The Rev. Jane Blackley presenting a cheque for £350 from the 'Sing-a-Long Messiah' to Elsa Sinclair (and friends) from CHAS at Rachel House, Kinross on Wednesday 3rd March 2010.  

March 2010

Dear friends,

We see green shoots, crocuses blooming, and daffodils through – as we journey on through Lent towards Easter, we know that soon the warmth and light of Spring will come! And these raw days of winter, with the gorgeous deep staining of the sky at sun rise and set, will be behind us.

Time moves on so fast! Remember the 5-yearly Presbytery Visit? Well, the congregation of the Gardner Memorial have received an outstanding report…edited highlights can be found elsewhere in the Link. On the first Tuesday in March, several of us will attend the Presbytery meeting in Arbroath to hear the reports presented. Well done, and thank you all!

More good news…we welcome Ian Gray back with us, on a part-time basis, to share in the pastoral care. He begins his post as Parish Assistant to our Esk Parish Grouping this month. Ian’s a weel-kent face amongst the folk at Farnell and the Gardner, of course. Welcome back, Ian, from all of us.

This month too sees us getting together after a short morning service on the 14th of March for the Annual Meeting of the Congregation on the 14th March. Come along, learn what’s going on and have your say! As you’ll see from our Report, we’re moving forward, and good things will develop further in the future: but we need everyone’s support to fulfil our potential.

We’re already well into Lent, this special period leading up to Easter, when Christians from every tradition reflect on our faith and what God might be asking you to do now and here. Our Lent group, who meet every Tuesday after a lunchtime bowl of soup, is following the ecumenical programme, designed by the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. It’s good to think that we’re part of such a sister- and brotherhood, and that the differing traditions of the world-wide Body of Christ can worship together.

We meet, in a striking phrase, as ‘Easter people in a Good Friday world.’ As Christians, we can’t avoid the big and painful issues in our world. As I write, there is news of earthquake devastation in Chile, following the disaster in Haiti. So many people have sorrowing hearts; precious lives are swept away, we endure the illness and death of loved ones, as we struggle to keep job and family together during some tough times. But our faith is the bedrock of our life, not an insurance policy against living fully in this world. Our journeying through Lent together helps us understand this.

Ricocheting from the fun of Christmas to the celebration of Easter is ‘Christianity lite.’ We must acknowledge our own sombre Good Fridays, and the challenges in our world, before we can appreciate the hope and promise of Christ’s Resurrection: the Love that overcomes all difficulty, loss and pain.

May the Lord bless you and keep you and yours, in this Easter Season.

Jane