Just now my mind is preoccupied by visions - not of the oneness-with-God variety that mystics experience, or the psychedelic sort induced by illegal substances, but the kind of vision which the book of Proverbs (in the King James translation!) sees as crucial for a faith community: Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Ironically, this use of the word ‘vision' is as likely nowadays to be found in a commercial venture as in a church community. Companies focussing on their core business will ask themselves two vital questions: ‘What is our vision?' - what the goals they really want to achieve may be, and ‘Who are our stakeholders?' - who shares that vision with them, and how they may work together to attain it.
While I have strong reservations about the wisdom of importing business language and methods wholesale into church life, in this case the boot's on the other foot: it is the commercial world that has taken the language of vision from the church, and it is our task to reclaim it. For truly, where there is no vision, the people perish. If we didn't care what goals we wanted to achieve together, or who else might be interested, we might as well pack up and go home, for we would be dead as a church.
What then are some of the visions for St Andrew's I have been mulling over in my mind? One is about how we can use the space in our church sanctuary to its best advantage, both in worship and at other times. Another is how groups from our church may sustainably carry on developing relationships with the wider community.
These may sound very different concerns, one looking inward to ourselves and one outward to the world. But in their different ways, both are asking the same questions: Who are we as a church? And how can that identity be strengthened and communicated, both in the way our building is ordered inside and in ways we can get to know people outside, sharing values and resources?
I hope you'll be relieved when I admit I don't have cut and dried answers to any of these big questions. I was certainly relieved when, as part of my call process, I was assured that St Andrew's wasn't looking for a minister coming in with all the answers, but for a companion on the road. But I suspect we are in a better position to consider such questions of vision together than when I first arrived. This is both because I know the membership a bit better after my marathon visiting year (please do get in touch if you've unintentionally been overlooked!) and because others in St Andrew's have made contact with local people interested in improving the quality of life in Broomhall. Now I hope to build on that work by giving more time to community involvement in my daily patterns of ministry - do ask me for more details!
You may be thinking: This is all very well, but what's it got to do with ministry? Isn't this vision stuff more like interior decorating or social work than what a minister should be doing? Where does God come in? If you did ask me that - and I'd be delighted if you did! - I suppose what I'm hoping to do more of this year is finding out what God's already doing in Broomhall, discovering ways we can join in, and working out how to translate what we are doing for God already into a vision our neighbours can understand and share.