Discussion on the fringes

Today I welcomed two new permanent staff to the office and I'll tweet about them later.

But this evening I attended a fascinating discussion led by John Sturrock in St Paul's and St George's. In his day job John mediates and he decided to bring his skills to facilitate discussions between people of differing views.

Tonight was about whether we can take the bible both literally and seriously. After a session of discussion (and food) about conversation and how to ensure views are respected and listened to the panel discussion was held.

The participants owere the former Moderator of the Church of Scotland, John Chalmers; the Rev Canon Dave Richards of Ps&Gs; and the Minister of Mayfield Salisbury Church Scott McKenna.

A really fascinating discussion ensued about the context in which the bible had been written and how in modern day we interpreted it, whether we placed Scripture, tradition or reason as the lead influence in our thinking; how the institution of the Church coped (or did not) with the range of views and the manner in which modern day issues and challenges were addressed and why tensions arose.

The discussion was thoughtful, erudite and often personal. Differences were identified and recognised; but so too were the shared views and beliefs most of which significantly outweighed the differences.

There will be two more sessions later in the week on the topics of the Constitution and climate change.

An interesting feature was the technique of using cling film between the pillars for post its to capture thoughts and questions, the pictorial subject of this blip.