Ministries Council – Priority Areas Committee Celebrating the Past – Glimpsing the Future Introduction When the Priority Areas Committee was formed in 2003 a commitment was given to review the Committee’s work no later than 2010 in order to discern what role, if any, such a body should have in the ongoing life of the Church of Scotland. In bringing this report to the General Assembly, as well as through the wide-ranging discussions which have accompanied it, the Ministries Council is seeking to fulfil the first part of this obligation. In this report we review some of the work undertaken over the last seven years and seek to lay out the core principles and priorities for the future. Over the next year we will continue to work on these priorities and will bring a more detailed programme of activity to the 2010 General Assembly. Poverty remains a reality for a very significant percentage of Scotland’s population. Despite significant improvements over the last ten years a quarter of Scotland’s children are still growing up in poverty. Whilst the numbers of pensioners living in poverty has, thankfully, fallen, the numbers of people who are in work and poor has risen. As the economic recession hits many over the coming year, it will be those who can least afford it who will suffer the most. Poor people live in every part of Scotland. In recent years there has been an increased understanding of some of the particular problems of rural poverty. Yet the cities are where inequality is most stark. Vast differences exist between the richest and poorest living only amile or so apart. In some parts of Scotland male life expectancy is in the low to mid fifties whereas in other neighbourhoods you can live well into your eighties. In short, people struggling against poverty die younger than people who are better off. This is an affront to a country of Scotland’s wealth and natural resources. It is also an affront to the Gospel and God’s passion for the poor. It was in response to the growing understanding of poverty in Scotland that the Church of Scotland established the Urban Priority Areas Committee in the early 1990s. That body did a great deal over a ten year period to raise awareness of the issues and to begin to effect change. In 2009 many of the challenges which faced our poorest neighbourhoods then are sadly similar to those we faced then: poor health, poor housing, poor schooling, low levels of income and high levels of unemployment. In other respects we now face new challenges. We are increasingly facing a time of enormous economic uncertainty locally, nationally and globally. Although there has been a great deal written about how this turbulence is effecting the wealthy and powerful, the real victims are the poorest. This is the very group of people who have benefited least from the times of plenty. We have become increasingly aware of the huge impact which climate change is having on all of our lives. Once again, however, it is the poorest who will suffer most for the environmental irresponsibility of others. People in priority areas frequently have the lowest carbon footprints but often suffer most from the impact of global warming in, for example, increased heating and food costs. As we look forward we are committed to ensure that the work we do will be as environmentally friendly as possible. Sharing the Pain – Holding the Hope In 2002 the Board of National Mission brought the report Sharing the Pain – Holding the Hope to the General Assembly. It was the result of a three year process, investigating the needs and issues facing the very poorest parishes in Scotland and the Church of Scotland congregations which were serving them. The report stated: Without action and a critical realignment of resources over the next five years many of the churches in Scotland’s poorest parishes will die. If these congregations are allowed to perish through a lack of resources, the whole Church of Scotland will be critically, and perhaps irredeemably, damaged. If we cannot announce ‘good news to the poor,’ who can we announce good news to? In response to this challenge the Church has committed to making priority area parishes a genuine priority. It has consistently over these years reaffirmed the statement of the 2002 General Assembly: ‘Priority for the poorest and most marginalised is the gospel imperative facing the whole Church and not just the Church in our poorest communities.’ Significant additional resources have been made available, in terms of support, people and fabric. In making this commitment – and in deliberating placing the work of priority areas at the heart of its decision making structures – the Church of Scotland has, according to some commentators, been a pioneer amongst mainstream Christian denominations in Western Europe. It is clear that the Church has come a long way over these last seven years. The very fact that the Church in priority areas is still here is testimony to that. The generosity and commitment of the whole Church has helped the Church in our poorest places to survive. Congregations in priority areas would want to acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe to others for their continuing generosity. As the same time, we are clear that we contribute an enormous amount to the wider Church, financially but also through the creativity and engagement which are foundational to the ways that we work Freed from the constant need to justify our existence, and becoming more