Category: Articles

Jesus and his followers were companions on a journey which was as much spiritual as it was physical. They were a mixed bunch of individuals, travelling together in the presence of their master. Over the course of their time together they grew in faith and understanding, but also in friendship and trust. They got to know each other really well, they shared in each other’s struggles and they looked after each other’s needs.

On the day of Pentecost the number of Jesus’ followers grew into its thousands, but the pattern did not change. In the early chapters of Acts we were told that, as well as gathering together in larger numbers at the temple, the Christians also continued to meet in each other’s houses, where they ate, shared, learned and prayed together in smaller groups.

This pattern is also repeated here at Liberton Kirk today. Sunday tends to be the day when we gather together in large numbers, but during the week groups of us meet together in each other’s houses. It is here that real friendships can develop, as the small numbers allows us to share, learn and support each other on their faith journey.

Back in January 2011, the Kirk Session (our leadership team) agreed that everyone at Liberton Kirk should be encouraged to get involved in a house group. To help this happen, the Kirk Session also agreed to hold an annual ‘Whole Church’ Study’, when the themes of Sunday morning worship were adopted by the house groups, so that people would have a chance to discuss and apply what they had heard*. The Whole Church Study is an opportunity for those who have not yet experienced the small group discussion to give it a go. Because the series is for a set number of weeks, it means that involvement is time limited if you discover this sort of thing is not for you.

The Theme for our next Whole Church Study will be ‘The marks of a healthy church’. Following extensive research into a number of successful churches, it has been discovered that, although they were of different sizes and theological backgrounds, they all had certain characteristics in common. We will be asking ‘What are these characteristics, and how evident are they in our church’s life here in Liberton?’

Why am I telling you this? My main reasons is simply to encourage you, if you haven’t already done so, to get involved in one of the small groups meeting throughout September and October to discuss and reflect upon these things**. It will be an eight week commitment, but I can promise that it will be time well spent. As well as helping to focus on the things that matter most in our church’s life, it will give you the chance to experience first-hand what the companionship of following Jesus is all about.

Much love

John

* Past Whole Church Studies have included J. John’s ‘JUST10’ series, the ‘Green Bible’, and ‘The Provocative Church’.

**There will be sign up lists at the Welcome Desks, and, for more details of the groups – see the ‘What’s on’ page of the Website, or contact Rink on 664 2178 / rink@talktalk.net

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

Lindsay first heard the phrase, “TGIF”, long before it was known to me. It was used by the nuns who taught at a local school near where she grew up. These days it is used everywhere. I’m sure it strikes a chord, not just with those who have devoted their lives to teaching, but with all those whose working weeks begin on Monday morning and last until Friday afternoon. It’s a phrase that captures that sense of relief that the weekend is here at last. TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday!

Friday is a special day for all sorts of reasons. It was on a Friday 15 years ago that a bunch of local Christians set out on a prayer walk from the different parts of South East Edinburgh where they lived and worshipped. As they walked they joined up with other Christians from other churches, and, like streams flowing together, their processions grew larger and larger converging on the grassy area opposite Mt Vernon Cemetery. As one of the walkers that day, I remember how we arrived, carrying our crosses, and looked up to see similar groups making their way towards us from different directions.

We were about 40 in number by the time everyone had arrived, and we represented a variety of local churches. We sang some well known hymns and songs and prayed together, before each leader then took it in turn to share what that day meant to them. It was Mike Fallon a local priest, who summed it all up. “I’m not quite sure what I’m doing here”, he said, “but I do know it is significant. Because at this very moment something very significant is happening across the Irish Sea, and in our small way I feel part of it.” It was Good Friday, 1999 – the day of the signing of the Good Friday Peace Agreement. It was the day ‘The troubles’ were officially brought to an end.

Since that day we have made the Good Friday Prayer Walk an annual event, and over the years the numbers have crept up. Last year there were over 150 of us who ended up outside Morrison’s on Gilmerton Road, representing churches throughout the area and beyond. This year we will be there again. We meet, we sing, and we pray together. And we listen once again to the story of that first Good Friday, when someone did something remarkable for us; something which changed the world. Here are the words of one of the hymns we will sing.

There is a green hill, far away
Outside a city wall
Where the dear Lord was crucified
Who died to save us all

Thank God it’s Friday!
Much love
John