This weekend is a busy one - for lots of different reasons. We have the Service of Union tonight at Aberdeen South and then tomorrow our all-day Presbytery meeting, where we will be conducting business and taking time to hear from Very Rev Sally Foster-Fulton. It will be a real mixture of celebration and of challenge, providing opportunities for us to get to know one another better.
This weekend is also when many students head back to university or go for the first time. And some of our colleagues will have the task of dropping their sons/daughters off, as well as giving them final words of encouragement and support. I can still remember how daunting and exciting it was to be in a completely different environment, surrounded by lots of people I'd never met before, and how hard it was to say goodbye to my family (albeit for only a few months). And yet it was the natural next step in my development.
Over the summer months we have been reflecting on the values that we aspire to. The next one on the list is Nurturing.
We strive to be affirming, generous, welcoming and supportive of each other, recognising the need for mutual encouragement, challenge and development.
St Paul writes about the need for all of us to mature in our faith - to grow up into it. And he often speaks about how necessary it is for us to encourage one another and to hold one another to account. We are not to stay the same. We are to keep moving forward.
I think one of the ways in which we can nurture one another in our Presbytery is through the efforts of Robert, Matt and Dasha. Each has a role in coming alongside congregations to help support them, to challenge them and to aid them in their development. We'll be introducing Matt and Dasha at our Presbytery meeting. All three would love to hear from you, if you would like to take up the offer of their help.
Tomorrow we also get the opportunity to exercise our welcoming skills. A number of newly commissioned elders will be with us, as well as some of those in ministry training. If you are new, please do come and introduce yourself to me. It will be good to put a face to a name. And if you have any questions about how Presbytery works and your part within that, please do not hesitate to ask.
Rev Stella