Kirk group seeks international ambassadors

General Assembly 2007:
Kirk group seeks international ambassadors
(Church of Scotland Press Release)

Albert Bogle, the convener of the Kirk’s Church without Walls (CWW) Planning Group, is set to lay out a positive vision of the future of the church at May’s General Assembly.

The Assembly will hear how, since the birth of the idea of Church without Walls in 2001, the vision has gone from strength to strength. The words Church Without Walls have become a byname for renewal and for outreach into the wider community – be that community local, national or international. At May’s Assembly the Planning Group will emphasise ‘that CWW is not a movement that congregations join. It is a mindset that…every effective church leader already owns.’ (Page 1, Para. 2)

The CWW Planning Group continues to ask that we conceive of the church not as a building or buildings, but as a community of individuals carrying the love of Christ out into the world through every aspect of their lives. ‘The purpose of Church Without walls for the Church of Scotland is to focus the church on Jesus Christ and not primarily on buildings.’ (Page 1, Para. 4)

Last year’s General Assembly heard the inspiring tale of the 2005 National Day of Celebration, the all-day event held in Edinburgh’s International Conference Centre which attracted and energised over 3,500 people – representatives of just under half of the Kirk’s congregations.

The Planning Group will inform this year’s Assembly that they do not intend to rest on their laurels. Another CWW National Event will take place during 2008, and it will be aiming to break all previous records in terms of its sheer size. The Planning Group are set to tell commissioners that: ‘Finding a venue for a large gathering during the late spring and early summer of 2008 has proved to be challenging. However, we hope to be in a position to give a date and venue at the General Assembly’. (Page 3, Para. 6) Possible titles for 2008’s CWW event include “Gathering” or “Travelling Light”.

In another potentially ground-breaking move, the Planning Group has begun preliminary discussion with the Rev Air Vice Marshall Peter Mills, Chaplain-in-Chief to the Royal Air Force, with a view to facilitating a CWW event for the armed services.

The CWW Planning Group is always looking to the future, and are already involved in creating a vision of how their work could link in with the Scottish Executive-designated ‘Year of Homecoming’ in 2009 as well as the Centenary celebrations for the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference on 1910.

This latter event will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for Scottish congregations to build local-to-local links with fellow Christians in the developing world. ‘We propose that we work in partnership with other agencies to develop the idea of “The Sending”. This would involve congregation being given the opportunity of sending one or two of their members to visit an overseas project to enable them to become ambassadors for the poor. Already one major Scottish Overseas Development Trust involved in sending volunteers overseas is interested in partnering us with this idea.’ (Page 4, Para. 2)

Ends

nrga/15/04/07

Wednesday 18 April 2007

Note to news desk

For further details, please contact the Convener of the CWW Planning Group, the Rev Albert Bogle, tel 01506 822195 or email albertbogle@mac.comA full copy of the report is available on our General Assembly pages online here.