Love in action
Jackie Macadam previews CrossReach Week, which takes place this month.
CROSSREACH is often described as ‘the Church’s best kept secret’, but once a year, during CrossReach Week, the Church’s social care arm gets a chance to bring that work out into the open.
The theme for this year’s week, which begins on Sunday September 24, is ‘inclusion, hospitality and welcome’. This ties in with the themes the Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev Dr Derek Browning, has adopted for his Moderatorial year.
CrossReach Week is the week when the Moderator spends almost all of his time visiting CrossReach properties and services and meeting service users, the staff and the volunteers at each place he visits.
Dr Browning said: “The impulse to provide care to people who are hurting or who are in need is a fundamental close to the heart of Christian faith. If we don’t put our faith into action, if we don’t practice what we preach, then our faith is a fairly sterile thing.
The Very Rev Dr Russell Barr, visiting the Polmont Prison Visitors Centre Bus
“I’ve been an admirer of the work that is done by CrossReach, and its predecessors, for 30 years. I have seen, at close hand, the quality of care and compassion that is offered to people who are at their most vulnerable, their most fragile, and their most marginalised. Reaching out in kindness to those who find themselves isolated or on the fringes of society is one of the most important things that our churches can do locally, and it is why CrossReach continues to be an important part of what the Church of Scotland offers across the country.
“In my first parish in Fife I served as chairman of a local committee that supported a Church of Scotland facility that cared for the frail elderly of the community. I remember the quiet opportunities to reach out and show support to people who had dementia, and those who were no longer physically able to live on their own. In particular I remember helping to celebrate a wedding of an elderly couple who had never been married before, but who met in that care facility, fell in love and decided, well into their eighties, to get married. They had no close relatives, but they did have the care home staff and their local congregation, who rallied round to make that wedding one of the most simple but meaningful weddings I’ve ever participated in.
The Very Rev Albert Bogle visiting CrossReach’s Simpson House during CrossReach Week 2012
“I remember more recently the care and support a young mother received from the Bluebell perinatal depression service. Beyond her feelings of guilt and anger and pain, she found people who could not only empathise with the conflicting feelings she was experiencing after her pregnancy towards her child and her partner, but also practical techniques to help her bond again with her child. I know it was a life-saver for more than one individual in that situation, and I know that there are many other stories where families have found understanding and a hands-on solution that has made all the difference in the world.
“What CrossReach does in its many different guises is to put hands of care on to our Christian faith. I am looking forward to taking part in CrossReach week in September and hope to visit a wide variety of projects in different parts of the country. By putting a spotlight, even for a brief moment, on some of the outstanding work that is carried out in the name of Christ and His Church, then that must be an encouragement not only to the many staff and volunteers involved in the work of CrossReach, but also to the wider Church who should be proud of the work we support. Maybe it might inspire some more people to find ways to help in their own congregations and communities, or with a nearby CrossReach project. There is good work being done – let’s encourage it!”
CrossReach Week begins on Sunday September 24 with a launch service at Coldside Church, Dundee at 4pm. It will conclude with a service of thanksgiving on Friday 29 at Charis House in Edinburgh. In between, other events lined up include visits to older people’s services and Perth Prison Visitors Centre, Mental Health in the Workplace events and a discussion about public policy.
The Grey Cakes – one of the main attractions at Heart and Soul and the General Assembly earlier in the year – will go countrywide with the encouragement of Grey Cake Sales, coffee mornings and other events, all to raise money for CrossReach’s mental health services.
The Grey Cakes are grey on the outside but rainbow colours on the inside, a metaphor for a bright, colourful person who can sometimes feel covered and suffocated by the grey blanket of depression or anxiety.
Dr Browning faced off with the then Moderator of the Youth Assembly, Andrew MacPherson to cook the first two Grey Cakes and the Lord High Commissioner, the Princess Royal, cut a grey cake during Heart and Soul.
Viv Dickenson, Chief Executive Officer of CrossReach said: “CrossReach Week may only last for seven days, but the impact can be much more far reaching. The Very Rev Dr Lorna Hood (Moderator in 2013-14) signed ‘The Pledge to Listen’ on behalf of the Church – a campaign run by Who Cares Scotland which materially changed the law in terms of support to looked after children. The Very Rev Dr Russell Barr (Moderator in 2016-2017) met with the Principal of Strathclyde University, and as a result we are working with the University on an international research project on stigma and childhood. It is an incredible opportunity for CrossReach to be able to showcase to the Moderator and wider church some of the transformative work we are involved in on a day to day basis, but it can also be an opportunity to think about some of the wider issues affecting the people of Scotland and to join forces for positive change.
“CrossReach week can be a lot of fun. From belly dancing to learning to fly, past Moderators have been invited to take part in a number of interesting and entertaining activities whilst exploring some serious issues. We very much look forward to spending a week with Dr Browning, and whilst much of that week will be spent discussing the consequences of poor mental health, we will be sure to keep the Moderator’s own spirits up in a variety of ways.
“CrossReach Week begins on Sunday September 24 with a launch service at Coldside Church, Dundee at 4pm. It will conclude with a service of thanksgiving on Friday 29 at Charis House in Edinburgh.”
“Introducing the Moderator to our staff and volunteers is one of the highlights of the year. We know that the social care workforce can be undervalued but the Moderator putting aside a whole week to spend time with CrossReach illustrates, in some tangible way, the true value the Church places on the work that is done and those who do it.
“Former Moderators Russell Barr and Angus Morrison have both described CrossReach as ‘the jewel in the crown of the church’. For one week every year we throw open the doors of our most precious places and invite everyone to take a look, and to think about how they too might support CrossReach so that the jewel of ‘love in action’ can continue to shine brightly for many years to come.”