Starting to Build A New Church
On Sunday afternoon I had the privilege of joining Dalziel South Parish Church for their Kirk Session Conference. What a great crowd of positive elders. It was an opportunity to encourage them as they make preparations to build a new church. What I found inspirational was that this group of elders were keen to become a mission shaped church. They want their new building to be open seven days a week, they want a church cafe, they want a church open so that the community can come together to pray and encounter the living God. We talked about the challenges, including finding the 1.4 million, which personally I think will end up nearer 2 million. How do congregations go about finding large sums of money for building programmes? I discovered that it is often the ones who are generous enough to tithe their incomes who are the most successful. The congregations who think beyond themselves and share their resources with others in need find that it all comes back to them. Coupar Old is a prime example of this. They were building a new hall and they decided that they'd first build a home in Peru for Street children. You know they did it. They raised over £80,000 and gave it away to establish a new home.
It is the "giving away" principle that is the most effective when it comes to raising funds. I was glad to spend some time with their minister Georgina Baxendale, and hear her enthusiasm and see how she has touched and influenced the rest of the church leadership. Georgie believes that the Church Without Walls Conferences at Aviemore gave her a renewed vision and impetus in ministry. It was obvious that Georgina was looking forward to being involved with the whole process of rebuilding and developing a new congregation for future generations. It is stories like these that we need to tell,to encourage one another and bless each other in the work of the Kingdom.
We finished the afternoon off with a short Communion Service. Georgie had this picture up for all to look at. Normally I'm not into holy pictures of Jesus. However this one caught my attention. There is something about his eyes, that draw me to keep looking. During the communion as bread and wine were passed around I ouldn't help looking at the Christ image. The following words are written under it in spanish " But who do you say that I am?" At the end of the day it is what we believe about Jesus that in turn shapes our lives and our actions. Peter's reply was simply " We believe you are the Christ the Son of the living God" What an amazing confession, what an amazing idea God has come among us, and we who believe are entrusted with the message of hope and redemption. No wonder we need to see our churches open and our faith being shared in the market place.
Posted By: italker On: 3 Apr 2012 At: 6:27pm
Exactly!