Annual Report 2007

Evangelical Alliance Scotland Annual Report 2007

Opening remarks

“If there was no EA Scotland would we have to invent one?” That is a question I was asked quite recently. I gave the question a lot of thought and the answer would be yes. We need something that encourages us to work and pray together in such a way that the whole of society benefits. We need to share good stories, pray, and resource each other and when required we need to speak with one voice into our Nation. At a time of social and ecclesiological fragmentation and, in some parts of the church, discouragement we need to be one. As EA Scotland we are an Alliance of people who want to present Jesus with both a prophetic and creative voice. We want to talk in cadences of hope and mercy into our land to see salvation in all its fullness.

I have been in post for just over a year and I have tried to build on the work undertaken by Mike Parker and also develop the profile of the EA in Scotland. To that end I have been greatly helped by the members of my Executive and our administrator May Barr, who has done a wonderful job of keeping track of where we are going and keeping me focused on one thing at a time. It has been an encouraging year and I am grateful for all your prayers and support. There is a grassroots desire for sharing and working together. Mission is the new magnet for people and we have an important role within that movement.

I want to try and give a flavour of a few highlights from the year, under headings that show where we see ourselves being led.

Highlights

2gether - In the last year we have shared in various events. The two most memorable were a celebration and challenge evening based around the Abolition of Slavery Act. This was a joint event with Tearfund, which was held in Perth and was attended by over 200.

In May we had Joel Edwards speak at the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In the evening we had a Joint event in the assembly rooms with Tearfund and Forward Together. This focused on the Stop the Traffic campaign and was a very successful night. Transformation - I have had the privilege this year of sharing with some of those who are taking the good news of Jesus into areas of homelessness, addiction etc. I was asked to speak at the Bethany Trust conference and to hear of the fine work that they are doing. I also had the chance to be part of a prayer and sharing night held in City Church Aberdeen for the Compassion Ministries at work in the city. It was great to be able to encourage and be encouraged at these events and to see people with a passion for transformation.

Finding the Way - I have had the chance to preach in many places in the country and work with various church leaderships throughout the year. It is wonderful to be part of different congregations, sharing in various styles of worship and being blessed in unexpected ways. It was great to do seminar work at both Clan and Nexus (CRE) this year. I also had the great pleasure of being one of the speakers at a day to give thanks for the ministries of Martin and Ann Allen at Chryston.

Resourcing - At present I am on a Church of Scotland sub-group looking to bring a report to the Assembly on Emerging Church and lessons for Scotland. I am also on the boards of UCCF, YFC and Church without Walls planning groups. It has also been exciting to chair Hope 08 in Scotland. I believe Hope 08 is a real opportunity for Christians to do mission together in their locality in ways that they could not do on their own.

Praying together - We have had a Leaders’ Day of prayer and reflection and also worked with SU on a day where we encouraged churches to be led in prayer by children for children.

Working with Others - Whenever possible we have tried to dialogue with groups who are not part of the Alliance. We have sought common ground and tried to work together when we can. We do not want to be portrayed as the always angry Christians but rather a group who seek to live in grace and truth. This year we signed an anti sectarianism accord with other churches and groups from across the theological spectrum. It was good for us to be able to say that we all agreed that something needed to be done about sectarianism and we could speak as one on the issue.

The Future

There are huge challenges for the church in Scotland and we as an Alliance will continue to seek to work and pray for change. We have been blessed by a new staff member. Alistair Stevenson is our new Public Affairs Officer. He is someone with a heart for Jesus, who brings energy, insight and a lot of gifts to the role. He will be looking at the Christian engagement with society and helping churches to work through the issues of our day.

In the coming year we want to build on what we are doing. It is our aim to strengthen our Executive and Council. We also want to develop our media voice. We have a number of projects that we are working on in partnership with others, amongst those is to develop the work of Micah Challenge in Scotland. As an Alliance we have to be actively encouraging the risk takers and the praying saints, as well as encouraging the weary so that the gospel might advance and justice and mercy may fill the land.

This is only a snapshot of what is happening, I am happy to give further detail if people e-mail or contact our office.

Fred Drummond, National Director 

October 2007