A Word From the Manse...

Dear Friends, 

It is so good to see people able to come back to church for a service and  feel safe when they know they can be assured we continue to follow  procedures as required. And there is more good news as lockdown eases  once more - WE CAN NOW SING! 

But you know we have much more to look forward to. We are inviting the  Romanian Orthodox community to base themselves at the Church from  September onwards. Their priests will share the building rather like the  free church from Cornerstone did prior to Covid. This is an exciting  venture in ecumenism and no doubt they will bring blessings to us. In  other news a new Italian assistant is coming to us in September. He is  called Giovanni Bernadini and he is training in Rome for the Waldensian  church - the Italian protestant church. He is 28 and very enthusiastic.  Another adventure for us is the opportunity to enter into a partnership  with Edinburgh Napier University to support our work with the  Department of Student Wellbeing and the Chaplaincy team. The  chaplaincy team will use our building for student services, counselling and  meetings. In the next few weeks we will reshape the children's ministry  with the help of the national youth advisor, and in terms of our work with  older people, we are now invited by the care homes to resume our  services at the start of September. 

I know it has been a deeply frustrating time for people at many levels: we  have lived with separation, isolation, anxiety and a sense of pessimism, but there are signs of new life and hope emerging as the summer  progresses. As we start to see restrictions lifted, which have been in place  for 16 months, there will be those among us who will welcome this move  and others who won’t. This is a landscape which we will need to live well  together as we all make individual choices. What we are not doing is  being released to ‘go back’ to what used to be the norm; that is no longer  the present and we should not think that we can simply pick up where we  left off. Instead, I hope we will commit ourselves to shaping a new future;  one which recognises the pain and brokenness that some are feeling, one  which respects the exhaustion many are experiencing, one which acknowledges the fear and anxiety in our communities, and one which  also sees the joy of those are able to live without restriction once again. Just as at the start of lockdown many people immediately thought of  neighbours and those who are vulnerable and sought to offer support, so  too we now need to be paying great attention to all those around us with  various vulnerabilities and fears, not least in our worshipping  communities and local contexts. What does it mean for us to be the body  of Christ as we live the weeks ahead? Furthermore, as we saw at the  beginning of lockdown, in March 2020, people respond in different ways  due to their circumstances, personalities and experiences. There will be  those who are longing simply to live as before with no physical distancing  or face coverings and who will delight at being in a crowd once again.  There will also be those who are anxious, not least those who are still not  fully vaccinated, and those with particular personal and family health  situations. Whilst it is true that going forward we need to enable one  another to live with the realities of a virus which is not going to suddenly  disappear, and not be driven by fear, we do also need to be sensible,  cautious and compassionate as we continue to live this next season one  step at a time. This is the ‘story’ into which we are emerging, and every  thread of it is a significant one. Jesus’ focus was always on God and the  Kingdom, and his activity rooted in love and prayer. This is a good model  for us right now, as we discern our new normal. 

With love and blessings, 
Rev Steven