effectively resourced, some congregations have begun to develop a fresh sense of boldness, confidence and an increasing willingness to take risks for the sake of the Gospel. This is not to pretend that the Church is necessarily growing numerically in priority areas. That is not the case, although it is true of a number of individual congregations are growing in terms of numbers and in many more commitment is deepening. There is a culture of increased resilience and togetherness which is complimenting growing levels of commitment, the willingness to take risks and the spirit of generosity which embody the Church in priority areas. We believe that these changes are significant not only for the Church in our neighbourhoods but also for the Church as a whole. One person summed this up when he observed at our recent Priority Areas Consultation: ‘A number of years ago we used to come to this event to share our problems and to have a good moan. Now we come to share possibilities and to celebrate together.’ This change in attitude may be part of a wider change of ethos across many parts of the Church inspired by the Church Without Walls. However, we also believe that particular changes are occurring in our congregations and communities both because of the way that we have been valued and supported by the wider Church and also because of the particular networks and resources that we have been able to develop. Alongside these elements there is a recognition that the Priority Areas Committee has sought to operate in a distinctive manner which has been deliberately responsive to local issues. That so many people from local churches have been involved in the production of this report is itself an illustration of that working model. We learn so much from collaborative working. What We Celebrate and Give Thanks to God for The 2002 Report highlighted crises in relation to buildings and staffing as the two most important challenges facing the Church in priority areas at that time. Whilst a great deal remains to be done – indeed in some cases the situation has become even more precarious – real progress has been made. The decision of successive General Assemblies to give a particular weighting to priority area parishes has resulted in a commitment to increased staffing levels for many of the churches serving our poorest neighbourhoods. As a result there are now people on the ground that are making a real difference. It is critical looking forward that the additional posts agreed for priority areas in Presbytery Plans continue to be filled. Another important challenge will be to work with the very small number of presbyteries where the priority areas weighting has not been reflected in additional staffing for the poorest parishes. Alongside the increased staffing secured through the Presbytery Planning process, additional staff appointments are also being created through the Priority Areas Staffing Fund, established by the Ministries Council in January 2007 and managed and administered on its behalf by the Parish Development Fund. In its first two years the fund has helped to part-fund 11 new posts and this number is likely to increase over the coming years. Importantly this fund is available to congregations on the Priority Areas Supplementary List – the next rung of poorest parishes in Scotland – as well as to those on the main list. This decision, approved by last year’s General Assembly, represents the first significant step taken by the Council to widen its support to congregations seeking to tackle poverty beyond the 58 designated priority areas. This long term commitment to increased staffing in the very poorest neighbourhoods has attracted interest from a wide range of other agencies and organisations across both Scotland and the UK. It is to the Church’s credit that it has held its nerve and kept its commitment to these areas at a time of economic turndown and likely decreasing levels of public funding. In terms of buildings there has been progress in a number of places although there is also fear of impending crises just around the corner for many, and already here by the bucket load (quite literally) for others. The support and commitment of the General Trustees has been hugely important. Significant grants have helped to lever in substantial external sources of funding in a number of instances. For example, in Ruchazie (Glasgow), a grant of £70,000 has helped to generate ten times that amount and has enabled the development of a significant community resource within the area. Added to their financial support, the General Trustees have also enabled congregations to think through the possibilities of development creatively and then to manage the technical business of building work professionally. The last year has also seen final agreement within the Church to build two new church buildings – in Garthamlock and in central Easterhouse – where the current buildings are long past their effective usage. This commitment is again to be celebrated, albeit with the caveat that the same needs exist for a number of other congregations but it is difficult to see where the necessary resources will come from. Over the last seven years there are many other things to be celebrated. These include: * Twinning where almost 20 priority area parishes have developed deep relationships with congregations in more prosperous – and different – neighbourhoods. Through these new relationships we are learning that together we are the Body of Christ and that to be the Church we need one another. * Together for a Change, our international exchange programme has enabled people who know about poverty in their guts rather than simply their heads to share wisdom across the continents. In the past five years we have worked with four communities (two in Scotland and two in Africa). In the next four years we intend to work with another six. One person, with a lifetime’s experience in the Church and in International Development, has described Together for a Change as ‘the best thing the Church of Scotland has ever done.’ * Coaching has enabled Church leaders to become more resilient and effective in their ministries, helping to produce, in turn, more effective and resilient congregations and communities. In less than two years over 25 people engaged in ministries in priority areas have undertaken (or are in the process of undertaking) coaching. The impact of this support has been magnificent. One highly effective minister, for example, has described the coaching programme as the most significant support he has received from the wider Church in over 20 years of ministry. * Unlock Glasgow helps bring the Bible to life. It has worked with 19 congregations and communities helping people to engage with the Bible in ways that make sense in relation to the context and to reflect on how their life and the lives of others can be better. Ten new resources have been published (www.unlockglasgow.org.uk) and up to 12 leaders identified who are committed to taking this work forward. * Soul Marks harnesses the participatory arts, working with a small number of congregations (six over the last 2 years) for a period of up to a year. This work is helping to develop new models of worship which are inclusive, participatory and transformative. In this current year we are working with an additional five congregations to help them to develop Quiet Spaces for prayer and reflection within their buildings. * Faith in Community Scotland initially began in Glasgow but is increasingly active in other parts of the country. It helps local faith communities to make the differences that they crave. This partnership organisation, with directors from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities, both helps people to tackle the causes and symptoms of poverty in our poorest places and also makes an important contribution to interfaith working. In the last three years its team in Glasgow has supported work in thirty three of the thirty eight poorest neighbourhoods in the city. In all of this we don’t kid ourselves – or others – that everything that we have tried has worked. Nor do we pretend that we are supporting anything other than a very small proportion of what needs to be done. But nevertheless, we sense that things are changing. We are seeing God at work in exciting and new ways in places that have always been special to God. We are witnessing creative new partnerships, holy moments and the natural blurring of the distinction between the local church and the wider neighbourhood. This work is about more than staving off death. It is also about renewal and resurrection in the place where the cross is a living reality for many people. Looking to the Future Over the past year the Committee – and wider priority areas constituency – has evaluated its work and tried to discern future principles and priorities. We have also considered the possibility that after seven years our work is done. However, nowhere within the wide range of conversations that have taken place has this possibility been supported. Rather the challenge is how to take forward the Church’s commitment to the poorest and most marginalised over the next seven years. In these deliberations we have been helped by representatives of other Councils and Committees of the General Assembly, other Christian denominations and some of the people who have financially and prayerfully supported our work over the last number of years. We are also very grateful to Ann Morisy (a well known theologian and author) who has been one of a number of people who have been critical friends over that time. Ann has been particularly involved over this past year and it is hoped in 2009 will co-author a book with Martin Johnstone, the Council’s Associate Secretary with responsibility for priority area, on our past, present and future work. The most important contributors to this strategy, however, are correctly the people who work and live in the struggle and celebration of life in our very poorest communities. We acknowledge that these are the people who have the insights that really matter. We have gathered this wisdom through a series of in depth interviews (carried out by Ann Morisy) of people from eighteen priority area congregations, through our National Consultation in November 2008 – Celebrating the Past – Glimpsing the Future – and through numerous individual conversations and contributions. We also held a gathering in January 2009 to discuss, amend and improve and earlier draft of this report. As such, it comes to the General Assembly representing, we hope, the combined wishes and aspirations of our constituency. After Seven Years, Seven Marks In our National Consultation last November the Book of Revelation (and particularly Chapter 22) was a focus for our worship and a backcloth to our conversation. In Revelation the apostle John recounts letters to the seven churches and concludes with a series of apocalyptic