Dear Friends
We are now a month into our new Prayer Targets, and I hope you are praying these in, because they are God given and speak into God’s vision for His Church here in Burgh. I was very encouraged with the 24 people who came to the ½ Night of Prayer. The quality of leading was very good and the enthusiasm of those who prayed was amazing. If you did not make it this time, then don’t miss out next time. The Prayer Profiles have also been launched and are proving very successful. If you have not given your prayer profile to Denise, it is still not too late, or if you are wondering what I am going on about go and talk to Denise and get involved.
Prayer is going to be the key at the heart of the development of our Church over the next few years, through the launch of Parish Nursing, through outreach and ministry, and the possibility of a new church. If God wants it, it will happen, but we need to be praying like we have never prayed before, that it is what God wants, not what we would like.
It is not just about building bricks and mortar; it is about building a people of God. It is about our own spirituality, and our outworking of our faith. When we think about the shape of a new church, we first need to consider our own spiritual shape, and our understanding of God’s mission and purpose for his people, allowing God to reshape the way we do church. To put it into technical language, our theology
(our understanding of God) must unpack itself through our missiology (our understanding of mission) which must shape our ecclesiology (our understanding of church).
There is much talk today of emerging church, but in truth the church has been emerging for 2000 years. We have been constantly in transition- each generation is called to reinvent or rediscover what it is to model accessible and authentic church within its surrounding culture
May the Lord help and guide us to making the right decisions to bring honour and glory to his Holy name.
Colin
