Hello, I am Rev Robert Smith and in January I was appointed as the Mission Development Officer with the Presbytery of the North East and the Northern Isles.
I’ve lived in Aberdeen for just over 20 years but grew up in Alaska in the US. I completed my theological education at Aberdeen University, met a girl, got married and my wife and I are raising 2 boys here.
Prior to taking up this post, I was Minister of Word and Sacrament with the Church of Scotland here in Aberdeen for just over 10 years. It has been an honour to first serve the congregation of Rubislaw Parish Church and latterly, the congregation of Fountainhall Church, which was formed 1 June last year as the result of a four congregation union.
It has been challenging and rewarding, exhausting and fulfilling and I have been blessed by the many relationships it has been a real gift for me to enjoy and continue to hold dear. Now, I am looking forward to a different challenge which is to help stimulate and develop the understanding and practice of mission across our vast, new presbytery.
At its most simple, I believe that mission comprises all those things we do as Christians that tell of the amazing love of God in Jesus Christ … wherever we are. I don’t believe mission is one size fits all; it is shaped by who we are and where we are. Nor is mission a tick box exercise; it is a lifestyle, dynamic and evolving. And I don’t believe mission is a formula to be solved; it is creative and energetic.
So, in my new role, I’ll be encouraging us to ask good questions about who we are, who are the communities we serve, what are the resources we have and what are some new resources we can access going forward. What are the things we do well? What are new things we might do and what might we need to change going forward?
I look forward to learning from you about what mission might look like in your communities as I work to understand how best to support you thrive missionally.
That’s enough from me now. I just wanted to say hello and let you know a bit about myself and what I’ll be doing as Mission Development Officer.
I can be reached via email, Teams landline or mobile.
rsmith@churchofscotland.org.uk
Teams Phone 01224 049 937
Mobile 07563 878 741
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Robert