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Presbytery Mission Plan
Barclay Viewforth, Craiglockhart, Polwarth and St. Michael’s will be served by 2 FTMWS ministry posts and 1 OLM. These four congregations are working well together and will move towards a Union, structured as a Team Ministry as set out in the PMPA, as soon as practicable. They have committed to fulfil Christ’s commandment ‘to love God and your neighbour as yourself.’ They will thus offer worship in a variety of forms (Messy Church, dementia friendly), nurture discipleship in order to grow into fuller maturity in Christ’s likeness (Alpha Course, holiday club, Bible study) and reach out appropriately to the local community (student population, fighting isolation and supporting wellbeing). Each of these threads interlink in order to support and strengthen the Five Marks. Given their proximity and the size of the buildings, discussions and decisions will be required regarding those that should be retained and those that should be released.
Buildings: In light of a mission narrative that emphasises worship, discipleship and reaching out, maintaining four buildings may not be the best use of resources. Thus, it is proposed that all be designated ‘B’ at the moment and a decision regarding rationalisation be reached by 31 December 2024, leading to the release of buildings by 31 December 2025. The others can then, after an annual review, be designated ‘A’ as appropriate.
Use the button below to read the full plan.
Growing Young
COP26 Railing Display.
COP26 display of embroidered fabric leaves hanging on the railing outside the church building.
Our Creative Group have been beavering away creating the first layer of our COP26 railing display, now ready for you to see outside our church building! The first layer is made up of hand embroidered fabric leaves which represent some of the trees which are in danger of becoming extinct, such as Horse Chestnut and members of the Rowan family, among others. Each of the large leaves features a message written by members of the congregation about climate change and the beautiful world God made. Garlands of smaller leaves are woven through these beautiful and powerful messages, some of the most poignant of them written by the children.
If you would like to get involved, please email creative@barclayviewforth.org.uk
A big thank you to everyone who ‘lent a hand’ on our banner - those drawing round their hands, donating fabric or sewing it together. Recently the Creative Group asked the congregation to draw around their hands, these were transferred onto fabric and made into the BVC contribution to the ‘Art for the Planet’ banner being organised by the School of Divinity. Our section and other contributions were sewn together to create two huge banners which were displayed on the towers of New College on the Mound.
‘Each patch will ‘raise awareness of the Climate Emergency and the COP meeting in Glasgow; and be a faith-based statement of support for the COP26.’ - COP at New College.
For more information click the button below. (This will open a new tab showing the ‘Art for the Planet’ page on the COP at New College website).
Give The World A Shot.
Help UNICEF deliver 2 billion vaccines around the world.
We are thankful that the Covid-19 vaccine is provided to us in the UK and we want to help those in poorer countries get vaccinated too. The Creative Group have created a railings display to help spread the word.
Pentecost Display.
The BV Creative Group invited the congregation to help with the Pentecost display and the result was fantastic!
The Ministry team asked the Creative Group to create a display for the railings, using imagery of Holy Spirit as wind and fire, to celebrate Pentecost. To find out more about what Pentecost is, please see our blog (button at the end of the article). This is possibly the most collaborative project the group have done yet as some members knitted the smaller flames, some sewed flames together, some sewed the small flames to the giant felt flames while others created the ‘Wind Twirls’ or helped put up the display. There was a real sense of community as the collaboration didn’t end there! The group invited the congregation to create the ‘Wind Twirls’ too and, thanks to all the contributions, they were featured in the sanctuary too meaning those at home could see them in the live stream of the service.
So, what is a ‘Wind Twirl’? Great question! A Wind twirl is a circle of card cut into a spiral and pulled out to dangle in a long coil, so they move in the breeze. They were made in blue and grey card, then beautifully decorated with words and images relating to God and Holy Spirit. Thank you to everyone who got involved and all those who gave encouragement. The Creative Group is a drop-in group so even if you don’t have much time, we’d love you to join us. We have some on-going projects if you’d like something to pick up once in a while and we have a new project which we will be starting next week (but can be joined at any time). To find out more sign up to the church newsletter or contact creative@barclayviewforth.org.uk.
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