Sustaining Hope

By Rev Fiona Bennett (From Seeds Issue 99 – November 2020)

In November worship at AUC we mark the Season of Remembrance. This season offers a time to look back at the year past, to give thanks, to acknowledge loss and to learn wisdom to equip us for the year ahead. So what do I remember looking back at this year?

A Vision of Agape

By Rev Fiona Bennett (From Seeds Issue 97 – September 2020)

From the Gospel of Mark, chapter 12:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”’

Memories of Brian Bailey

(From Seeds Issue 97 – September 2020)

The Revd Brian Hudson Bailey, OBE, our minister from 1984 to 1996, was English by birth, Scots by adoption, and Afrikan at heart.

Climate Commitment: Christians Taking a Stand

By Katrina Tweedie (From Seeds Issue 97 – September 2020)

How to be Christian and act radically on climate issues? Katrina Tweedie has been researching options and was introduced to Rachie, an ecotheologian from Christian Climate Action. This was what Rachie told her about one group putting their faith in the environment into action.

Lift the Ban

(From Seeds Issue 97 – September 2020)

The ecumenical Joint Public Issues Team is promoting a new report from the Lift the Ban coalition. It provides new evidence of the benefits of ending the ban on asylum seekers working in the UK.

Bible Journaling through troubling times

By Jason Mannings (From Seeds Issue 96 – July 2020)

During lockdown, Jayson Mannings has re-discovered “scripture-led art”. He gives us some tips for getting creative ourselves.

We Need to Talk About Race

By Ben Lindsay: Review by Ian Johnson (From Seeds Issue 96 – July 2020)

Are you prepared to be disturbed?

This is a book that Justin Welby said is

a must read for the UK Church. This book is shaped deeply by the gospel call for transformation: of individuals, of communities, of society at large.

Black Lives Matter: one father’s fear

By Iain Stewart, Executive Director of the Edinburgh Interfaith Association (From Seeds Issue 96 – July 2020)

The tragic killing of George Floyd has shaken me personally and, I know, members of the Edinburgh Interfaith Association. As a father of a mixed-race child and a person of faith I identify strongly with the cause of Black Lives Matter.

Returning to the building

By Rachel Fitzgerald

After more than three months away from the building, the concept of reopening and returning feels daunting to all of us, I suspect. Rest assured that both the church council and the building staff are taking their responsibilities seriously in thinking through the risk assessments, systems and policies that we’ll need in place before we can safely bring people back into the building.

Don’t Forget the Treasure

By Rev Fiona Bennett (From Seeds Issue 96 – July 2020)

The process of “unlocking” life seems much more complicated than when we went into lockdown. It is harder to work out what is permitted and what is not as things keep shifting. It is hard to plan for the future when we are not sure what will be allowed at given points in time. One of my concerns of “unlocking” is how and if, in our drive to get back to normal, we will remember any of the treasure we have discovered during lockdown.