Nurturing faith

Joe Liddall looks back on his experience as a summer intern at an Edinburgh church.

MY name is Joe Liddall and I am currently studying Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.

This summer, I worked as a summer intern at Wardie Parish Church; a small parish in the north of Edinburgh. I joined the team to help support it in its efforts to fulfil the five marks of mission, in particular: ’To respond to human need by loving service’, ’To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom’, and ‘To teach, baptise and nurture believers’. I was given incredible and vital support and guidance from Mo Brand and Dolly Purnell, the youth worker and minister at Wardie respectively.

One group I worked with extensively was the regular toddler group. Working alongside Mo, I helped ensure that the group was welcoming, social, and safe for both the toddlers and adults. As a community group based in the Church, this gave me an opportunity to support the community through Christian service.

I also regularly attended the fortnightly coffee bothies run by the Church’s Guild. I will remember these coffee bothies with a particular fondness. They gave me an opportunity to talk to those in the congregation that I knew, but had perhaps not engaged in discussion with before. I felt as though I really connected with the older members of the congregation in particular.

One of the busiest and most exciting times of the summer was the week of Wardie’s holiday club, ‘Going Bananas’. This was open to children from P1-P7. The aim of the club was, primarily, for the children to enjoy themselves and make new friends, yet it also hoped to introduce key concepts of Christianity such as forgiveness, love, empathy and honesty. I helped organise the club by preparing crafts, decorations and the daily dramas. The holiday club was without a doubt, one of the most fulfilling weeks of the internship; I was able to take an active part in supporting young children on their faith journey, and introduce some of them to Christianity for the first time.

The main group I worked with over the summer were the young people within the Church; those ranging from early to late teens. I knew all of these young people prior to my internship over the summer, so had a fantastic relationship with them. Alongside Mo, I led several sessions which saw the young people come together for lunch after the service, play games and play music with a wide variety of instruments – some brought from home. These sessions were perhaps the most rewarding parts of the summer because I was able to see these young people grow in confidence and bond with each other. Further, they gave me the opportunity to talk about my own faith.

Perhaps the part of the summer that required me to step outside my comfort zone the most was when I was asked to play a role in leading the church service. With guidance and support from Dolly, I wrote, and delivered, the prayer of intercession one Sunday. For me, this taught me more about my faith than I ever expected. It taught me what I valued in the world, what I wanted to ask God for help with, or what in the world I wished God would oversee. By leading the Church in this prayer, I felt as though I was sharing with the congregation the quirks of my faith; the parts of my faith that matter the most to me.

Wardie kept me busy over the summer; busy in the Church, busy in the community, and busy in developing and nurturing my own, and others’, faith.