The Free Church of Scotland has officially launched its new rural initiative, the Centre for Rural Ministry.
The Centre was initiated by Skye and Wester Ross presbytery but with a Scotland-wide remit to resource remote and rural Free Church congregations.
The aim is threefold: firstly, to contribute to the foundations of rural ministry through serious reflection on the theology and practice of rural ministry. Secondly, it will help to match up under-resourced churches with resource-rich congregations and parachurch agencies. It will also provide specialist help to assist congregations develop their full potential. Thirdly, it will also contribute to ministry recruitment in innovative ways such as summer ‘Gatherings’ on a Skye croft where the call to rural ministry will be discussed.
The Centre has no building but instead has a team of nine people who are committed to the growth of Christ’s kingdom in rural Scotland. The team are drawn from Aberdeenshire, Inverness-shire, Lochaber, Edinburgh, Wester Ross and Skye and held their first meeting on Saturday 2 November in Perth.
The following day the Director for Rural Ministry, the Revd Ivor MacDonald participated in a Harvest Thanksgiving event in Dingwall organised by the Revd Calum Iain Macleod in conjunction with Dingwall and Highland Marts.
Two hundred, many from the farming community, attended. Calum Iain preached, guest speakers spoke on the theme of resilience in the farming community. and the Highland Harvest Band led uplifting praise.
