From The Editor

ON a hot summer’s day, I enjoyed a picnic lunch in the Princes Street Gardens, a stone’s throw from the Church’s offices in George Street in the heart of Edinburgh.

It was a scorching glorious day and I was fortunate to secure a place on a bench next to the recently restored Ross Fountain.

Restored to its full Victorian glory in a resplendent aqua and gold, a stream of tourists were eager to seek it out for photographs to capture a memory of a trip to our capital city.

There was a very slight breeze and water from the fountain would occasionally be blown over providing unexpected refreshment and sustenance.

When each of the 122 pieces of the sculpted fountain were dismantled in 2017, they had lost their lustre and were dull and tarnished. Water no longer flowed from the fountain.

A £1.9m partnership restoration project involving Edinburgh World Heritage, the Ross Development Trust and the City of Edinburgh Council, lasting more than 12 months and taking more than 40,000 hours resulted in the Beaux Arts cast-iron fountain being reopened with water flowing through the fountain once again in July 2018 and it has become a colourful backdrop for visitors to the city.

Not every piece could be restored – a figure holding a paintbrush representing art had to be replaced.

As I watched and listened to the delight of visitors from all parts of the world, it felt like the fountain was a metaphor for the Church of Scotland.

The fountain had no longer been able to fulfil its original purpose – its waters had not flowed for some time ahead of the restoration project – but following care, love and attention to detail it had found a new lease of life through a radical renovation, rooted in understanding of its beauty and purpose.

The transformation now underway within our Church will allow it to stand strong for the future and guided by the still quiet voice of God.

The project to restore the fountain was transformative – once barely given a glance, it attracted renewed attention and thanks to the newly running water reached out again and unexpectedly touched those not expecting to be touched by its refreshment, but replaced those parts that were no longer working to allow the fountain to flow freely again and delight a new audience.

Like the fountain, the Church’s colours have faded and the time has come for a full restoration, involving a dismantling and reconstruction, allowing that which is no longer fit for purpose to be pruned to allow new growth to take place.

The transformation now underway within our Church will allow it to stand strong for the future and be guided by the still quiet voice of God, off ering sometimes unwitting refreshment and revitalisation to those with a spiritual thirst. 

Lynne McNeil

Editor