“Faith communities in general have adopted a position of active neutrality in
response to this issue. They should exercise care about adopting positions
‘for or against’ on constitutional issues. But faith communities also care
deeply about the quality of the national conversation – about the need for all
voices to be heard respectfully. It is also important that the debate attempts
to do justice to the depth and the complexity of the issues and does not
become over-focused on the single issue of constitutional status.
“People of faith will pray for our political leaders on all sides and will also
pray for the future of Scotland and of all the nations of the British Isles.”
INSPIRES magazine comes to an end
Two years ago, when inspires magazine was relaunched, the Church’s
Information & Communication (I&C) Board set about producing a publication
that exemplified the reflective and inspirational aspects of the Scottish
Episcopal Church – a magazine worthy of its name.
The relaunch in 2015 marked the magazine’s 10th anniversary and initiated
a two-year review period in which to assess the viability of inspires magazine
as a print production and communication tool.
Having reached the end of the two-year review period, the I&C Board
considered a cost/benefit analysis of the magazine. It was with great
sadness, but with a sense of realism, that the Board agreed that it had,
finally, reached the point at which inspires was no longer viable as a print
publication.
In making its decision the I&C Board considered several options but
ultimately agreed that it was a head versus heart decision. The heart is tied
to inspires as it exists but the head said it is neither sustainable nor the best
use of the Church’s time and money in a missional sense, not least in a
church of limited resources.
It should be noted, though, that alongside this sadness things do not stand
still. The launch of an inspires-style website where content can be brought
together more easily and more democratically will allow the public
information flow still to happen but also encourage comment and dialogue.
The Board also discussed possibilities of a shorter (maximum eight A4
pages), less glossy free printed overview of events and comments upon the
life of the church to be disseminated to dioceses and charges perhaps two
or three times a year. Other options are also being looked at.
We are all very saddened by this decision but we feel that present reality
and changing communications culture has brought us inevitably to this point.
We are aware of the deficit to those who have limited or no Internet access.
However, we cannot be all things to all people and unless conditions change
significantly relating to resourcing we at times have to make the hard
decisions.
StOM Page 14