UPDATE: 12th MARCH
As you know we were hoping to have been back in at Balerno High School for our services from last week and we let you know that unfortunately a last-minute Edinburgh Council decision meant that this was no longer possible.
I’ve had a few meetings with the school now and we now have a clearer picture of the overall situation at the school. The headteacher, the business manager and myself submitted a scenario to the council to try and explain why our let there was extraordinary and therefore required further consideration and am pleased to say that we have heard back that the council have changed their position and said that the let can go ahead.
There are, however, some other challenges which we need some time to work through – the main one being that there are still some significant ongoing building works happening at the school. These works include replacing the roof, refurbishing and recarpeting the majority of the classrooms, including all the science labs and HFT rooms off the concourse, and most significantly for us - a complete re-wire of the school.
In 2008 we worked with the school and the council to install some electrical equipment, including all the lights, the projectors, screens etc. and unfortunately reconnecting power to these circuits has not been included in the rewire plans. The school and myself are working with the site manager to see why this is the case and to try and resolve this.
During the Easter holidays the plan is that the main circuit boards will be ripped out of the concourse and replaced, along with the refurb of the HFT classrooms off the concourse. This means that were we to have access back in before the school break at Easter, we would have to vacate again for 3 weeks.
Therefore, as a senior team, we have taken the decision that we will remain here at Heriot-Watt until after the Easter school holidays, with the potential first date back at the school being Sunday 1st May.
Whilst this may be an unsettled period time, I was reminded this week of a picture which someone shared with me several months ago – it was of St Mungos Church being lifted up in the hand of the Father ready to be placed down again. Whilst it may feel that we are ‘homeless’ still at present there is great comfort and trust in knowing that we are in the hand of the Father, we are able to meet each week, we have got great relationships with both BHS and HWU and most importantly God remains significant in our services.
We will keep you informed as things move along and do be praying for us as a senior team as we continue to make the best decisions we can with the information we have available.
UPDATE: 22nd FEBRUARY
I had a meeting this morning with Balerno High School’s Head Teacher, Business Manager, and, the site manager, to discuss our return to using the school on Sunday mornings and evenings and I am sorry to inform you that Edinburgh City Council have once again moved the goalposts, making our return this Sunday no longer possible.
The business manager was at a meeting last night and the council are stipulating that all users of the building, including any external lets, must adhere to the ‘establishment’ risk assessment. This means that we are required to follow the covid guidelines for schools, rather than the more accommodating covid guidelines for places of worship. The school guidance states that until Monday 28th February no large gatherings are permitted on premises and from Monday 28th the maximum size of grouping allowed is 50 and that all adults must maintain a 2m physical distance at all times. We are seeking clarification of this and hope for an update next week.
At the moment, therefore, it makes more sense to continue to meet at Heriot-Watt University where we can meet in larger numbers and with more flexibility around physical distancing.
Whilst this is incredibly disappointing, I am pleased to say that Heriot-Watt is still available and so the Balerno congregation will continue to meet on Sunday mornings at Heriot-Watt University. Our 0-18 groups will also continue to meet alongside our adult service, in the same rooms that we’ve been using each week.
This Sunday, 27th February, we will also be holding our evening service at Heriot-Watt University where we are planning to have a time of prayer for this situation and also to have our first time of personal prayer ministry.
It is easy to feel discouraged at the news that we still are unable to return to Balerno, but this is a time to once again thank God for His provision of Heriot-Watt and the fact that we are still able to meet together weekly. Accessing Balerno High School is a situation entirely out of our control and so we choose to be thankful for God’s continued faithfulness and goodness to us.
If you have not yet joined us at Heriot-Watt and are waiting until we are back in Balerno, can I encourage you to consider coming out to Heriot-Watt and seeing what it is like. If there are any practical reasons that are preventing you from attending in person then please let me know and I’m happy to see whether there is anything we can do to help.