images about the future heavenly city. In the final session of our consultation, groups of participants shared their own letters from the churches recounting who Jesus is for us, what we are encouraged by as we look back and what we are challenged to do as we look forward. As we have done so we have discerned seven core principles that we will strive to operate by in the future. These principles – or marks – run alongside the four principles which have shaped our work thus far. Our existing principles are: * Priority must mean priority. When the Church talks about priority areas that needs to mean that we choose to put a significant proportion of our energy, commitment and resources into our poorest neighbourhoods. That is relatively painless in times of plenty but the real test of our commitment is to continue to do so in more straitened times. There are huge benefits for the whole Church in this gospel commitment. * Accountability to the local. It has been, and remains, a privilege for the Priority Areas Committee to operate within the Board of National Mission and now the Ministries Council. The Committee is clear about its accountability to these bodies and, ultimately, through them to the whole Church. Such accountability is vital, particularly given the commitment which the wider Church has made to our churches and communities. However, our first accountability is to local churches comprising of local people in struggling neighbourhoods. If they don’t think we are doing a good job then we are not. * Partnership is the only way. The days when the Church of Scotland could go it alone are, thankfully, over. Over the last seven years we have continuously recognised how important it is to work with others who share our passion for things to be better. Our partners are a diverse group of individuals and agencies. They include churches in other neighbourhoods, other Christian denominations and faith communities in our own areas, the public sector, a considerable number of anti-poverty movements and a range of small charities and organisations. Of course such partnerships are not always easy – and partners will not always agree on everything – but it is clear that we achieve so much more by working together. * Priority Areas are good places to be. The more we see how people in priority areas are prepared to support and care for each other, the more it becomes clear that there are significant positive features in our neighbourhoods. These are areas of astonishing creativity, enormous resilience and frequently incredible generosity. We seek continuously to highlight these and the other elements that are an important part of the life of priority areas and so many other parishes in Scotland. The real news story is not the people who fail but the extraordinary numbers of people who manage and flourish, apparently against all the odds. Alongside these existing principles, we can begin to identify a number of emerging marks which we hope will help to guide and direct our work over the next period. 1. God is in the real. Our experience is that God is very present in the day to day realities of priority areas – in the pain and the struggle as well as in the laughter and the celebration. Any self-delusion or spin or attempt to minimise the struggle makes it harder to discern God. In the words of one person interviewed over the last year: ‘Priority areas are good places to be. They are “thin places” where the relationship between heaven and earth is palpable.’ Our churches, our communities and our gatherings are places of tears intermingled with incredible humour. And God’s presence is palpable. 2. The principle of “the cup half full.” We have been influenced by the principles of Appreciative Inquiry. Whilst a great deal of work over the years has focused on what is wrong in neighbourhoods and organisations – and what can be done to overcome these problems – Appreciative Inquiry starts in the opposite place. It asks, ‘What is going well round here?’ ‘Why is it going well?’ ‘And how can we build up and increase the things that are going well?’ Appreciative Inquiry builds up the assets of people and neighbourhoods and creates the necessary virtuous cycles which can generate sustainable change and transformation. Over and over again during the last seven years we have discovered that when people have been able to identify what is going right – and why – they have been enabled to address some of the problems which have appeared insurmountable. Getting the good things in perspective is important. Our sense is that the promotion of this model of working, initially by gut instinct but increasingly now through training and encouragement, is revolutionary in its application and can have a profound impact on many churches throughout Scotland. 3. Valuing simplicity and the little things. We are all inclined to shy away from brokenness and vulnerability. As a result we dismiss many of the things which happen in churches as failures. However, our experience is that brokenness and vulnerability is the place where God becomes real and reliable for people. This means we must remain content to be vulnerable and straightforward, always alert to the little things which often change people and neighbourhoods. One person told us how a little thing like offering the Church as a place where a couple addicted to drugs could have hot water to wash was a catalyst in helping them to get off drugs. Through these thousands of small acts of kindness people begin (and continue) to believe that their place is a good place to be and that God is present in our midst. 