WELCOME/
Hello and welcome to worship.
It is good that even in a time of lockdown, that we are still able to gather online to worship the One who calls us his own, who calls us ‘beloved’.
We move further into this season of Epiphany: the wise men have been and gone and traditionally, the church calendar does a bit of a dramatic jump. Having just celebrated the birth of Jesus, we move to a now grown Jesus on the cusp of beginning his public ministry, and find ourselves by the banks of the River Jordan, hearing once again the story of his baptism. So as we paddle by the waters of the Jordan, just one piece of news to share...
As a parish, as of 2019, we became part of a wider parish grouping with Douglas Valley and the Tinto Parishes. We'd already begun exploring and finding ways of helping and supporting one another - by pulpit swaps and the ministers of Upper Clyde and Tinto Parishes leading communion across in the Douglas and Rigside congregations. Alongside this, we also undertook an audit of our parishes - how many people, schools, community groups, age groups, community services offered, etc - and this helped to shape a proposal to create a new post of a shared Community Outreach Worker. This went forward to Church of Scotland HQ, and we were successful in receiving support to put in place a 3 year post. Having advertised the vacancy, and subsequently interviewed shortlisted applicants, the successful candidate was Angela Brydson - a Deacon and experienced community worker.
Angela has been working just down the road, in our neighbouring presbytery of Annandale and Eskdale. I think our various communities will benefit immensely from Angela’s energy and creativity, as well as her understanding of just how rural communities work and it’s great that she’s joining our team – even in the midst of the challenge of doing so in lockdown. Angela has very kindly put together a wee video to say hello, so you'll get to meet her in our opening 'welcome' clip across at our YouTube channel.
In the meantime, I hope this finds you well, and that you’re managing to stay upright, given all the ice and snow about the place. Also, I hope that lockdown is not proving too hard. Please do feel free to give me a call if you’d like to chat – I’m always happy to listen.
May this time of worship be a blessing and an encouragement...
You'll find the
LINK HERE to take you across to our service.
God bless
Nikki
