Hello everyone,
In travelling around our congregations one of the principle questions people ask is can our church grow? We have lived so long with ideas of church decline we believe that is the only trajectory for churches today. When you add in the amount of congregational amalgamations, building closures and decline in ministry numbers it all reinforces the same message. Yet research says this is not the whole story. The Bible Society undertook research in England and Wales of church going and faith amongst Generation Z and they found there is an increase in faith amongst younger generations. That is right an increase! Rather than declining, faith amongst younger generations is growing. Attached is the report they commissioned, you can find more information here The Quiet Revival: Gen Z leads rise in church attendance and here is a video on YouTube https://youtu.be/dty_l73deSY.
Why doesn’t that happen here perhaps is the question? To help you think about how to reach out here are just a few questions.
How does your congregation actually connect with younger generations?
Does your congregation prepare and train parents and grandparents to communicate faith to their children and grandchildren?
Do you prepare any young folks you have to actively share their faith with their friends?
Are your church doors open or closed once the service starts? If someone is late how do they get in?
What leadership roles do you give younger people? How do the younger people influence and shape your congregations voice to their generations?
If we want to reach out we need to go to them not expect them to come to us. When you think about it, Jesus command was to GO. The onus is on us to take the initiative.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18 – 20
This week we are asked to pray for:
June 29th World Church links
We remember in prayer our links with Revd. Rola Sleiman in Lebanon; Revd Tara Curlewis, minister at St Andrew's Church of Scotland in Rome & Reformed Ecumenical Liaison Officer for the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) in Rome; our friends and partners in Malawi & in the Diocese of Eastern Himalaya in North India
Friends of Lyne Kirk are looking for some large print Ch3 hymn books - which are no longer in print - for Lyne Kirk. With the number of Kirk closures within the Presbytery they were wondering if there was some surplus supplies.
If you have any please contact me and I will put you in touch with locals at Lyne.
Here are two items on the recent charity changes brought in by OSCR. For those looking for details of the webinar, read these.
Dear Presbytery Clerk,
Further to my earlier email the link to the webinar on Tuesday 24th June is below. I would be grateful if you could distribute this to all Session Clerks within your Presbytery (where appropriate).
The webinar will be live and there will be the opportunity to submit questions in writing in advance and on the night. Cameras and microphones of all attendees will be turned off. If I cannot answer a question on the night I will answer it as soon as possible after the event.
A version of the webinar will be recorded and made available on the website for those who cannot attend. I would ask that only 1 trustee from each congregation joins the webinar in order to enable access for as many congregations as possible. Kirk Session’s may wish to take the opportunity for all trustees to watch the recording at a Session meeting by accessing the link from the web page at a later date.
The webinar is only relevant to congregations and Presbyteries who are registered charities in Scotland and subject to the terms of the 2023 Charities (Regulation and Administration)(Scotland) Act.
I am grateful for your assistance in sharing the link with congregations in your Presbytery.
Presbytery Clerk's are also welcome to attend!
Regards,
Madelaine
Madelaine Sproule | Solicitor |Law Department | The Church of Scotland
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Dear Presbytery Clerk,
Further to the guidance which was issued a few weeks ago regarding the requirement in terms of the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023 to provide personal data of all charity trustees to OSCR, I can advise that the date for the requirement to come into force has been announced as 30 June 2025.
You can find a news bulletin from the OSCR website here.
Any charity completing their annual return online on or after 30 June 2025 will be required to include charity trustee information as part of the submission.
The public register of trustees names will be published from the end of 2025.
This requirement affects all Presbyteries and congregations registered with OSCR. I would be grateful if you would share this information with all Session Clerks, as applicable.
Should you have any queries regarding this please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Madelaine
Some info from the Sailors Society…
We are delighted to let you know that Sailors’ Society has launched its 2025 Sea Sunday resources for churches – available to download from our website at https://www.sailors-society.org/seasunday. Sea Sunday is set aside in the Church calendar as time for congregations to remember seafarers in prayer and to give thanks for their crucial work. Whilst the day is officially marked on the second Sunday in July you can celebrate anytime in the year. Whether you have just a few minutes or an entire service to highlight Sea Sunday, we are delighted to share our free-to-use resources and help shine a light on the lives of seafarers.
Our 2025 Sea Sunday theme is ‘Being there when a storm hits’. This theme has been chosen to mark the 10th anniversary of Sailors’ Society’s Crisis Response Network, which provides support for seafarers and their families. When a crisis hits at sea, it can be frightening and overwhelming for those caught up in it and also for those awaiting news of their loved ones on shore. But they do not need to face this alone. From piracy and imprisonment to shipwrecks and suicides, our global team of crisis responders continue to provide the immediate and long-term support that is needed, and we remain available across the world and around the clock.
To illustrate our work and the ethos behind it, we have chosen as the reading for Sea Sunday, Saint Matthew’s telling of how, when the disciples were terrified, caught up in a storm, Jesus went to them. And when Peter was sinking and cried out, how Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. As a Christian global maritime charity, we seek to mirror Christ’s example in the work we do and, through our Crisis Response Network, we have been able to reach out a helping hand, supporting seafarers and their families through some of the darkest times of their lives.
Hidden behind port walls or away at sea, most of us don’t give seafarers a second thought. But this invisible workforce is vast – 1.9 million men and women – and so is its impact on our lives. Over 90% of everything we own and use is brought to us by sea: life-saving medical equipment, food and drink, our cars and even the bricks that make up our homes. To do this, seafarers face a life that separates them from their families for up to a year and a job that can be gruelling and dangerous. We are here for them 24/7 and 365 days of the year, whenever they need us and wherever they are in the world.
For more than 200 years, Sailors’ Society has given spiritual, welfare and educational support to seafarers and their families. We hope our worship resources, with suggestions for a service, activities for children and young people and a PowerPoint and poster will help you celebrate Sea Sunday, joining churches across the world in remembering the world’s seafarers. The material is provided free of charge, but we would be very grateful if you would consider a donation to the charity to help us continue to bring hope and transformation into the lives of seafarers and their families.
In the future, should you prefer to be sent this information digitally or to change how we contact you, please email development@sailors-society.org.
Kind regards
Beth Courtier
Head of Development
T: +44(0)23 8051 5950
Sailors’ Society, Seafarer House, 74 St Annes Road, Southampton, Hampshire, SO19 9FF, UK
Supporting seafarers since 1818.
God bless you all in all you do. May you know his presence this week as you live out your calling. Please feel free to share these emails and if you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to give it (good or bad!). If you have a good news story or a request, please send them in and we will share.
God Bless
Norman Smith
Presbytery clerk