Presbytery Plan Revision October 2008

Presbytery Of Europe Presbytery Plan Section One - Background Our Mission The Church of Scotland has always had a strong sense of mission, believing that we are called to take the good news to those who need to hear it. The Presbytery of Europe shares this sense of mission, and finds that people are often more open to new ideas when they have moved to a new country. The need for fellowship and pastoral support can be strong when people are far from their normal support networks and facing the challenges of a new culture. This gives us a great opportunity to demonstrate the gospel values that we believe in to those who would not normally have any contact with the church. As part of its Calvinist heritage, the Church of Scotland has always been aware of its responsibility to have a presence among governmental structures and civil society. As Europe continues to evolve towards a new shape, many of the power structures that affect life in Scotland are situated far from its borders. Our Presbytery takes the witness of the church into these places, ministering to those who work in such organisations and being a prophetic witness for justice and peace. Our Church has also learned to have the humility to work alongside believers of other traditions, recognising our spiritual unity, and the value of what we can learn together. Our Presbytery experiences such partnerships in every congregation. For us, it is not an added item on our agenda, but an essential experience. We believe that we have much to share with the wider church by the way we have been enriched through this way of serving Christ. In these ways we fully articulate the ecumenical awareness which is made explicit in the Articles Declaratory, and in the General Assembly’s affirmation of the Leuenberg Agreement. The Church of Scotland has always been aware of the need to understand the times in which we live, and to respond appropriately to the social changes that are going on around us. Increased travel and new patterns of migration are among the biggest changes affecting us today. Our Presbytery is operating at the heart of such changes, learning to react and adapt as we go along. We believe that we exist for these reasons, and that our planning for the future should be designed to allow our ministry to grow and develop amidst the new challenges of our continent. We aim to be a living Presbyterian presence in mainland Europe, sharing our rich heritage of faith and learning new ways and being involved in the work of the gospel in our different contexts. This can also involve us in partnerships with projects and congregations beyond the bounds of our Presbytery. We hope to be both Scottish and international, and to reflect the gospel impetus in being outward looking, open and confident. A Brief History The existence of Scottish congregations on the continent goes back to the early days of the Reformation. John Knox himself was minister of the English speaking community in Frankfurt, and in John Calvin’s Geneva. Since the Reformation there have been many congregations led by Church of Scotland Ministers across the Continent (and two Presbyteries) who followed the expatriate 1 Scots who travelled for trade and work, to soldier, as tourists, as sailors, and also to fly the protestant flag in Rome. Many of the congregations no longer exist –Vere, Delft, Dort, Flushing, Den Haag, Genoa, Venice, Naples, Montreux, Dresden, 1 The difference between refugee, asylum seeker, migrant, and expatriate can often be a matter of timing, definition or prejudice. 2 Cologne and Hamburg to name a few. Others which used to be connected through their ministers (Nicosia, Vienna) still exist, but have lost the connection to the Church of Scotland. The congregations that the Church of Scotland now has in Europe are widely spread, and vary in size and constituency 2, as well as in history. Some are old; others are very new, dating from the latter part of the 20 th century. The work of the ministers in Europe used to be that of gathering and supporting the mainly Scottish communities, but always with numbers of other English-language Reformed and non-Anglican protestant worshippers. There were also connections with the Jewish Mission of the Church (Budapest), and the wish to be present in Rome at the heart of the Roman Catholic world. The charges of Christ Church Warwick, Bermuda and St Andrews, Colombo, Sri Lanka, which both joined the Presbytery by Act of the General Assembly in May 2008, also have long histories of providing English language worship far from Scotland. 