More than fifty leaders from churches around Scotland gathered in-person in Dundee on Sunday, 30 January for an Officers’ orientation day. Emotion welled quite close to the surface as elder Moses Sichalwe from the Faifley congregation stepped onto the stage to lead the assembly in an enthusiastic rendition of the hymn, “Seeking the Lost,” in which joyful, bass and tenor voices echoed one another in their promptings to go far and wide to bring people “into the fold of the Redeemer.” It has been more than two years since the last in-person convocation of members from across Scotland.
Pastor Jimmy Botha, the newly elected President of the Adventist Church in Scotland, gave voice to the emotion of regrouping after a long period of interaction from a distance. In his opening remarks as he emphasised the value of leaders meeting one another to network and collaborate around common directions and concerns. “The Scottish Mission’s strategic focus, I will go: Empathise, Enable, Engage, challenges us to draw near to one another and others and share friendship, commonality and care.” He remarked that while there would be some focus on learning and developing skills, the real value of days like these resides in building friendships and support structures for ourselves as we share our experiences in doing God’s work in our own contexts.
One of the first items on the agenda for the day extended this commitment to collaboration and meaningful partnerships beyond the borders of the Scottish Mission. Pastor Botha gave some information about the Africa Scotland Action Project (ASAP). In this initiative Churches around Scotland are challenged to consider their own environmental impact and how they can look after the planet, while also partnering with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency in five Southern African countries. This partnership will seek to find creative ways for faith-based organisations from the Global North and Global South to connect, and raise awareness, and consider local actions to enhance environmental stewardship.
The training day featured a mixture of plenary sessions and break-out sessions where departmental leaders could interact around their various areas of interest. While these meetings were going on, the Children Ministries department, under the leadership of Cedrene Botha and Ifeoma Victor-Igwe looked after the children who came with the church leaders. From the amount of fun they had, it might have been a situation where the children told their parents, “Aunty Ifeoma and Cedrene are going to be there, you have to go to the officers’ training day, and take us along!”
Pastor Weiers Coetser, who recently started to work in the Aberdeen district, led the morning worship. Reflecting on the Mission’s strategic focus, I will go, he said he would like the audience to go on a quest to find treasure. He then reflected on Jesus’ parable of a man who found a treasure in the field, and the importance of really valuing the mission that we are engaged in.
Pastor John Surridge, executive secretary of the British Union Conference invited the audience to engage their mathematical brains as he told an engaging story of three brothers who were keen to fulfil their deceased father’s desire to divide seventeen camels according to a prescribed formula. At first glance, it seemed that the formula would inevitably lead to them all being worse off, because they would need to kill some of the camels. A wise uncle offered to give them one of his camels, and this act of sacrificed enabled the brothers to divide the camels in a way that they all had a fair share of living camels. In addition to this, they were able to return their uncle’s camel to him. The mathematics was quite complicated, but the lesson was clear that we often gain much more by setting aside our desire for personal gain and focussing on putting the needs of others first.
During the breakout sessions, there was some evidence that the technology and skills gained during lockdown would stay with us to enhance our activities. The leaders of the Women’s Ministries and Health Ministries department were able to gather around a computer and projector screen to connect remotely with Sharon Platt-McDonald, the British Union Conference Health and Women’s ministries director who could not travel to Dundee on the Day. Treasurers met with Aftab Barki, from the Church headquarters in Watford who had travelled to Dundee for the day, but he also set up a Zoom session with one of the developers of an electronic accounting system in Canada. Pastor Njabulo Ndlovu, the Scottish Mission Pathfinder and Adventurer sponsor also ran a remote workshop for his department despite having to self-isolate due to (a thankfully mild) Covid-19 infection. There were breakout sessions for church clerks, elders and deacons, family ministry leaders, youth leaders, treasurers, health, and women’s ministries leaders.
While all these activities were taking place, the Life Source Bookshop team who had travelled from Grantham was busy selling books from the Stanborough Press. In the background, Oy’Nissh Grandiece, an Adventist chef from Edinburgh, who owns a catering company was busy preparing a sumptuous meal for everybody. The aromas issuing from the Church kitchen offered reassurance that the visit to Dundee was going to be nothing but a five-star experience. It did not disappoint. During lunch there was a brief respite where everyone was able to take their masks off and enjoy a very good meal.
There were smiles as the day ended and as church leaders headed back to their homes. They had to be quick to get home as storm Corry was brewing some strong winds to be delivered later in the evening. But hearts were warm, and bonds of friendship had been re-affirmed, and participants were energised to continue their work in the respective churches.
