Without Walls National Gathering

Richard Taylor

There was an air of expectancy lingering over the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, as thousands of Church of Scotland members descended on the National Gathering.

I had heard that the Archbishop of York was going to be there, and I, like many others, wanted to see if he was able to bring any new challenges or messages to the church. I was not disappointed.

A tented village was created for hundreds of churches and organisations to share what God is doing in their area. It was incredible to see the range of things that are going on under the banner of 'church'. There were many creative initiatives on display including, 'Street Pastors'; multimedia projects that engage young people with the church through film making and radio broadcasting; lunchtime school groups; toddler groups that offer practical support to parents; craft groups and many more.

I was there with the Dunbar Area Christian Youth Project. An amalgamation of churches employ me as their youth worker. I had been sceptical about the value of having a tent, as I was not convinced that anyone would really be interested in what we were doing. How wrong I was!

There was a constant flow of people approaching me to pick my brains for ideas as they looked to set up their own projects. I also realised that the Church of Scotland has an international following. In just one hour I met people from Vancouver, Switzerland and Argentina who had come to Edinburgh for this special event.

I also found myself sponging ideas, support and knowledge from neighbouring campers. The outcome of the tented village was that people were inspired and excited about how much God really is doing in Scotland.

Grabbing some time away from our tent, I attended the Archbishop's workshop on Christian values. It was standing room only with more than 300 cramming into the marquee. The event's fire safety team eventually had to stop people getting in.

Dr Sentamu replied to the fire officer: "if there is going to be any fire here it is going to be the fire of the Lord". A quick solution was found to the problem by taking down the canvas walls. And so the numbers grew, indicating the hunger amongst delegates to hear what messages he had to bring.

The Archbishop covered a lot of ground, but ideas that have stuck with me are how we can view the Ten Commandments as a promise from God, rather than a list of do's and don'ts to condemn people with. Many of us can identify with a church that has hammered home what we cannot do with our lives, and this has often left us crippled with guilt.

Dr Sentamu talked about how when our sinful nature is changed by God, then we no longer have the same desire to break the Commandments. It was a message of hope that was warmly received by the congregation.

People seemed hungry for some direction, in some cases affirmation that what they are doing is right. Dr Sentamu delivered on these things.

To add to their applause the crowd sang the old Scottish song "Will Ye No Come Back Again?" The Archbishop replied 'I'LL BE BACK!'

In the week that followed the National Gathering, news reports announced that church attendance in Scotland had dropped again. This to me did not reflect the encouragement I had seen just days before at Ingliston, where the Archbishop had been instrumental in taking the church forward. I believe that in years to come, those people documenting the history of the church will see this event as a turning point for the Church of Scotland. I hope so anyway.