New ministry apprentices share hopes and dreams

A new apprenticeship scheme to help encourage the next generation of faith leaders has officially been launched.

Eleven apprentices, spread across three hubs in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Tayside, have started the two-year course and mentors say there is "real sense of excitement and anticipation" for what's in store.

A new video features some of them as they sum up how they are feeling and what they are looking forward to as they explore their sense of call to a form of ministry.

It was filmed during an induction day at St Mark's Parish Church in the Raploch area of Stirling.

Hope

The Apprenticeship Route is a brand-new way for people with a sense of call to explore one of the biggest questions: what am I going to do with my life and could it involve ministry.

The group will work and learn with the support of experienced mentors and have on-the-job experience and an introduction to some biblical and theological learning.

Very Rev Dr Martin Fair, Pathways to Ministry Manager, spent the day with five apprentices attached to the Tayside hub yesterday and said the new scheme was an uplifting ray of light and hope.

He said: "And so it begins, after much praying, planning and preparation the Church of Scotland's brand-new Apprenticeship Route has launched.

"The apprentices themselves come from as far apart as rural Angus, Dundee, Perth, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Alloa, East Kilbride and Glasgow.

"With the youngest being 18 and the oldest 40, the women and men involved come from a broad range of backgrounds and bring with them an equally diverse range of life experiences.

"But they're all here to discern what God's calling might look like for them, to grow in faith, to learn and explore what ministry in a 21st-century, missional context looks like."

New beginnings

The Church of Scotland is undergoing major reform and part of that work is to reduce the number of properties it owns to better achieve its primary mission of sharing the timeless and never-changing Good News of Jesus Christ and serving local communities.

Changing population patterns along with falling membership and a reduction in financial contributions mean that it is necessary for it to reduce the number of buildings it owns.

The move, albeit difficult for many people, reduces pressure on congregational finances, freeing up funds and general income for other Church missional activities and a more sustainable and realistic situation that better reflects the Church in the modern age.

Dr Fair said: "In challenging times, it's easy to find ourselves harking back to the good old days.

"Comforting as that might be, it can't be an alternative to looking for the new things happening among us.

"The Apprenticeship Route should be a cause for hope.

"Even in endings, there are new beginnings".