Thought For The Week 21 April 2024

As you will know, our Parish Council has dedicated a significant amount of time and energy over the summer into seeking God’s guidance for a sustainable future for our parish.

Our costs are rising, year on year, and our congregation is ageing and finding it difficult to meet these increasing demands. Our ability to make up the financial shortfall from reserves is diminishing.

We sought advice from Presbytery. Their response was twofold:

First, they encouraged us to focus on God’s future for the mission of the church, rather than our budget deficit. Second, they pointed out that while our “ministry” costs are in line with similar parishes in the region, our “administrative” costs are significantly higher. Much of this difference is linked to the cost of running two sites for mission and worship.

It is hard to imagine what our church might look like 20 years from now. Our world is just changing so fast. However, things that are good now, will still be good then. Loving one another as Christ has loved us. Growing in our faith. Reaching out into our community with the Good News that we can find love and freedom in Christ.

One passage that has come up again and again in our meetings is the parable of the new wineskins. It appears 3 times in scripture. First, in Mark 2:22 “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.” Then, Luke 5:37-39 adds “And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, ‘The old is better.’” Finally, Matthew 9:17 remembers “they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.””

What is the new wine that God is pouring out for us? What is the old wine, which tastes better to us who have tasted it? How might both be preserved?

In our prayerful discernment at Parish Council, two things are beginning to emerge, and we are inviting the congregation to join us in praying for God’s will to become clear to us all.

First, we believe that the time is ripe to begin a new expression of worship, growing out of our community facing ministries. We are praying for God’s guidance: How can we draw families into an exploration of faith?

Second, we can see that significant amounts of money, but more importantly, the time and energy of our volunteers and staff, are tied up in maintaining two sets of property. We are praying for discernment: Is the time ripe for us to move to one site?

Over the last few months, the Parish Council has bathed these issues in prayer. We need your help too! We are inviting our congregation to join us in prayer and discernment. Throughout the month of May, we will be holding a 15 minute prayer time before each service, 9am at Trinity, and 10am at St. Stephens, asking for God’s guidance, so we can move forward, together.

On behalf of the Parish Council,

Rory