{"id":2214,"date":"2019-05-05T15:54:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T14:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2019-10-02T15:28:08","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T14:28:08","slug":"ministers-letter-may-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-may-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister’s Letter – May 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was asked to write the following article for the May 2019 edition of <\/i>Life and Work. Since I know not everyone receives this magazine, I thought I would replicate it in this month\u2019s <\/i>Informer. Enjoy!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

When I was first asked to write a piece reflecting on the experiences of a \u201cyoung person\u201d in ministry, it was not immediately apparent to me how my perspective differs from older colleagues. We all know the challenges currently facing the Church of Scotland, and we all have to seriously grapple with these; I suppose my situation is different in that I have longer to wrestle with these things before I start drawing on my pension.<\/p>\n

Yet, upon further reflection, I notice that being a young person in ministry holds certain challenges. I am fortunate to have friends with whom I have journeyed since Primary School. As we meet and share with one another the joys and difficulties of the paths we have chosen, I am struck that those in other lines of work tend to have more contact with their contemporaries. Contrary to this, I have found in ministry I largely serve and relate to those of my parents\u2019 generation and older.<\/p>\n

In this sense, ministry as a young person can feel somewhat isolating. While the desire of any Church is to encourage greater numbers of people to engage with the Christian faith, until there is an uptake in the number of young people coming to faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ, ministry is likely to continue to feel a little lonely.<\/p>\n

I should make two things clear.<\/p>\n

Firstly, I am describing my context, as experienced by my extraverted personality: it is perfectly possible that the other young ministers coming into the church will experience these things differently.<\/p>\n

Secondly, I am truly blessed to serve a congregation where age, whether mine or someone else\u2019s, is not an issue. They are extremely supportive, and share with me the benefit of their wisdom, as I share with them my enthusiastic vision. Taken together, we hope this sets us down the path God has set out for our congregation to follow.<\/p>\n

A final question remains: how do I, as a young person, minister to those with far more years than me? To answer, I turn to one of my favourite books of the Bible: 1st<\/sup> Timothy. This letter, from an older minister (Paul) to a younger one (Timothy) contains much advice which is helpful, such as the following:<\/p>\n

12<\/sup>Don\u2019t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the
\nbelievers <\/em>in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13<\/sup>Until I come, devote yourself
\nto the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. (1st<\/sup> Timothy 4, NIVUK)<\/em><\/p>\n

Regardless of age, I am called to set an example to all fellow followers of Jesus Christ, in my speech, conduct, love faith and purity. I am to respond to God\u2019s call to regularly read His Word, to preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to teach others about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.<\/p>\n

Whether I am young or old, if I devote myself to these things to which God has called me, then, to quote my Probation Supervisor on my final Sunday as his student, \u201cyou will not go far wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n

God bless,<\/p>\n

Stuart<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was asked to write the following article for the May 2019 edition of Life and Work. Since I know not everyone receives this magazine, I thought I would replicate…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ministers-letters"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1400%2C786&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8z2vw-zI","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2178,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-march-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":0},"title":"Minister’s Letter – March 2019","author":"admin","date":"12 March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! 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Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.\u201d (Joshua 1 NIVUK) This is our verse for 2020. Each year of ministry at Clincarthill, I have tried to prayerfully discern\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Minister's Letters"","block_context":{"text":"Minister's Letters","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/ministers-letters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2608,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-february-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":2},"title":"Minister’s Letter – February 2020","author":"Stuart Love","date":"3 February 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a017Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Minister's Letters"","block_context":{"text":"Minister's Letters","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/ministers-letters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1972,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-september-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":3},"title":"Minister’s Letter – September 2018","author":"Stuart Love","date":"18 September 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3: 20-21 NIVUK) It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Minister's Letters"","block_context":{"text":"Minister's Letters","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/ministers-letters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1076,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-may-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":2214,"position":4},"title":"Minister’s Letter – May 2017","author":"admin","date":"14 May 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.\u201d (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17 & 29; 3:6, 13 & 22 NIVUK) As you can see from the number of verse references, this verse appears in all the letters to the churches in Revelation. 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