4. Believing in the miraculous. Virtually every person who was present at Carberry Tower at our National Consultation could point to times when God broke in to their life, the life of someone close to them and into the life of their local community. One person spoke of a friend who had been struggling with alcoholism for more than twenty years. ‘She couldn’t believe in God. So many of her friends helped her at different times but the cycle of her life was just the same. She lost so much. Her life fell apart. A few months ago she prayed to the God she hasn’t been able to believe in. She had a “near death” experience. Her cravings for alcohol have gone. She hasn’t had a drink for more than six months. She is looking for a sense of purpose now because her new, sober self is a scary place to be.’ It should not surprise us that these profound and transformative experiences of God appear to happen most regularly amongst people for whom life is hardest and where the pretence that we can manage on our own has been stripped away. We have a sense, backed up by a growing body of evidence, that many people are open to very deep spiritual experiences in which they sense that God is very close to them. It should not surprise us that when one congregation took the time to ask local people what they wanted the Church to do for them the most popular request was that the Church would provide an open place for prayer and people who would pray with (and for) those who were struggling. 5. Unity comes through shared commitment. The network of people involved in priority areas draws from a wide range of theological perspectives and practices, but nevertheless people have a deep sense of being part of a movement that demonstrates solidarity and energy. This solidarity is rooted in shared commitments – to Jesus, to the Church and to those who struggle against poverty. The same is true in relation to much of our work in twinning or internationally and, to a very large extent, when we are working with people of other faiths (and of no faith). We need to be careful not to pretend that there are not differences – there are and so there should be – but there is also a sense of togetherness. This is unity in diversity – a unity that comes through shared common tasks. 6. Resourcing individuals to transform neighbourhoods. Political dogma has a tendency to oscillate between supporting the individual and supporting the neighbourhood. The problem with the first is that individuals, particularly as they gain skills and become more prosperous, have a tendency to move, leaving the neighbourhood bereft of one more skilled person. The problem at the other end of the spectrum is that supporting neighbourhoods rarely seems to result in resources going to where they are most acutely needed. Over the last number of years we have chosen to focus a considerable amount of energy supporting individuals within priority areas. On many occasions these have been involved in our paid ministries but increasingly it is a far wider circle. Many of the people in our churches are truly remarkable people – people who have led astonishing lives and done incredible things often against all the odds. Increasingly at our gatherings we are privileged to have amongst us a number of individuals for whom the struggles against addiction, violence and poverty are etched on people’s faces. We have to find the ways – and we are beginning to do so – to allow this group of people to take on new leadership roles (and to be effectively supported, trained and resourced in these emerging ministries). When local leaders emerge – people who know about struggle in their hearts and their heads and who also have natural networks and credibility in the local area – dramatic things are able to happen. When we look, for example, at some of the inspiring work happening in communities like Wester Hailes, Ruchazie and Cranhill, much of the effectiveness is down to the fact that it is local people who are being equipped to lead. This presents us with the opportunity of shifting from being a Church which supports the poor to becoming a Church which harnesses the exceptional gifts and capacities of the poorest and most marginalised in our society. 7. Focused on the local. Neighbourhoods are changing. The pace of change in priority areas can be overwhelming. Over the last decade whole swathes of housing schemes and inner city communities have been demolished and replaced, although often not as quickly as promised. As well as the social mix of neighbourhoods changing, so too has the cultural, ethnic and faith mix. People who now live next door to one another can have come from two or three different continents and represent a similar religious diversity. The world has become local and in these increasingly ‘glocal’ neighbourhoods where trust can often be in short supply, the local church has a critical role to play in extending the reach of neighbourliness. We have a strong sense that the Church has a unique role to play in the development of more cohesive, grounded and hopeful neighbourhoods. The central and regional Church has important functions to fulfil. However, from the perspective of the Church in priority areas our plea to these wider Church structures is that they will use the resources at their disposal to equip local churches and use their