Moderator says pandemic has unveiled ‘spiritual longing’

THE Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland said today that the Covid-19 pandemic has unveiled a ‘spiritual longing in our land’.

Speaking at the pared-down Annual Gathering of the Church of Scotland Guild at the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh in September, the Moderator, Lord Jim Wallace said: “I believe that whatever the setbacks of pandemic and lockdown, that Good News gives us a bright hope for tomorrow… and I have a sense that the pandemic has revealed a spiritual longing in our land. People who previously showed little interest in institutional church life have been logging on to online worship.”

Addressing the first in-person Gathering of the Guild since 2019, Lord Wallace praised the Guild for its tireless work, even in the face of the adversity presented by the global pandemic. He said he had been particularly struck by the organisation’s scale of fundraising and the breadth of work supported by it, pointing to the £500,000 raised over the last three years (including the last 18 months of the Covid-19 pandemic) which supported six diverse projects across the world, including an initiative in India – the Free to Live Trust – supporting sex workers and their children. sex workers and their children. He said the range and nature of the projects supported by the Guild placed them at ‘the cutting edge of the Kirk’s outreach’.

Praising the Guild for its new ‘apt’ strategy ‘Look forward in faith’, he said the Church of Scotland faced a future where change was ‘inevitable’ but, using an observation from the late US President John F Kennedy that the Chinese word for crisis used two brush strokes – one for danger and the other for opportunity, he reminded the Guild to ‘be aware of the danger, but recognise the opportunity’.

Lord Wallace added: “The challenge for our Church is both to recognise and to seize the opportunity which has been presented to us. “

Outgoing National Convener Mabel Wallace said she had not been able to travel as expected during her year in office but said it had been a “full and fulfilling year”, adding that she had been “humbled and honoured” to serve.

She also paid tribute to General Secretary Iain Whyte who retires from the role at the end of the year after ten years of service and said he had been ‘a true and faithful servant to the Guild’.

The Gathering drew to a close with the installation of new National Convener, Margaret Muir.