In a scenic, coastal fishing village in northern Scotland, Peter and Dorothy Neilson have set up a combination home and retreat center. They call their home Linne Bheag, which is Gaelic for “small patch of water,” referring to the picturesque harbor nearby. From this idyllic setting Peter oversees the revolution. Though recently retired as a Church of Scotland minister, he invites a steady stream of people from across Scotland to Linne Bheag to engage with him on God’s agenda for the transformation of the church.

As a pastor Peter Neilson saw first-hand the limited reach of the typical congregation beyond its own members. Within the confines of his pastoral role, Peter tried everything he could think of to connect with non-churchgoing people: Bible studies for business men and women, personal ministry with those who frequent nightclubs, coming alongside the homeless. On behalf of his congregation he attempted to create “islands of possibility,” communities of people who live on the boundary between church and world and are able to link the two.

It was tough sledding, because so few within his congregation could imagine what he was trying to do, but out of his creative ventures came the concept that is possibly the key to rescuing the Church of Scotland from oblivion: “the church without walls.” With help from a few others, Peter wrote a concept paper by that name, which he was able to shepherd all the way to its adoption in 2001 by the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly. (More about that in a later blog.)

But adopting a mission concept by a church assembly is a far cry from implementing it, and in subsequent years Peter Neilson has dedicated himself to turning idea into reality. He provides a gentle mentoring role toward pastors wanting to make their churches more missional; he works with church planters so that they will embed missional concepts into the very beginnings of their churches; and through his broad network of relationships he coaches and goads the denomination toward its extreme makeover.

How is the revolution going? Four years after the Church Without Walls concept was adopted, a survey revealed that 71% of Scottish churches had at least experimented with the idea. Neilson has taken lessons from Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point: How to Turn an Idea into a Movement. The view from Linne Bheag looks better all the time.