SUMMER MISSION MEMORIES NEEDED

‘Wide, wide as the ocean’. Do the opening words of this chorus bring back memories to you of Church of Scotland Summer Missions? Maybe as a team member or leader, maybe as a holidaymaker enjoying a beach service, or maybe as a member of a church in a holiday town?

If you have any of these memories the Rev Douglas A ONicol would be delighted to hear from you. Douglas became involved in this area of the Kirk’s work as a fifth year schoolboy and it was for him one of the key influences in his call to ministry.

In the 1970s he served as Summer Mission Organiser and later as the leader of teams drawn from two of his congregations. He feels it is important that this significant area of mission endeavour in Scotland is not forgotten.

As a project in retirement Douglas is planning to document the history and influence of Church of Scotland Summer Mission from its official beginning in 1934 to ongoing work in church holiday clubs, and he hopes to gather photographs and paperwork as well as the memories of those for whom the programme was influential.

Materials can be offered in digitised or hard copy formats, and Douglas hopes to meet over coming months with as many as possible of those who would like to share their story of what an involvement in Summer Mission meant to them.

Douglas can be contacted at summermissionresearch@btinternet.com or at 0131 332 2696.