I am proud of my congregation

I was very moved by the comments and questions from the people of my church, St Columba’s, during the extra-ordinary meeting of our congregation which immediately following the morning service this past Sunday. 

We called the meeting in order to provide an opportunity before the summer holiday for the congregation to ask questions and discuss the recent decisions of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland relating to Aberdeen Presbytery. 

I have to say that I can’t remember when a congregational meeting was so well-attended, and I think that is indicative of the extent to which people have been affected to the core by recent events.  The mood of the meeting was both prayerful and serious.  There was a powerful sense of God’s presence and I was exceptionally proud of the Christian maturity demonstrated so clearly in the penetrating comments and probing questions.  It is clear to me, as the congregation’s pastor, that recent decisions have had a very damaging effect all round.  As one, our meeting was agreed on the one hand about the need to exercise patience whilst the Special Commission does its work, and whilst other groups, such as the Fellowship of Confessing Churches, and perhaps one or two other evangelical groups, meet, pray and strategise.  On the other, the meeting wants the elders and congregation to do all possible, in concert with others, to determine what the will of God is and to follow it, whatever that might mean in practical terms

What really struck me forcibly was the unity in our congregation about these issues, and I give God great thanks for that.  It feels a wonderful thing to me to have the full support of my congregation behind me on an issue of such importance and with such far-reaching consequences.  It gives me a great sense of confidence with which to act as I see fit and speak out as I think best.

I would also have to say that a number of those who attended that meeting spoke for many when they said how disappointed, even disgusted, they felt at the decisions of the Kirk.  One person was representative of at least a number when saying how they had felt that they did not wish to belong to a church that had made such a decision.  What has been noticeable has been the disillusionment felt by Kirk folk born and bred.  Those who know nothing other than the Kirk of their parents and grandparents have been rocked to their foundations, and some have lost respect for the church in which they have spent all of their lives and in which they have come to faith.

Our congregational meeting was unanimous in looking to me as minister, and to the elders of the congregation, for a leadership that is forthright and confident, and which will meet the congregation’s high expectations that all possible courses of action should be taken.  I thank God for a congregation that is committed to the glory of His name and which is deeply sorrowing that the Kirk is straying so far from His way, and I pray that by God’s grace we the elders will not fail them as we speak and act.

Soli Deo Gloria