VESTRY'S VIEW

Article from P's & G's News, August 2004

You can hardly come to a service at P's & G's nowadays without hearing at least some reference to Project 21. Many of us will be aware that Project 21 involves looking at how the Church can grow both in its ministry and witness by using the current Church site more effectively. However, the idea has been around for many years, and has taken a lot of thought and energy on many people's part to get to this stage. In order to look at the thinking behind Project 21, some of the members of the Vestry agreed to be interviewed to tell us a little more about how they reached (and continue to reach) the decision to go ahead.

"Because the issues were so many and varied, there were long discussions and so we were slow to move forward," says Alison Craig, chair of Vestry. "In the last one to two years, thinking has significantly moved on and lots of things have fallen into place.

"One of the biggest challenges was trying to work out what the Vestry's role is meant to be, since we are called to be stewards of the Church's resources and therefore to take responsibility for making decisions that affect the Church, and at the same time to be open to God's leading. It has been difficult deciding how much control we take and how much we leave up to God.

"I think we have all found it a challenge, but ultimately it is important that we do what we can to steward wisely and be careful in how we lead the Church and then leave it up to God."

Duncan Maclean agrees: "You can read the Bible, listen to sermons and pray, but it is sometimes difficult to say, 'We know this is God's will.' There was however a definite sense of lots of little things that built up the bigger picture. An example of this was how well the initial meeting with the council went!"

Alison mentions how some issues seem to have been resolved with hardly any effort, such as the timing of the planned church plant in South Edinburgh: "Two years ago, the church plant was an immediate and huge priority which would have made it difficulty to focus on Project 21, and then, through no fault of our own, we were told that it was going to be postponed. We breathed a corporate sigh of relief! It felt like a real encouragement that God was engineering things to help the project."

Both Alison and Duncan stress how important it is to see the whole vision of Project 21. Duncan says: "My first contact with P's & G's was as a student in the mid 80's, and at the time P's & G's was also going through big changes. I was in the Omni Centre the other day and I suddenly got a sense of how strategic this church is, especially in terms of location, and how important it is for us to do this well, to make the church accessible, usable and welcoming for a modern age.

"However, it is important that the church realises that WE, the church, are all in Project 21 together. It is not up to any one group. Everyone owns this project."

Alison mentions how much easier it is to ask for cash, but it's far harder to ask people to change the way they see things. Both Alison and Duncan mention that it is vital to give everyone in the church ownership of the project but both stress that there has to be a recognition of strong leadership, since otherwise things won't move forward.

Duncan mentions that a lot of people have put in a lot of time and effort, including their free time, in order to make sure that things happen properly.

"One of the good things we did was to ask someone with experience in Church development to help us put together a structure for the Committee. We spent a lot of time putting together the structure, and making sure we got the process right. There has to be delegation, since the Vestry cannot look into everything, but there must therefore be clear communications and reporting back.

"There is a definite issue between balancing the need for detailed information and delegation with how the Vestry maintains responsibility. The way things stand, the Vestry's role is more akin to a board role than an executive role."

[For more information about the structure of the Project 21 Committee, see Project Mgmt..]

Both Duncan and Alison mention that the whole process has made them aware of personal issues that have arisen.

Alison says: "When God clearly tells me that something is the right thing to do, I can believe it at the time but then continue to question Him. I am learning to stop doubting, and to trust that God has the best things for me."

Trust seems to be a bit of a theme, with the Vestry trusting the new Committee and the congregation trusting the Vestry. But as Alison says: "Jesus insisted that his disciples play their part, and use all their different characters and gifts and abilities, but ultimately he asked them to trust Him."