside the 15th/16th century John Knox House. Situated
at the mid-point of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, the
Scottish Storytelling Centre is open daily with a throughflow
of general visitors, families, school groups, conferences
and cultural events. The national network further includes
local storytellers and events across Scotland in schools,
faith communities, and community projects. For more
information, visit their website at www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk
Please note that all external links on this page will
take you out of the Church of Scotland website and open
a new browser window.
The Well Information and Advice Centre
The Well is a drop-in centre administered by Glasgow Presbytery,
staffed by three full-time workers and a 30-strong volunteer
team drawn from local churches. It offers advice and information
to Glasgow's Asian communities as a means of facilitating
relationships between the Christian staff and their neighbours
of other faiths. While The Well has a clear commitment
to mission, its ethos is very much based on listening
to people and accepting people for who they are as an
integral part of Christian witness. The Well has been
expanding rapidly over the last few years with activities
diversifying to include English classes, computer tuition,
a craft group, home visits, summer outings and a Bible
correspondence course.
The Well also has a remit to encourage churches to build
good relationships with their neighbours of other faiths.
As such the staff are often asked to take part in conferences
and speaking engagements across the UK and occasionally
further afield.
Visit these websites for more information and contact
details: www.thewell.org.uk
and www.multikulti.org.uk
Special focus
The focus of the task group is 'emerging church'. In other
words, how do we communicate faith in a fast-changing
and ever-adjusting culture?
Other issues the task group looks as it
is whether our traditional patterns of 'church' are
sufficient, and if not how do we promote the new alongside
the old and give permission for pioneers in 'emerging
church' to test what is possible and sustainable? Its
remit also includes apologetics - which strives to explain
why Christians believe what we do.
You're an Angel
| Written by the Rev Peter Neilson and
regional development officer David Currie, You're
an Angel is billed as an encouraging, reassuring
and above all honest account of Christian witness
today. Full details about this best selling book
are available on our resource
page. |
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