To
express the presence and hospitality of Christ in our community to residents,
workers and visitors alike.
Community
Mission and Outreach
Although
there are not many families with children resident in the parish, the 10.00am
Sunday service has grown in stature as an all-age flexible worship format with
Gospel teaching and exposition at its heart. A pool of 8−10 families
provide the flexible core of the service but it has further potential to grow
and develop.
Family
worship is complemented by baptisms reaching out into a wider community/family
network and by the minister’s work at Royal Mile Primary School.
Parish
worship on Sunday and at the Christian festivals is a vital public witness such
a high profile city centre area. It is notable that attendances on special
occasions attract a much wider public than the congregational core.
Regular
parish services are based on the liturgy of the early Scottish reformers,
lending a distinctive style and tone to worship at Canongate, thoroughly
Scottish as well as thoroughly ecumenical and international. More recently,
however, this has been increasingly complemented by a warm and informal social
atmosphere underpinned by the provision of tea/ coffee and snacks in the
attractive foyer. This combination has sustained and modestly increased Sunday
morning attendance. The minister is planning some modest revisions and updating
of the service orders in line with Panel on Worship resources.
Community
Mission and Outreach
Canongate
members are a very active group in all forms of community service and outreach.
The Kirk Session has sought to encourage this outreach (e.g. action for the
homeless) through fund-raising, special events and prayerful fellowship and
support. In the main, Canongate operates through these community networks,
rather than through a set of Kirk organisations, though a number of key
congregational action groups make things happen (e.g. Pastoral Care Group, Open
Kirk). A particular achievement has been the upgrading by the Church of the
Harry Younger Hall as an all purpose community facility. The “Girls” (a
relative term) Club has been very successful in attracting the local community
to a series of special coffee mornings there. The minister is also active in
supporting a wide range of local organisations. These include the many army and
ex-army associations brought to Canongate through its parish link with Edinburgh
Castle.
It
is notable that the minister’s presence at so many community groups and
occasions is specifically evangelical contributing through prayer and the
articulation of Christian values. Despite the complexity of modern secular
society and the interaction of local regional and national organisations in the
Canongate, the Church has a specially recognised and accepted place through the
presence of its ordained minister in the parish.
The
regular daytime opening of the Church between June and September for the curious
or the prayerful has proved a resounding success. Although recruiting sufficient
“welcome” volunteers is a constant challenge, visitors and local people have
enjoyed this facility and the almost unanimous view of the hundreds of weekly
visitors is that the Church interior is an inspiring witness.
It
is notable that hundreds , soon rising to thousands, of people now work in the
Canongate area due to the arrival of the Scottish
Parliament, the
Scotsman offices, the BBC,
the British
Council and, in the near future, the City
of Edinburgh Council, in addition to Moray
House and the Palace
of Holyrood-house. Weekdays have become an important missionary opportunity
not just for visitors to the city but to the working population of the city and
its environs.
The Church is now hosting an average of two concerts or other music events (e.g. Society of Organists classes) weekly, including a strong representation of choral and sacred music. Through its organist and the manse family the Church has had a strong role in shaping this programme of events. Arts and culture, primarily so for music has become a prime missionary interface for the Church as well as a useful source of income.