2 See Appendix 2, Presbytery Survey 2008 3 Section Two - The Present Situation The sanctioned charges of the Presbytery of Europe are: Amsterdam – also related to the PKN (Protestant Church in the Netherlands) Bermuda, Christ Church, Warwick Brussels – also related to EPUB (United Protestant Church in Belgium) Budapest – strong links to the HRC (Hungarian Reformed Church) Cost a del Sol 3 Geneva – also related to the EPG (Protestant Church in Geneva) Gibraltar Lausanne Lisbon Malta 4 – united congregation with the Methodist Church in Great Britain Paris Rome Rotterdam – also related to the PKN (Protestant Church in the Netherlands) Sri Lanka, St Andrews, Colombo - also related to the Presbytery of Lanka Other congregations associated with the presbytery are: Bochum 5 Regensburg 6 Turin 7 (For more information see Appendix 1) These congregations of the Presbytery of Europe are a legacy of our involvement with travelling Scots and English speaking worshippers but they have become much more than that, as international and interdenominational communities supporting the wide range of people who work, live, study or seek asylum in Europe. The dramatic rise in importance of the English language has meant that our congregations in most locations minister to and support the world Church in an exciting way. Our work in these communities involves people of every class, background, culture and country. They may be business-people carrying great responsibility, often very influential men and women. They may also be refugees fleeing from persecution, carrying many hurts and fears. They often find it difficult to make roots in their adopted country - their focus on work, language or cultural difficulties, and their limited contracts don’t help. Few national Churches offer worship in foreign languages. It is difficult sometimes to adapt to both foreign language worship and culture at the same time - liturgical language often takes longer to learn than ‘business’ language. It is of inestimable comfort to find worship in a language one can feel at home in. There is also a missionary responsibility to those expatriates who have lost contact with the Church. The Church of Scotland has been involved in this kind of ministry for a long time. Working on our own European doorstep we can be both surprised at how much people are like us and how different they are. Often we discover that we have more in common with some people from Indonesia and Ghana than with fellow Britons. We also discover that we may have as many prejudices of understanding 3 Near Malaga on the Costa del Sol 4 A union of Church of Scotland and Methodist congregations in Valetta. 5 Congregation ministered to by a Church of Scotland minister, the Rev Jimmy Brown, recognised by the EKD in the Westphalia district of Germany. An elder and the minister attend meetings of the Presbytery of Europe. 6 The Reverend Rhona Dunphy was ordained by the Presbytery of Europe and jointly appointed together with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria to be chaplain of the English-speaking congregation at Regensburg University in October 2005. 7 This is an English speaking congregation of the Waldensian Church, the Tavola Waldese, where successively two Church of Scotland ministers have served. 4 and comprehension as any one else. We are called to learn from encounter, to be creative and imaginative in coming to terms with the multi-faith, non-faith and even anti-faith environments in which people live and work. As well as the congregations listed above, a few others have also become associated with it. Presbytery numbers also include the appointees to different international bodies in Brussels and Geneva, so it thus brings together a great deal of expertise in ecumenical, international experience, and international understanding. Presbytery also encourages and supports people not working for the World Mission Council, such as the Reverend Rhona Dunphy in Regensburg caring for English speaking worshippers for the German Lutheran Church. In practical terms the Presbytery role is to encourage and oversee the work of congregations, to aid them in changes of ministry etc., and to allow congregations to participate in and bring their experience to the church in Scotland. They can do the latter through the Councils and Committees, personal contacts, General Assembly etc. It is also the role of the Presbytery to initiate and suggest directions for change and moving forward the work of the Kingdom in their own area – in this case continental Europe. The Presbytery congregations are taking responsibility for building and maintaining relationships with partner churches. A number of the congregations are jointly members of the Church of Scotland and partner churches as above. Most are members of local Ecumenical Councils. Such local to local ecumenical connections are an example for the whole church. Some Notable Aspects of the Work of our Presbytery. Survey results show that 1992 -2008 was a very productive time in life and mission. The congregations have grown in number and in many have increased in size. Our presence as a ‘historic’ Reformed church is an important support and presence to often small local, and often hard pressed, Protestant Churches.

Load more