Message fae the Manse

Dear friends,
I hope this letter finds you well and now that lockdown restrictions are easing for most us you are able to get out and about a bit more. The easing of lockdown restrictions have been very gratefully received by many sectors in society, the church included and we heard the news yesterday that congregational singing is to return to levels 0 and 1, so we are hoping it won’t be too long before we can sing once again in church.

As I write this, the 2021 General Assembly has just finished, held completely online for the first time. A number of extremely important issues were discussed and voted on this year that will have a direct impact on us as a church here in Newton Mearns.

The reduction in the number of ministerial posts was confirmed and so we will find out within the next month or two just how that will affect us here. Other issues such as how we can be a more ecologically friendly church and how we can be more focused in our mission were also debated and information relating to these topics will be filtered down in the coming months.

There are many who are pessimistic about the future of the church, but we have a tremendous opportunity to be more creative and imaginative in how we are a church to the community here, and how we can share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with our neighbours. We are continuing with our discussions in relation to the re development of the sanctuary and church halls and I hope to have an update on that for you in the next issue of Crosstalk in September.

But for now, I hope you have a lovely summer, whether you are able to get away or not. I hope the weather is kind to us, and that we will see more of you in church on a Sunday morning, but please remember if you do wish to come along to worship in the building, you need to reserve a space as we are still limited in our capacity due to physical distancing.

Your friend in Christ
Rev Stuart Crawford