Spread the Word on the web, urges ex-Moderator

GOING digital could help boost worshipper numbers and bring scots closer to God, according to a former Moderator of the Kirk.

the Very Rev Albert Bogle said it is ‘time to look forward in faith’ and that there has been a ‘growing interest in Christianity’ as services went online amid lockdown.

Writing in next month’s Life and Work, the house magazine of the Church of scotland, Rev Bogle adds: ‘Despite all the trials of last year (and they were many) and the challenges just up ahead of us, we can still take heart – all is not lost.

‘It has been my experience during the past few months to witness the growing interest in Christianity.

‘Recent research by different agencies has highlighted that over 25 per cent of the UK population looked into an online church service at some point during 2020.

‘Our challenge will be keeping this audience interested. I’ve come to believe the internet is God’s harvest field for our generation. Could it be the Holy spirit is using technology to connect with thousands of people who no longer feel comfortable being part of the inherited methodology of church attendance?’

He adds: ‘God is working through this technology, engaging with new people who He is opening up to Himself... this engagement goes far beyond what we might understand as traditional worship.’

Rev Bogle states congregations should embrace the ‘hybrid’ approach to worship, adding: ‘the internet is helping them reconnect with an ecclesiology that goes beyond the local church.

‘the discovery of technology integrating with theology to enhance our spiritual understanding of presence needs to be celebrated, rather than dismissed.

‘It is an exciting prospect to continue to reflect upon the ways which God reveals more of His being to humanity.’