Scottish Laity Network
Our Vision
The Scottish Laity Network (SLN) seeks to enable Scottish laity to come together as disciples of Jesus and through prayer, dialogue and discernment to find ‘new ways’ of being Church in Scotland in the 21st Century.
We are rooted above all in a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Gospel.
We are inspired by the principles of Vatican II seeking to make the gospel values a lived reality in the world today, and by the encyclical letter Laudato Si’, the vision of Pope Francis to listen and respond to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth.
We trust the Holy Spirit to guide us as we make this journey.
How to be a Missionary Synodal Church
This is the document to guide the Synodal meeting in October 2024 - How to be a Missionary Synodal Church
This is the SLN response to the Synthesis Report -
'A Synodal Church in Mission'
Advent Journey 2024
Women - in Waiting
Online evenings of Prayer, reflection and conversation
Thursdays - 7.00pm - 8.30pm (GMT)
Hyab Yohannes - 28 November
Refugee Women in Waiting: Their experiences
Veronica Mary Rolf - 5th December
Julian of Norwich
Tina Beattie - 12th December
Mary in Waiting: An Advent reflection on women who labour in hope
Gemma Simmonds - 19th December
Working Marvels: Magnificat Hope for our times
SLN Response to the Synthesis report of the October 2023 Synod
Newsletter - Issue 6
The new SLN Newsletter is now available for download from the site.
This will be a quarterly publication which you can read
(and pass on to let others know about the SLN).
Discerning the way forward
In November 2023 we had an exercise in Personal and Communal Discernment as we reflected on
Where Now for the SLN?
We have summarised the exercise in the document (pdf download):
SLN Discerning the Way Forward_November Gatherings Analysis
and invite you to read and reflect on it.
Scottish Laity Network
Response to the Working Document for the continental stage.
This response (January 2023) from the SLN is available to download
as a pdf document
here.
Scottish Laity Network
Response to the Synod 2021-2023
The full response from the SLN to the Synod is available to download as a pdf document here.
Mission
We aim to provide a forum of support and respect for lay people to:
- discern the ‘signs of the times’ in responding to, and engaging with, the challenges we all face in the world today to bring about the kingdom of God on earth
- give a voice to and dialogue with, in a spirit of love and respect, those who have been marginalised, whether in the Church or in civil society
- work to become, in the words of Pope Francis, ‘a church that is poor and is for the poor’
- try to live simply and sustainably as envisioned in Laudato Si’
- share pastoral, theological and liturgical practice and resources
- encourage dialogue, transparency and accountability in all aspects of local Church governance and to raise issues, if necessary, with the relevant ecclesial bodies
Lay people are on the front line of the life of the Church and we affirm and respect our right to fulfil our specific mission that we received in Baptism.
Pope Francis
Lay people are on the front line of the life of the Church. We need their testimony regarding the truth of the Gospel and their example of expressing their faith by practising solidarity.
Let us give thanks for the lay people who take risks, who are not afraid and who offer reasons for hope to the poorest, to the excluded, to the marginalized.
Let us pray that the lay faithful may fulfil their specific mission, the mission that they received in Baptism, putting their creativity at the service of the challenges of today's world.
The Mission of the Laity – May 2018
The Scottish Laity Network has a YouTube Channel for recent videos/events: