What if....?

PCEA Kahawa Farmers Congregation

While sitting through a 4 hour service at PCEA Kahawa Farmers I began thinking about the differences between the Church of Scotland (CoS) and the Presbyterian Church in East Africa (PCEA).  And not just the differences - but the differences that the differences make.  The 4 hour Sunday morning service was a Commissioning Service which takes place each year.  A few weeks ago all church members gathered at the home of their own district elder (there are 27 districts in the parish) and elected people to serve as deacons and leaders for the next year.  Likewise, new Kirk Session officials were elected from the elders.  After election there is a 1 day training for all leaders. Deacons serve for a period of 3 years and with a staggered system of some new deacons being elected each year.    Kirk Session officials serve for 1 year so there is a constant rotation between elders.  The upshot of this is that many more people feel they have a stake in the church - there were over 140 people standing at the front of the church being commissioned for service.  More people than in many Church of Scotland congregations!

And its not just the leaders that rotate service.  Ministers themselves are sent to a new charge every 5 years on the basis that those who are effective can share their gifts while congregations are spared a long-time with a minister who is not so effective!  It is the PCEA equivalent of '121' CoS Head Office that decides where the next posting is to be.  The individual congregation has no right of call. This has a very clear impact - the laity is much stronger in PCEA churches.  Services are led by the laity often with the minister only preaching the sermon and celebrating sacraments.  Pastoral care is much more embedded within districts with a strong network of support for those who are sick and bereaved.

The attitude toward the youth is also refreshing.  In PCEA Kahawa Farmers there is a designated Youth Elder who, with a church paid Youth Pastor, oversees the running of the Youth Church.  No arguments about the likes and dislikes of a separate service for the youth which I have heard in so many CoS churches.  Just take a look at their website and you will get an idea of how vibrant this congregation of over 200+ young people are.  These young people lead the services, pray, praise, preach - the whole lot.  I am constantly amazed by the spiritual maturity of many of them.  And then when they reach 26 they transfer over to the adult congregation where they are welcomed and given a full role to play.

It is a group of young people from PCEA Kahawa Farmers Youth Church that now regularly go into the local prison and spend time with the young people each week, talking with them and playing sports.

I wonder if there are a few things we can learn from the way they do things in the church in Kenya?

Scottish Safari

New bridge over Bracklinn Falls, Callander

Just back from 3 weeks in Scotland visiting various churches and Presbyteries and talking about my work with prisons in Kenya.  I enjoyed some lovely Autumn weather and the colours of the trees were stunning especially on the Crags in Callander where we lived for 10 years. Despite the busy schedule which took me from one side of the country to another and back again I managed a walk up to the Bracklinn Falls and the site of the new bridge with my friend, Gail.  The original bridge was washed away in a huge flood a few years ago and it was great to be able to cross the falls once again and walk up into the hills.

Celtic Cross at the Bield bathed in Autumnal light.

The trip ended in the peace and quiet of the Bield in Perthshire, a retreat centre which I have used often over the last 10 years.  I gathered there with the Trustees of the Prison Throughcare Trust which is being set up to help coordinate and support my work in Kenya.  It was good to share a time together in such a beautiful setting.

Balmerino Abbey

In between time I visited my home church in Callander and enjoyed a happy reunion with the congregation of St Andrew's, Boness over a soup and sandwich lunch.  Other visits took me from the quietness of Balfron to the bustle of Ferguslie Park in Paisley.  And while visiting Wormit Parish Church in Fife Rev Jim Connelly showed me the hidden secret of Balmerino Abbey, once a huge complex on a pilgrimage route between Iona and St Andrews. Dunipace provided a very warm welcome and visits to Stirling and Falkirk Presbyteries provided an opportunity to touch base with many friends and colleagues.

As I left Scotland an 'artic blast' was getting ready to hit the country. I stepped off the plane in Nairobi to a balmy 25 degrees, to Jacaranda trees in bloom and to a husband and son who were glad to have Mum back.