I was having a bit of fun with the children in church last Sunday morning. I reminded them of the party we’re having on Sunday to celebrate St Andrew’s Day. One of the cool things we’re doing is raising a banner or a flag from our church tower. You’ve guessed it- the Saltire !

I’ve told the children they’ve got to look out for it going up. I didn’t tell them the day or the time but I’ve promised a £5.00 prize to the child that gets closest to the time the flag was raised and also writes a story about the Saltire.

Everyone who attends church on Sunday is being invited to come along wearing some tartan. As its our annual Gift Day we’re hoping that the congregation will be generous. This year we’re seeking to raise some money to invest in our social outreach programme, which includes our “Bounce Higher” project this involves work with children and families. We also hope to support our Tuesday Club, working with those who suffer from memory loss. The Gift day will also help fund, “Shalom Counselling”our free counselling service which we offer out of the Kinglass Health Centre . Fnally we wish to be putting more support into the work we’re doing among the teenagers in our town through the ministry of “SHOUT”, this is the new name for our previous youth work know to many as SAMYP. So if on reading the blog you want to donate why not go and do it now click here

I attended a conference today hosted by the Church of Scotland’s Ministries Council. It was to engage with the the idea of Emerging Church. A term that has its roots in America but at the preset time seems to be engaging a number of people in the CofS. In a couple of weeks Brian McLaren one of the leaders of this movement will be in Scotland. It was an interesting conference with quite a number of diverse people in attendance. I guess that’s good because I’m sure God wants his church to be emerging with each other.