
If you've ever been to a service of ordination, induction or adjustment, you will have heard 'The Narrative'. You might have looked at the order of service and wondered what it was going to be about. It's simply the story of how we arrive at that particular moment. A retelling of the steps that have led to that coming together of that particular group of people.
Last night we told the story of how Rev Sharmann Maromo had been called by the congregations of Aboyne-Dinnet linked with Cromar. It was a joyful celebration at the beginning of whole new chapter. One in which Sharmann, his family and the faithful people of God in those parishes, will feature.
One of the values that we aspire to within our presbytery is communication. "We will be open and informative; striving to include people and communicating in a graceful way using all appropriate means." To this end, we are actively recruiting a Communications Officer. Their role will be to develop and implement a communications strategy that promotes and supports the mission and ministry of the Church, engaging with the wider community and helping the Presbytery to communicate well.
Communication is not always easy. From the very start we have encountered all the usual challenges around sharing information in an accessible way. Everything from making sure you have the correct details of everyone you should have to the vagaries of IT systems. And then there's the issue that we get so much information these days it's hard to cut through with the messages that you need to convey.
We are working on it and perhaps that's why we use the word 'aspire'. We have a goal in mind, but it takes time to get there. And all the while we are learning. Thank you for your patience as we've sought to communicate more effectively.
One of the things we have a desire around is to try and get the good news stories shared more widely. We know that there are exciting things happening across the presbytery and we want to help you tell others about those things.
We were reminded in the service, especially in the hymns, that each of us has a calling to tell the bigger story - the best story of all. Our worship closed with the wonderful hymn - Blessed Assurance. The chorus includes the lines - 'this is my story, this is my song'. When it comes to communication, we all have something to share. And it is a story worth telling. A story of Jesus and his love. May we learn together how to communicate that with every breath that we have.
Rev Stella