I have some exciting news to bring you regarding the Balerno youth worker position. I’m delighted to announce that we have appointed Jonathan Slatter as the new Balerno youth worker at St Mungo’s.
Jonathan has been based over in the West as the Youth Pastor at Bridge Christian Fellowship in Erskine, which is part of Elim but is no stranger to Edinburgh having grown up here.
He has just got married to Megan and so we are delighted to welcome them both to the St Mungo’s Church family. Jonathan has just finished his degree course in Applied Theology with Youth Ministry and has a good amount of experience in his Youth Pastor role at BCF. He has also been a part of Limitless Scotland producing nationwide events for young people and has spoken at Limitless conferences.
We are hoping Jonathan will start with us on Monday 13 September, which will give him time to handover his role over in Erskine and time for him and Megan to sort out accommodation over in the East.
Plans for the start of term
Since June we have been working on how we cover the Balerno youth ministry in the event of a new youth worker not being recruited until September so that the Balerno youth ministry can start at the beginning of term, and Sarah can start her new role from 16 August. I am very grateful to Wendy Brown who has been working very hard to pull together a team who will cover August through to October which means the youth ministry can restart after the summer. This will also allow Jonathan time to settle in to a new job; new church and find his feet with sufficient time for a handover with Sarah too which will be really important.
The easiest and most sustainable way identified to cover the Balerno youth work was to split the role and look for cover for Friday nights and Sunday mornings. Each will be covered by 2 people.
Adrian & Tara Devlin will lead Friday nights from 1 August to 31 October
Gill Menzies and Kirsten Thomson will lead Sunday mornings from 1 August to 31 October.
Gill will oversee the team and communication; rotas; running the Sunday mornings
Kirsten will write the material for Sunday mornings and be present when she can
Wendy will be the staff member responsible for these roles and they will liaise with her if they have any questions or concerns.
Please be praying for Sarah as she transitions into her new role; Wendy as she oversees this transition, Adrian and Tara, Gill and Kirsten as they lead the Friday and Sundays, and Jonathan and Megan as they look for a place to live and transition into this new stage in their lives. This is all very exciting, and I am very thankful to God for His continued faithfulness to us as a Church family.
Ollie Clegg [Rector]