Future Focus is a Church of Scotland Resourcing Mission initiative which was undertaken by the Charge in 2017. It is essentially a spiritual process that a whole congregation engages with together. It comprises a set of resources and series of exercises to help congregations to look afresh at their community, to examine their congregational life and to discern what it is that God wants them to be and to do in the next phase of their life and witness.
It does this by:
• allowing us to be honest about our strengths and
challenges.
• helping us to create a clear profile of our community.
• stimulating theological reflection.
• asking searching questions about our life together.
• helping us to discern God’s calling on our congregation.
• delivering clear goals and plans of action for the future.
• encouraging teamwork around these goals and plans.
Approximately twenty-three members of all churches met on the three occasions in May and June 2017, under the guidance of facilitator, Rob Rawson, and participated in mixed groups in the discussions and exercises.
Session 1 looked at statistics from the 2011 census and provided interesting facts about the separate parishes. Each group made a pictorial map of their parish, highlighting main, commercial, municipal and leisure features. This demonstrated the places where people in the Charge meet and live in relation to the four churches.
Session 2 involved examining the Church of Scotland's definition of a 'healthy' church: integrity. body and soul, open house, growth, local, love and care. These were ranked individually and tallied. Groups then worked on ideas for measures which would help the strongest characteristic, Love and Care and the weakest, Growth.
Session 3 concentrated on ' Dreams for the future', and how these might be implemented.
What Next?: the three Kirk Sessions continue to discuss and begin to implement the 'Dreams' under these headings:
There is no quick fix, but over a period of a few years, with vision and faith, it is hoped that the health of our Charge will improve.
If you would like to read the full reports of the Future Focus Sessions, please contact Session Clerks:
Winnie Milligan: 01835 823457 or Lucy Smith: 01835 822425
It does this by:
• allowing us to be honest about our strengths and
challenges.
• helping us to create a clear profile of our community.
• stimulating theological reflection.
• asking searching questions about our life together.
• helping us to discern God’s calling on our congregation.
• delivering clear goals and plans of action for the future.
• encouraging teamwork around these goals and plans.
Approximately twenty-three members of all churches met on the three occasions in May and June 2017, under the guidance of facilitator, Rob Rawson, and participated in mixed groups in the discussions and exercises.
Session 1 looked at statistics from the 2011 census and provided interesting facts about the separate parishes. Each group made a pictorial map of their parish, highlighting main, commercial, municipal and leisure features. This demonstrated the places where people in the Charge meet and live in relation to the four churches.
Session 2 involved examining the Church of Scotland's definition of a 'healthy' church: integrity. body and soul, open house, growth, local, love and care. These were ranked individually and tallied. Groups then worked on ideas for measures which would help the strongest characteristic, Love and Care and the weakest, Growth.
Session 3 concentrated on ' Dreams for the future', and how these might be implemented.
What Next?: the three Kirk Sessions continue to discuss and begin to implement the 'Dreams' under these headings:
- The Church at the centre of the community
- More involvement with young people
- Prayer is a priority
- Greater family participation
There is no quick fix, but over a period of a few years, with vision and faith, it is hoped that the health of our Charge will improve.
If you would like to read the full reports of the Future Focus Sessions, please contact Session Clerks:
Winnie Milligan: 01835 823457 or Lucy Smith: 01835 822425
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