"The kirk sesssion (leadership) have not been able to identify anyone willing to take on leadership of the Sunday club. This being the case, Andrea Boyes and I have agreed to take on leadership on an interim basis to explore how we can do Sunday club together as a church on a basis that will enable new leaders to emerge. We have been encouraged by the amount of support we have received and the number of people who have expressed willingness to get involved. We will be using the Roots lectionary material which follows the same scripture passages as the main service, so there will be a crossover in terms of teaching. It means that parents who get involved in helping with sunday club will be learning from the same passages, possibly in a way which is more fun than the sermon! We plan to be very experimental, and as well as having a core team of helpers we will welcome the engagement and involvement of parents. We want to see whether there are ways in which we can support families in learning together. We will value your prayers, support and feedback over the coming weeks. The new format begins from next Sunday." Duncan.
"I'm looking forward to being part of sunday club in the next few months and hope that all of us, children , parents and leaders are all able to learn more about that "big book" the bible. A large part of our gospel tells us about sharing meals and friendship so part of our time will be doing just that , sharing some breakfast together and hearing a bible story as we do. It would be great to have the parents there too, help make that toast! Several people have volunteered to come and lead us in worship songs and prayers , so Im sure it will be a loud sunday morning with music to reach the highest of heavens. Games and crafts will also be part of our learning and worship (as we follow the lectionary reading), the brighter the better so for sunday club perhaps the children should bring their energy, loud voices and not their best clothes. "Andrea.
We drove 1000 miles to Greenbelt and back. It was worth every mile of the journey. So many highlights. One of them was the Applecart Theatre Company. I could wax lyrical about the power of their story telling, but instead I'll let them tell their own story.
I stumbled upon part of this programme about the Church of Scotland called "a Church in crisis?" last night on BBC1. It made for some pretty grim viewing. One of the few glimmers of light was this church in Luss.Personally, I see the crisis as a positive thing. The good news about Jesus Christ is absolutely relevant in 21st century Scotland, but so much of what the church does and represents by the way it goes about things communicates a completely different message.
I called into the Lighthouse around 1.30pm and ended up staying for a couple of hours to help out. Over the past few months we have moved to a position where the cafe remains very busy often from before midday until closing time at 3pm. Sometimes it's so busy, that there is barely an opportunity for staff to take a break. I really enjoy the buzz around the place and the opportunity to meet and serve so many different people. Since opening in the evenings, we have been successful in recruiting a good number of volunteers, but we're still struggling in terms of support during the days, especially over the lunch hours. In many ways I find that reality quite surprising when I think of the size of our congregation. At the end of the day, I think all we can do is continue to persevere and to trust that God will continue to call new people into this exciting rollercoaster ministry.