structural position to act as connectors and communicators between local people and places. These marks of the Church are the principles which we hope and believe should be our defining qualities as we face the future. We recognise that they are not unique to the Church in priority areas – of course not – but they are clearly evident within our particular context. Alongside these principles, however, action needs to be taken. Seven Priorities for Seven Years Looking back to the 2002 General Assembly Report it is clear there has been considerable progress in a number of areas, but some challenges have yet to be adequately addressed. We need to sort out the problem of buildings. Church buildings are huge assets and enable a great deal of immensely important things to happen in local neighbourhoods. They have increasingly become key community resources as other local facilities have been forced to close or letting charges have made them inaccessible to local people and groups. At the same time, the struggle to look after our decaying buildings often places an intolerable burden on people who are already faced with difficult circumstances. Some of the comments we have heard include: ‘The building can sap your energy, everything seems to break down.’ And ‘If someone hires the building I’m praying that the heating comes on when it should and the toilets work.’ This is not a problem which is unique to the Church in our poorest neighbourhoods but it is very acutely felt within many of them. Over the next few years we anticipate it will become harder to put together the sort of partnerships that enable the burden of redevelopment to be shared. Nevertheless, it is essential that we find the ways to ensure that the Church has a fitting physical presence in priority areas. The local places where people from priority areas spend a huge proportion of their time are particularly important. Here our buildings matter more than in many other areas. The 2002 Report advocated the establishment of a Property Unit serving priority area parishes. That was resisted because of concern to keep decision-making local. However, we need some creative solution(s) if the burden of that right to make decisions is not to be pyrrhic in character. We are currently working with the General Trustees – and others – to try to discern visionary (and achievable) ways forward. This might involve the establishment of an organisation that can undertake many of the complex roles and responsibilities that are necessary to move a major capital development from vision to reality on behalf of local congregations. At a more local level, it might involve local churches grouping together to employ someone (or an organisation) to undertake key building management tasks on their behalf. Any vision for today will require to take into account the need for our buildings to be environmentally sustainable as well as affordable for local churches to operate. One really exciting illustration of the future potential is the work currently underway in Colston Milton (Glasgow) where the local congregation is looking at the possibility of developing a carbon neutral building make from recycled materials and built by local people. Nothing provides a greater opportunity for building community than people working together to build their own facilities. Our structures and processes need to be simplified. The 2002 report stated: The Church, like any institution, needs structures in order to operate effectively. However, it is clear that the central structures of the Church often seem remote and inappropriate to many local congregations. … More critically, they appear to serve the needs of the central structures as opposed to the local Church. It is clear that new structures are needed and that these must be determined by local needs. As a first step, there must be a major rationalisation of the administrative systems of the central Church so that only essential information is requested from local congregations. Developments such as the introduction of the Unitary Constitution, have reduced the need for local meetings, but nevertheless, our systems frequently remain unbearably cumbersome and demanding, particularly for small congregations, with members unused to such bureaucratic processes and facing many other pressures. Additionally, when a decision is being made in relation to a priority area congregation, too many individuals and committees become involved in the process – a process from which the local congregation can often feel excluded. There is a commonly held view across many parts of the Church that much of the information which is requested by the Church’s central administration is increasingly irrelevant or that, if requested, is then not properly used. Although numbers are important, we think that there is an increasing need to gather information through stories. Sharing our stories would help us to communicate something of what it means the be the Church today. The Priority Areas Committee, as part of the central administrative structures of the Church of Scotland, is alert to the danger of becoming part of the problem rather than part of the solution. However, notwithstanding that fact, we issue a common plea that together we can look at how things can be simpler so as local people – in all churches not just those serving our poorest neighbourhoods – can spend our time dealing with the things that really matter. Alongside these pieces of unfinished business