From The Editor

THE two most important seasons of the Christian year are Easter (which this year falls in April) and Christmas. Holy Week (the week immediately preceding Easter), Easter Sunday, Advent and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are times when there is increased activity within our local churches.

These occasions are for remembering the key moments that underpin the Christian faith – the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus – and off er moments of great hope and joy. They are also times of both reflection and celebration and have become opportunities in an increasingly busy world to spend time with friends and family, which can result in increased footfall within our churches.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day have become entrenched public holidays (although there remains memories of business opening on these days before the 24/7 culture of the 21st century). In Scotland Good Friday has always been a bank and public holiday but not Easter Monday.

Although the Bible itself places no significance on Easter Monday, the day after the Resurrection, it is a day of holiday in other Christian denominations. Whilst it is not a bank holiday (unlike Good Friday and Christmas Day and Boxing Day) many local authorities in Scotland now incorporate Easter weekend into the annual two-week holiday break at this time, or ensure the two days are part of a longer weekend celebration of the season.

However, there are a small number of Scottish local authorities which persistently do not include Easter Monday within the annual holiday allocation for both teachers and pupils.

Easter weekend o_ ers an opportunity for the Church to engage anew with local and national communities.

In the age of creeping secularism, this is disappointing. It is unthinkable that Christmas Day would now not be a holiday (although not for everyone, particularly those serving in the emergency and caring services and armed forces, among others). There is also a subliminal message for the youngest people in our community: when Easter Monday is a holiday, this demonstrates it is significantly important enough for schools to be closed.

In his 2002 book, Outside Verdict (an analysis of the Church of Scotland at that time), journalist and author Harry Reid called for Easter to become the great Christian festival and called for our Church to lead the way in its revival. Many local churches stage their own events and there has been a surge in interest in passion plays.

Easter weekend off ers an opportunity for the Church to engage anew with local and national communities, off ering a sense of the darkness and light – and hope – that underpins the Christian faith.

Lynne McNeil

Editor