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“ For many Christians Easter is the centrepiece of the year – the moment that defines our faith, when the unthinkable happened and from the depths of darkness came hope and new life.

THIS month we find ourselves opening April on Easter Monday, with the message of love and hope borne from the darkest of days.

When I was a child, I was puzzled by the variations of Easter Sunday, when Christmas is so firmly fixed in the calendar. How would people feel if Easter suddenly became a fixed-day Christian festival?

Although for planning purposes it would be useful to have Easter on the same date each year, the beauty, I believe, lies in the slight mystery attached to this time each year.

The roots of the determination of Easter are historic, for it was the Council of Nicaea in 325 which ruled Easter should fall on the first Sunday following the first full moon after March 21 (the spring equinox), meaning the date can fall within a varying five-week period, although is celebrated slightly later by Eastern Orthodox churches.

Science also plays a part in the determination, with an interesting explanation for the astronomy behind the calculation offered by the Royal Observatory at Greenwich on their web pages – www.rmg. co.uk/stories/topics/when-easter

For many Christians Easter is the centrepiece of the year – the moment that defines our faith, when the unthinkable happened and from the depths of darkness came hope and new life.

The journey of the Church mirrors this time in so many ways at the moment. Critically the resurrection did not restore things to how they were before. The resurrection instead offered a promise of new life but in a completely different way. The path ahead may feel uncertain, but every week I am heartened to read of creative new energy and projects which have adapted to help faith communities flourish – along with the people they serve.

Not every project will succeed, but with openness and a willingness to change and try something new, different paths and journeys will open up.

For inspiration, churches need look no further than the Church of Scotland Guild: in the last three years the Guild has quietly reformed to make it easier for local groups to meet and this spring has invited members to workshops and roadshows across the country to consult and shape a new way ahead. There are also positive shoots of growth in numbers in some areas.

The key has been an openness to change and recognition that the models of yesterday will not necessarily work tomorrow and a willingness to try new things – just as the early followers of Jesus did after his resurrection.

Lynne McNeil