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Heart and Soul is the name given to the annual gathering of the Church of Scotland in Princess Street Gardens on the Sunday afternoon of our General Assembly week. It’s an event where you can find out what is going on in the Church in general, and in individual churches (who are encouraged to hire their own tents and tell their own stories). It’s also a good place for bumping into people from all over the country and beyond, and a marked improvement on the old Garden Party, replacing the formality and the queues for tea and cakes with the atmosphere and ethos of a carnival. I have to admit that my experience of Heart and Soul was somewhat tarnished a few years ago when Lindsay and I found ourselves wandering its length behind a bunch of Hearts supporters. Their team had just paraded the Scottish cup down Princess Street in an open-topped bus, and they were a bit the worse for wear. As we listened to their bemused comments, we began to wonder who it all was for, and whether it really was of any relevance to non-church goers who happened to wander off the streets.

This year, at the request of various people, we decided give it another go. I remember having a chat with David McNeish, our assistant, about the sort of thing we could do with our tent. We wanted it to be something that would be accessible to anyone who happened to be wandering past – even a worse-for-wear football supporter. We thought about a music tent, but we didn’t want to compete with the other musical events and performances that were going on. In the end we decided that something that had really helped following the tragedy at Liberton High School might be of wider value. Our tent was to be a safe place. Somewhere passers-by could stop and spend time with God. We also wanted to keep it simple – a table with a basket full of candles, some background music, paper where people could write prayers, a tray of sand for their regrets, and some verses from the Bible around the walls (all of which David now keeps in the boot of his car). Add to this a small team of volunteers, to explain what it was about and encourage people to make the most of it, and we were set to go.

The result, for me, was a very humbling experience. In the course of the afternoon I watched dozens of people of different ages, backgrounds, and beliefs going through the doors of the tent. The most moving encounter was when a young woman with no living church connection came out in tears, having recently lost two members of her family. A team member was on hand to listen to her story and to offer to pray with her in a quiet place – an offer that was welcomed.

And what have I learned? That God can make his presence known in the unlikeliest of places – even in a tent in Princess Street Gardens. If you have any stories to share of the places where you have encountered God over the summer, please let me know.

Much love
John

South East Edinburgh is well known for the good relations that exist between its churches. This has come about because our shared ideal has been to consider ourselves part of the one body – the body of Christ on earth. As Paul says (1 Corinthians 12), when one part of the body suffers, we all suffer, just as when one part rejoices, we all rejoice.

Five years ago our unity bore fruit in the linkage of Liberton Kirk with neighbouring church of KLM. (No! We don’t mean the church of a Dutch airline company, we mean Kaimes Lockhart Memorial Church, serving the people of Gracemount, Southhouse, and Burdiehouse). The aim of the linkage was not to close down another church, but rather to revive it and build it up again. So, when Dave Rankin was appointed as the new KLM minister, 12 members of Liberton went along with him to help.

Since then, the revived KLM church has been making steady progress, and not without setbacks. One of these happened within weeks of Dave’s appointment, when the KLM building had to be demolished. The congregation continued with Sunday worship, meeting first in St Catherine’s Hall, and now in the Libertus Building, opposite the Leisure Centre, as well as meeting at the old KLM Manse for midweek fellowship. They also run a toddlers group in the Community Centre, homework clubs, after school clubs and holiday clubs, and their members are involved in a number of other community initiatives in the area.

Dave Rankin’s appointment was for five years, and he has done a good job. On an average Sunday morning you will find between two and three dozen people worshipping together at the Libertus building, and many of them also meet up during the week. Numbers are slowly growing, mainly in the area of families with young kids due to all the connections being made. The average age of the congregation is now lower than we have here at Liberton Kirk.

Bearing all this in mind, Dave’s announcement, last month, that he had been called to serve the congregation of Riverside church, in Perth, caused much sadness and concern. What would the future hold for the people of KLM?

The news, however, is good. We are being given the money to appoint a replacement, and we hope to start advertising soon. In the meantime the KLM leadership are going to be thinking and praying about their vision for the future, and particularly their vision for the plot of land in the heart of Gracemount where the old KLM building once stood. The vision that results will then give them a good idea of the sort of leader they will need to appoint.

So, how can we help? Here are some thoughts –

• We can keep praying – that God would make this transition time a time of real blessing
• We can support – why don’t you give up one of your Sunday mornings at Liberton, and join with the people worshipping at the Libertus building
• We can volunteer – The one area where KLM really needs our help just now is in looking after the children who have begun to come on a Sunday morning.

We say we are all part of the one body. Now’s the time to show it.

Much love

John