So we did it! We stepped out on to the steps of the church and reached out!
And it was great fun - the young people really appreciated the hot chocolate and we appreciated their politeness and laughter.
This project has been a wee dream of mine for a while - before I started on my placement I had noticed that on a Saturday afternoon young people liked to gather on the steps of the church. The church just so happens to be right in the middle of the pedestrian part of the high street - an obvious place to gather. Unfortunately there has been some problems with graffiti and litter and ALL the young people have been blamed by some - so a group of us decided that instead of scowling at the young people we would like to get to know who it is that shares our steps with us. And we hope over the next few weeks to build up a relationship with whoever is there.
What I really loved was that the young people not only enjoyed their hot drinks but they also did not seem to mind us being there in amongst them. Most sat on the steps and enjoyed their drinks and a bit of banter with their pals. But some asked if they could see inside the church, others if they could sit inside in the wee hall that we have (it was cold), some wanted to use the loo AND one asked if he could borrow a music edition of CH4 (Church of Scotland Hymnary version 4) - turns out he is a very talented pianist and plays the organ sometimes at a couple of local churches. He was also interested in the services we have at the church.
So you can see why we are all excited about next week - the young people asked would we be there and it was great to be able to say we would be. It really did feel good to be a church reaching out asking nothing in return...being the living witnesses to Christ in the world. We have no idea where our project might take us but are we are going......
