A Church of Scotland planning group dedicated to developing new ways of being church has announced plans to build new links with Christians in the developing world.
Albert Bogle, the convener of the Kirk's Church Without Walls Planning Group, will lay out a strategy for the future development of the Church at May's General Assembly, including an update on the success of Church Without Walls since its inception in 2001.
"The words Church Without Walls have become a byname for renewal and for outreach into the wider community - be that community local, national or international," the Church of Scotland has said.
The planning group will tell May's Assembly "that CWW is not a movement that congregations join. It is a mindset that...every effective church leader already owns."
It will also reiterate its call to Church of Scotland members to "conceive of the church not as a building or buildings, but as a community of individuals carrying the love of Christ out into the world through every aspect of their lives".
The report states: "The purpose of Church Without Walls for the Church of Scotland is to focus the church on Jesus Christ and not primarily on buildings."
The planning group is planning to hold its largest ever outreach event to take place during 2008, while talks have begun with the Rev Air Vice Marshall Peter Mills, Chaplain-in-Chief to the Royal Air Force, with a view to facilitating a CWW event for the armed services.
Meanwhile, plans are underway to link with the Scottish Executive-designated 'Year of Homecoming' in 2009 as well as the centenary celebrations for the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference of 1910.
The Church of Scotland said the missionary conference centenary would provide a "once in a lifetime opportunity" for Scottish congregations to build local-to-local links with fellow Christians in the developing world.
The CWW Planning Group will propose to the General Assembly that the Kirk work in partnership with other agencies to develop the idea of 'The Sending', an intiative which would give congregations the opportunity to send some of their members to visit an overseas project and develop roles as "ambassadors for the poor".
The planning groups said the idea had already attracted the interest of one major Scottish overseas development trust involved in sending volunteers overseas.