are other priorities which we seek to commit ourselves to over the coming years. The time is right to extend our support. The most important decision taken seven years ago was to shift from supporting 330 Urban Priority Areas to just 54 of the most deprived Priority Area Parishes (extended to 58 in November 2007). This enabled the Priority Area Committee to identify more accurately the issues and to respond more effectively. This has in turn helped the wider Church to focus time, energy and resources on the very poorest neighbourhoods. It is a strategy which has borne fruit. However, this decision to focus energy on the very poorest places was a decision based upon the recognition that we needed to start somewhere. It was never because poverty only existed in those places. Indeed over half the people living in poverty in Scotland today do not live in priority areas; albeit that it is in these areas that the greatest concentrations of poverty exist and the fewest internal resources are available to address this. We believe that the time is now right to extend our support to other parishes which are also striving to tackle the causes and symptoms of poverty in Scotland today. Some of that process is already underway with the funds available through the Priority Areas Staffing Fund which is available to a group of parishes wider than those on the main Priority Areas List. But we now want to look at how we can go further to effectively support additional communities and congregations working with particularly poor and marginalised groups and individuals. We are aware, for example, of the needs of people living in poverty in privately-rented accommodation and of the many people in low pay jobs. We may, in the future, need to broaden our focus to be thinking about priority people as opposed to simply priority areas. Any such development will need to be carefully managed in order that the resources that are available do not become so diluted that effectiveness is lost. The Priority Areas Committee’s staff comprises of only three paid members , though this team is supplemented by hugely committed volunteers and a far wider staff team working through our partners, most notably in Faith in Community Scotland, Unlock Glasgow and Soul Marks. We are aware of increasingly tight budgets across the Church and we will want to ensure that any expansion of support would be carefully managed to ensure that it would represent good value and a highly effective use of resources. We want to take our work right to the margins. One of the things which Ann Morisy shared with us at our National Consultation was her sense that people in priority area congregations are losing fear. This confirms the sense that many of us have of increased confidence and willingness, relying on God’s grace, to engage with some of the deepest and hardest problems facing our neighbourhoods. In order to build upon the work that we are already involved with at the margins we have undertaken joint work with Strathclyde Police’s Violence Reduction Unit and we have agreed to make marginalised young people one key focus of our work in the future. Alongside this, we are committed to exploring how we support prisoners and their families as well as those struggling against a range of addictions. One person has perceptively noted that ‘Today’s drug addicts are yesterdays’ lepers.’ We do have a sense that many of the current models of treatment and containment are not working – ‘Methadone is no answer’ – and that within our churches there are now people who can help to be part of the way forward. According to one person interviewed over the last year: ‘Only the people who have experienced it can really speak up about drugs. …. What really matters is that you’ve been there and got through it.’ Central to the effectiveness of this task will be a requirement to be clear about what can be achieved and who we can work effectively with. In undertaking this role we will also need to be clear about the risks that we are taking. We know that people’s lives can be hugely complex and chaotic and that the apparent resolution of one set of problems often leads to the emergence of another. We also know that working alongside people who are living turbulent and, on occasions, violent lives means that any progress is slow and can often be temporary. However, we are clear that if the Church does not have the courage to work with these folk there are few other organisations which will. As a people of faith we daily meet Jesus in the lives of broken people and we know the significance of these encounters. We want to tackle causes not just symptoms. Over the years many churches have done a phenomenal job in helping support people suffering the worst excesses of poverty. We celebrate this and we need to continue to develop and support that vital work. Alongside this, however, we want to invest increased time and energy in addressing the causes of poverty and not just its symptoms. We have been inspired by the experiences and insights of the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary (New York)1 and by the Community Organising Movements in various parts of England as well as overseas.2 Community organising enables people who are struggling against poverty to testify to what needs to change and keeps people who hold power accountable for their action – or inaction. This year’s Poverty Truth Commission has been an important step in relation to this work. We wish