Catalyst Scottish Church Leaders will gather to engage the issues of nationhood and identity at the day conference jointly led and sponsored by Newton Mearns Baptist Church and Queens Park Baptist Church on 28th May 2014 in Newton Mearns Baptist Church, Scotland. Both these congregations are affiliated to the Baptist Union of Scotland.

Rev Brian R More (Newton Mearns Baptist Church, Scotland) writes: “We look forward to inviting The Holy Spirit to enlighten us through our careful reflection around the Bible and the challenge of interpreting it for this time in our national life. This is a discussion around the biblical imperative of Christian discipleship which is essentiual for every Christian, especially for church leaders. Living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ is where we think ourselves empty and read ourselves full of God’s perspective which we find in the Scriptures. As a disciple of Jesus I need to engage the issues firstly from a biblical perspective.”

Rev Malcolm Duncan (Gold Hill Baptist Church, Great Britain) and Rev Dr Stuart Blythe (Acting Principal of Scottish Baptist College, Rector Elect of the International Baptist Theological Seminary, Amsterdam) will lead the morning sessions presenting two papers which relate to the live discussion in Scotland about independence and the forthcoming Referendum on Scottish Independence.

Malcolm will lead the meeting in thinking about the biblical concepts of nation, identity and the place and role of the church as God's means of transforming and influencing society and culture. Malcolm will set a foundation for the day together from the broad picture painted by the scriptures.

Stuart will help the meeting think specifically about the Scottish scene in this the referendum year. Reflecting on his 30 years of leadership in the Scottish church, Stuart will look will reflect on this issue from a specifically Scottish (baptist) perspective exploring how the way in which we do Church may have implications for how the church responds to the referendum issue and vice versa. He will offer a biblical understanding of Christian identity before making four ‘moves’ which will include reflection upon discipleship and mission. Stuart appreciates that people may disagree with him on any one ‘move’ yet will suggest that each raises issues which are different from the usual diet of discussion but pertinent to a Christian engagement if we are being true to ourselves.

In the afternoon the opportunity to meet and share with The Secretary of State for Scotland, Alistair Carmichael MP will be hosted by Iain Macaulay and Ruth Walker. Alister is a school friend of Iain's from their childhood days on Islay, Alistair will engage the conference theme and questions from the position of his role as a public servant. Alistair is a member of the Church of Scotland.

On-line registration is available here.