Minister’s Message 4 May
Dear Friends
Firstly, my thanks for joining with us in celebrating Edie's baptism last week. We were delighted to mark the occasion with you all and we value your commitment to helping us raise Edie within the life of the church. And we hope you enjoyed the cake!
Secondly, let me give you advance warning that you face the last stage of the Probationers’ Challenge on Sunday. This cohort of Probationers have been tasked by the Church of Scotland Training Team to do something different within worship, write a report on it, and share it with the training team and our peers. Over the last few months, I've been experimenting with congregational participation and this Sunday marks the final stage; we will have no prepared sermon. Instead, we will all listen to the reading and craft the sermon together live on Sunday.
In part, this is about bringing your questions before the congregation. Confident that any question you have will either be shared by someone else too nervous to ask or else help us all to see the passage in a new light. However, it is also about bringing your insight to the reading; what is it that you think are the highlights of the passage, what is the key takeaway, what elicits a response in you?
To help prepare you for Sunday, the passage is John 21:1-19, known as ‘the Breakfast on the Beach’. Please give it a read or listen to it being read on the Facebook page before we come together in worship on Sunday. Consider what puzzles you about the story as well as how it engages you. Perhaps it relates to something in your life or in the life of the community. Perhaps it reminds you of something you have let slip down your agenda. Perhaps it simply confirms a deeply held conviction about God.
We will have a roving microphone to allow those in the building to raise their hand and contribute. Alternatively, for those joining either in the building or online, you can click the link and submit a written response. These can be anonymous and will only be seen by me. I look forward to seeing how this goes!
Every blessing,
Alex
Alex Johnson
Probationer - Kinross-shire Parish Church