to prioritise this way of working over the next seven years. It will require the whole Church – and not just the Church in our poorest communities – to become more engaged and prophetic in our actions. This will also involve us trusting people who have direct experience of poverty as the natural leaders of change. We need to be intentional about supporting leaders. Our work over the last two years with faith leaders through our Coaching Programme is already beginning to pay dividends. It is helping us to encourage resilience in individuals and to develop a resilient community of Presbytery & Parish Workers (PPWs) and Ministers of Word & Sacrament. In looking forward we will seek to ensure that all those serving the Church in a paid capacity in our poorest parishes will have had the opportunity to participate in a coaching programme. Leadership, however, is wider than those in paid leadership. It also includes, to quote some of the voices that we have heard, a growing number of people who are ‘up for it’ and who are ‘ready for something.’ A small leadership network has already been established, comprising of a group of women, none of whom had seen themselves as leaders, but all of whom are exercising extraordinary ministries in their local churches and neighbourhoods. We hope to begin to develop a similar network for men. In addition, as we increasingly develop our work with marginalised young people, we will establish new leadership networks for this particular group of extraordinary people. Ann Morisy has commented that from the interviews to which she was party she gained a strong sense of something else is also beginning to happen: A new group of ministries and leaders is starting to emerge. They are not like the sort of ministries with which the Church of Scotland has typically functioned in the past. These are individuals who are coming from the edge of marginalised communities and frequently with broken lives. This is a group of people who, if nurtured effectively, will help to give the Church a different shape and character in the future. It will also, importantly, be different in different places as it is built around local leaders with local vision. Worship must be at the heart of what we do. At our core the church is a worshipping community of faith. We draw our strength from God and our calling is to follow Jesus, and to encourage others to do the same. Over the last number of years we have helped congregations in priority areas to develop fitting models of worship and reflection, drawing on the work of Soul Marks (which supports local churches to develop their worship through the participatory arts) and Unlock Glasgow (which has helped people to read the Bible in the light of their own experiences). Over the next period of time that investment in creative, contextual and participative worship will continue and develop. We will also explore how the healing ministry can be developed within congregations as we seek to rediscover a gift available to the Church which is a precious and distinctive contribution to the wider community. It is clear to see that one of the things that is bubbling-up in some priority area parishes is that worship has become increasingly participative, multi-sensory and multi-dimensional. It is not just words. It is not just music. It is not just art. It is not just activity. It feels like contextually appropriate models of worship are emerging. Small congregations have made it possible to explore the scope for creativity and participation. People interviewed by Ann Morisy repeatedly mentioned the significance of worship to them, and how much of a surprise it had been to find worship which is so engaging and accessible. Those new to church where convinced that more people would come to church if they knew how lively, thoughtful and special worship is. Picking up on the language of Leonard Sweet, the worship which is emerging in many priority areas has been described as EPIC:_ experiential, participative, image-rich and contributory. Critically we are also increasingly seeking to foster such worship outside the normal congregational settings as we strive to take the gift of worship into the broader life of our neighbourhoods. Towards an Emerging Theology In these marks and new priorities, looking back and looking forward we begin to sense that a new theology is taking shape in our poorest communities. Of course it is still embryonic but it is also appears to function across priority areas and to be relatively cohesive and coherent. Brokenness is holy ground. It is a blessing to have a new day. This new day will bring new challenges that may add to our brokenness, because vulnerability is inescapable. It is in this place that we discover mysterious blessings that provide deep reassurance of God’s presence. We know this from past experience and we have no reason to doubt God’s alongsideness and faithfulness into the future. 1 The Poverty Initiative is a movement which has grown up in the United States around Union Theological Seminary in New York. It works not only at helping those training for ministries to consider how their work can be intentionally focused around the most marginalised but it seeks to ensure that people experiencing poverty are at the forefront of the organisation. 2 The recently elected President of the United States of America is someone who learnt his political skills (and gained his faith) as a church-based community organiser ?? ?? ?? ?? 1