Changing lives

The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields encourages readers to support the work of CrossReach.

ON our travels from the Butt of Lewis to Whithorn and London and all places in between Linda and I have witnessed Churches on the edge, showing great resilience.

Not only that, these same churches were offering practical, personal and spiritual hope to people in their communities that too, were living on the edge – an indication of the commitment of faith from ministries and congregations as they simply got on with the business of serving people in the name of Jesus and in the process, having a positive impact on so many lives.

Linda and I were inspired, humbled and proud to see so much good being done, without fanfare, for so many by the members of our church.

CrossReach! Now there too is an organisation making an impact on the lives of so many! CrossReach is the largest independent ‘social work’ organisation working in the third sector in Scotland.

I could wax lyrical about the many different ways in which CrossReach serves some of the most vulnerable people in our society – that would take several articles. Maybe that would be a good idea! However, I am restricted for space in this article and will highlight only one– addiction recovery.

For all of my nearly 39 years in ministry I have witnessed the fallout of addiction in the lives of so many and the ruinous outcome in the lives of those addicted as well as their families and friends. I have felt the frustration at the lack of concern by so many in society and the lack of resources to deal with this, almost epidemic, in Scotland, where in terms of deaths alone, we are the sick man of Europe.

Linda and I witnessed first hand how lives can be changed – literally restored and where we saw people “shine.” The projects we visited did the following:

• They helped people come off whatever they were addicted to.

• They then spent time getting to the root cause of the addiction – the ‘why?’. There is always a ‘why?’.

• They enabled people, with good, professional support, on the road to restoration and recovery. Often people were homeless or needed supported accommodation.

• They enabled people to find a way back into the community, into work and into good accommodation. It is an holistic approach that has a very high success rate and seeks to restore the whole person. It is hugely impressive and I would like the Scottish Government to take note of this restorative process that takes time, love, care, patience, professional expertise and faith.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but invest in organisations with a proven track record, like CrossReach.

Finally, we, the ordinary members of the church. There is a real need for us to see CrossReach as “ours” – to pray for the work of the whole organisation, to volunteer where and when we can, to give whatever support, financial and otherwise and to value the work they do. ¤

“Linda and I were inspired, humbled and proud to see so much good being done, without fanfare, for so many by the members of our church.”

The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greeshields is Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2022-2023 and is minister at Dunfermline: St Margaret’s.