A Message from the Moderator
13 August 2020
The text below has been sent to: Presbytery Clerks, Ministers, OLMs and Auxiliaries, MDS, Interim Moderators and Locums, Readers, the Diaconate, Ministry Candidates & Probationers and Session Clerks
Dear friends,
At the risk of bombarding your inbox, I wanted to send a final communication regarding the Week of Prayer running from Monday 17 to Saturday 22 August. Principally, I’m keen to ensure that those who want to get involved will know how to do so.
At 8am each morning a pre-recorded reflection will go live on the Church of Scotland website and on Facebook. These will include contemplative music, Scripture readings, a brief ‘thought for the day’, a prayer and blessing. Additionally there will be a suggested prayer activity that you can choose to take up at some point during the day. Each of these activities has been designed for all ages but certainly with children and families in mind.
In the evenings, there will be a ‘live’ gathering on Zoom in which we hope many from across the country and perhaps further afield will participate. These will commence at 8.30pm - giving time for those who need to settle young children and for those who may have earlier meetings to join. The prayers from each evening will also be watchable on catch-up through the Church’s digital platforms.
The evening gatherings will include the following:
Prayers led by designated individuals, these including leaders from our ecumenical partners, Church of Scotland youth workers, ministers and staff members.
Breakout rooms, during which participants will have a short time to reflect on the Scripture passage that was shared during the morning reflection, to pray together, and to ‘compare notes’ from around the congregations and communities represented.
Reflective music and time to simply be still; there will be opportunity for individuals to bring prayer requests and causes for prayerful concern and thanksgiving.
The link for participating in the evening gatherings is as follows:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85689137107?pwd=ZUNmWVFCclJQVU83UnpjVSt3L1NRZz09
Meeting ID: 856 8913 7107
Passcode: 2020
People who cannot connect to Zoom will be able to phone in:
Dial 0131 460 1196
Type the Meeting ID followed by #
Press # for Participant ID
Type Passcode when promoted (2020) followed by #
We are not posting the Zoom details on Facebook or the Church of Scotland website for security purposes, but we’d be delighted if you would make them available via email within your congregations.
But so much for the detail! What the week is really about, is creating space for the Church to come together from all ‘airts and pairts,’ to still ourselves and to listen for what the Spirit might be saying to us in these days (Revelation 3:22).
As we prepare for the coming chapters, let us begin from a position of humility, being on our knees before the One who will both feed us and lead us.
With every blessing,
Rt Revd Dr W Martin Fair
Moderator
