I would like to update you on 4 things as we move forward. These are:
Our plans for face to face services
Meeting Socially
Pastoral news
My Institution Service
Face to Face Services
In terms of Sunday morning, we will be continuing with our online services, but with the addition of some face to face services in May and June.
16th May and 13th June: We will be running services at Howden Park Centre in Livingston. On both Sundays the services will be at 4:30pm and will last for about an hour. We will be running a session for pre-school children during the services on both days.
30th May and 20th June: We will be running services at Heriot Watt University. These are open to anyone in the congregation and will be at 5:30pm and then 6:30pm. In addition, the Youth team will be planning a Youth service on the 20th June at Heriot Watt in the afternoon, and the youth team will be in touch about that.
We hope you can attend one of these services, but we will be streaming the services from HWU which you can watch on our Facebook Community page and YouTube channel.
Summer Plans
July through to the beginning of August is normally a time for the staff to take a break and have time to pray and plan for the new term. I feel it is particularly important that staff have time to rest and recover after what has been a very challenging and tiring year. In light of this, we will continue to run our online services in July which will include Mighty Mungo's but there will be no face to face services or additional programmes such as Midweek Word Live, Abide, Zoom Prayer Ministry, Prayer Cells or Connections evenings. The 0-18 team will also be having a break apart from the youth coming together for the Magnitude festival, Sarah Tomb & Lindsay Glover will be in touch with more information regarding that.
With things being quieter during this time, and with restrictions easing in relation to social gathering (see table below) we would encourage you to meet with your House Group and friends within St Mungo's. Why not think about having a House Group BBQ or if your House Group is bigger than 15, run two social events at the same time? The House Group leaders have done an amazing job during this difficult time, and it would be good to give them a break from leading too, so please don't wait for your House Group leaders to offer to run something. Why not offer to do something yourselves?
Scottish Government Roadmap:
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As we move into the middle of August, we hope that Balerno High School and St Margaret's Academy will be open to us. If this is the case, then we would look to transition in a manageable and staged way to holding face to face morning services while still streaming services for those who cannot attend. We are hoping that over the summer the UK and Scottish Governments will let us know when we can sing, but as yet there is no news.
One of the positives of the Covid Pandemic has been that it has given us an opportunity to try new things such as the Connections evenings which have been a huge success. We have also learned how to run things online such as Alpha, a New Believers Course, Prayer ministry, Prayer Cells, Midweek Word Live, all 0-18 groups and let's not forget Mighty Mungo's! I want to commend all the staff for how they have responded to this difficult and ever-changing period. They have worked with great commitment and grace, and I am very thankful to them.
Pastoral News
I am also very grateful to the House Group leaders who have continued to lead through some very difficult and sad situations. Several members of the church family have died over this time, and many have lost loved ones and I am very grateful to the House Group Leaders and the Pastoral team for all their help in supporting these individuals and their families.
Institution Service
Finally, we will be holding my Institution service on Wednesday 23rd June at St Mary's Cathedral. We will email with more information nearer the time, but this will provide a wonderful opportunity for more of us to come together to celebrate.
I greatly appreciate your prayers as we move forward and hope that you get some time to see friends and family over the summer.
God bless.
Ollie
Rector