Neil MacMillan's Blog
Catch Me If You Can
Friday, December 18, 2009
It’s been a while. Too long really. That means I’ve got a lot to talk about, but I’ll try to keep it snappy.
Skye was good. It demonstrated two of the different kind of challenges we face in the FCOS. One was a small, ageing, rural congregation, trying to work out how it can grow again. The other, in the gigatropolis of Portree, was the challenge of growth. When a congregation is growing and its leadership, its meeting place and its resources are stretched to capacity, how do you keep it growing and yet still serve the needs of the ever-increasing number of people who are attending?
Next stop, Kilmallie by Fort William. Déja vu, baby. Outgrowing its building, an overstretched minister, attracting more and more people, the situation in Kilmallie is very similar to Portree. It is a fantastic challenge to the Free Church to work out how we can give these congregations the help they need to keep developing their mission and ministry.
After that, I went hubbing. A hub is a congregation which receives a concentrated programme of training for leaders and members. This is intended to help them to become more effective in local mission. These congregations are also asked to pass on some of the training to other congregations around them. This is the hub (and spokes) part of the deal. In November, I had a weekend in Ferintosh & Resolis, one of the first hubs. The workshop with the congregation was called ‘@ Work 4 God’. We looked at how Christians can live out their faith in their work environment, whether that be the office, the farm, the home or the community. They told me it was the best workshop I had done with them. Being Scottish, I took that to mean all the others were rubbish. Ferintosh & Resolis is another growing congregation and has just completed a really fine refurb of one of their church buildings.
My next hub trip was Thurso. Thurso is right on the north coast of Scotland. The small congregation there is really engaged with the community and new people are attending church in a slow, but steady, stream. Pray for these people that they will come to faith. The hyperactive minister of Thurso is also trying to reignite the Free Church in Bettyhill and the surrounding area. In addition, he is helping out the Helmsdale congregation, which is currently without a minster. I joined his wife in a brief spell of nagging him - “slow down Kenny, you’re going to burn out”. The next day, Kenny’s car skidded on black ice, rolled down a hill and landed in a river. Shaken, but unharmed, Kenny is a reminder of the pressure ministers are under.
At the beginning of December, I headed to the Western Isles. This was a chance to hang out with my ultra cool father-in-law, Murdani Mast. He has an endless stream of brilliant, funny stories about his life at sea. It was also a chance to reconnect with some of my own roots in the parish of Ness. I preached there over the weekend, and really enjoyed the fellowship and encouragement of the minister and his wife, and their congregation. I think most of my relatives in the locality gave me the body swerve, but can you blame them? Whilst in Lewis, I also got a chance to meet with the new Presbytery Evangelism Facilitator. I am very excited by the potential of this new work to reach people who may have previously rejected church.
From Lewis to Harris, where we have a church revitalisation project under the leadership of the genial Ruairidh Maclean. The congregation have just built a new hall and now are looking to make the best use of it, especially as they strengthen their focus on evangelism.
My journeying around does kind of wear me out, but it also gives me a huge boost. It is great to see hardworking ministers and congregations growing and developing. We have such a wonderful message in the Gospel and I celebrate the fact that so many Free Church people are passionate about the Lord, and about mission in their community.
