Study Leave Report Summer 2011 Ian Manson This is the first time I ...

music often becomes the focus of conflict around power and preference. Very few of those I spoketo now use the kind of music that any retired minister would have recognised when he started out,with only two or three of the twenty regularly using pipe organs and traditional hymns as their mainmusical diet.One colleague spoke of the issue in terms of family meals. Some people don't like peas and othersdon't like carrots, he said, but if we are all to live together we have to be prepared to go withoutthings we like and eat things we don't like from time to time. However another minister, talkingabout the same subject, said that she saw her role not simply as being to oversee a compromise butto judge between the alternatives and make decisions herself about what was appropriate. Certainly,in this context the one thing which is inevitable that no minister can please everyone.The music issue is only one example of something bigger that I encountered, both through mydiscussions and in the seven different churches that I was able to worship in. If there ever was a“Church of Scotland brand” it has long since dissipated out of existence. I think that even 25 yearsago when I started out you could walk into any Church of Scotland Service and know pretty muchwhat to expect, the music you would hear, the way the minister would be dressed, the sort ofsermon you would hear etc. That is certainly not the case today. Some ministers still wore clericalcollars, one even wore traditional robes, but others would be in a collar and tie or even tee shirt andjeans. You could find yourself singing Victorian hymns or contemporary hymns or popular songs.You could hear a 40 minute sermon or an eight minute chat. This variety might be interpreted asministers trying to cater for the varied demands of congregations or as ministers finding freedom toexpress their preferences styles of ministry, but it certainly add to the pressure on individualministers to get things right and keep people with them as practices change and evolve. A furthersymptom is that it makes it more difficult for ministers to move from one church to another whereassumptions and expectations might be very different from where they were before.3. Issues of Church FinanceMy collegue described finance as a constant pressure which, in his experience, didn't used to exist.It is perhaps surprising that this was not a subject which came up in many of my discussions.Certainly it was expressed as a frustration that members of a congregation would seem to haveplenty of money to spend on quality cars, luxury holidays or even holiday homes, while they seemhappy for the church to scrimp and save and struggle to pay its bills.Where the issue did come up in conversation was in terms of the bigger picture. All of ourpresbyteries are now being forced to make cuts because the church nationally cannot afford to payfor the number of ministries it currently has. In one case a minister of a substantial rural parish toldme that he expects to have another two or possibly even three addition parishes added to hisresponsibilities in the new presbytery plan. I was also told that even in wealthier congregationsthere is no guarantee that a minister will be replaced, or if he is his replacement would probablyhave to spend 30% of their time in and urban priority parish. Naturally such changes will affect thenature of a minister's job and it is clear that they are already causing a lot of stress and uncertainty.Several colleagues also spoke of their fear for the future. Already their congregations are hardlyfinancially viable, but the vast majority of those who attend and who contribute financially areelderly. One minister reckoned that 95% of his Sunday congregation are over 75. It is not difficultto project forward 10 years and see a rather hopeless scenario, one which has a demoralising effecton ministers who see their work likely to end in closure and apparent failure. No one I spoke towould want to use church finances as a measure of the value of their work, but it is difficult to avoidthe sense that one of the few measurable factors in church life must somehow be a reflection of theimpact of their work.