Our vision as a denomination is of A Healthy Gospel Church for Every Community in Scotland.
Throughout the last year, many of our congregations have been thinking about what characterises Healthy Christians and Healthy Churches. Individuals and leaders have been taking steps to grow in health in areas such as worship, mission, fellowship and discipleship.
And yet we acknowledge in humility and weakness, that only the Lord can bring about this vision for a Healthy Gospel Church.
In promoting the Healthy Church vision in 2025, we are therefore going to focus on thanksgiving and prayer. Giving thanks to God for all that he has done among us in the last 5 years and praying for the next 5 years.
We will be sharing stories among our congregations of people who have come to faith, new outreach activities that have been started, exciting developments in our camps programme and work among young people. Stories of new elders benefiting from the video training material, and new ministers who have been inducted to congregations. There will be news about building projects that have been completed or are planned. We will also celebrate the ministers who have retired after years of faithful service. And give thanks for God’s presence with us in the good times and the difficult times.
In the last 5 to 10 years we have planted around 15 churches. We can give thanks for that. But we are only going to reach our target of 30 new church plants by 2030 if God provides us with the ministers and leaders we need, and the resources and people, to start churches in new places. We also still need ministers for several vacant churches, and we need leaders and members who want to see our existing churches grow and develop.
Therefore there is lots to pray for: Praying for our spiritual health as Christians, praying for each of our churches, praying for new ministers, praying for the effectiveness of our mission and discipleship. Praying for our Presbyteries, praying for ETS, and the Board of Ministry and the Mission Board, and the General Assembly. And praying most of all for God to be at work among us, and to move mightily in this nation, so that many people hear and respond to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Will you join us in prayer in this coming year?
One of the things that people were positive about when we organised the Healthy Church Gatherings in 2023, was simply the opportunity to meet with others from different congregations. We are therefore going to organise a number of area prayer meetings in 2025 – prayer meetings focused around the Healthy Gospel Church Vision. We will be meeting in places like Dornoch, and Cumbernauld, North Harris, and Edinburgh, in Dundee and Aberdeen, Aultbea, and many other locations. Look out for the dates on the Free Church website and come and join us.
In prayer we express our complete dependence on God. We know we can’t produce Healthy Gospel Churches on our own. And so in 2025, we are going to focus on thanksgiving and prayer. Giving thanks to God for all that he has done among us in the last 5 years, and praying asking that he would be powerfully at work among us in the next 5 years and beyond. That we might indeed see A Healthy Gospel Church for Every Community in Scotland.
Andrew Giffen, CEO
More details on the area prayer meetings can be found here.