CWW understanding it's future?
I've been pretty busy recently thinking about the future of Church Without Walls. I've been involved in a number of meeting at 121 ( For those not in the know that is the Church of Scotland Central offices), trying to establish the best way forward for the work that was started way back in 2001 when the General Assembly embraced the permission to change the way we do church.
I think the miracle is that we are still around reminding the church of the vision that was set out eight years ago. There are some who think that its time for CWW to come to an end and trust God that the work we have started will be absorbed into the DNA of the church. In many ways that is not a bad ideal, however it is a counsel of perfection and also a counsel of niavity. While some 600 churches have engaged with some of the ideas in the CWW Report few have become transforming centres of worship and renewal.
So we believe we still have a long way to go. However the debate now arises how do we go about influencing the structure of the church in such a way that the church not only talks about CWW in reports but actually lives it out in their structures and even lack of structures. This is the area that we as a Planning group are reflecting upon.
Much of what we are been asked to consider centres around structures and governance that reflects the old order of church. For many Church Without Walls has been all about beyond the structures.Herein lies the dichotomy can you change a structure if you are outside of it? Or will the structure change you because you have become part of it? Or are we part of the structure anyway, and can it be argued that a structure which has allowed CWW is perhaps more flexible than imagined. one thing is for certain I sure we;re going to have to do a lot of trusting God and each other over the next few months. maybe that's not a bad place to be.
Posted By: James Hogg On: 23 Feb 2009 At: 5:32pm
I think walls are not a bad thing, they hold up roofs which protect people, but when those walls start to get in the way of people using buildings, the way need, they must be moved to people can use the space. I think even though pressure for organisation to change can come from outside bodies, and this can be good, true change comes from within. Just as we as people can behave as others expect us to but still harbour grudges and grievance within, so can organisations. It is from within that Jesus told us to change as well as what we do, and it it from within i think the Church of Scotland must change for it to have an effect on what we do.