The Church of Scotland, Poverty, and Scriptural Activism

Matthew Johnstone
Published 15 October 2012

By pure chance today at the Stony Point Center, we were lucky enough to run into Rev. Martin Johnstone of the Church of Scotland, a pastor, denominational staff person, and activist doing amazing work on poverty on the other side of the pond. He said that the Church of Scotland has recognized poverty as “the Gospel imperative for the Church.”

I couldn’t help but draw a sharp contrast between the concept of a denomination that had chosen to focus all of its efforts on the Biblical commandments on poverty, on which many can agree, rather than on sexual purity or church growth, on which there is much less unity.

What is the denominational response to Biblical calls in your tradition? Where do you see your congregation or national organization focusing its efforts? Do you feel that your church is working effectively in meeting those calls?

You can hear more from Rev. Martin Johnstone on Twitter, @martinjohnston8.