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Dear Friends
As I write my letter for this month's magazine we are just a few days away from the election for the Scottish Parliament and for local Government. By the time you receive this magazine the results will be known and the pattern of government set for the next few years. At this moment, however, the parties are in a frenzy trying to get our vote; we are bombarded by literature through our letter boxes from the huge spectrum of parties and political persuasion; there are election broadcasts, and daily reports on the news - and along with all of this, there is also a huge publicity campaign simply trying to encourage us to vote!
That has been a problem for some time now - getting people out of their homes and into the polling station to mark their crosses and get involved in the process. I am not sure why it should be so difficult to motivate people to vote - maybe we are simply swamped by the publicity, maybe we can't make up our minds who we would want in government anyway, maybe we feel let down by promises made at previous election times and then not kept.
Whatever the reason, I feel it is sad that people do not take the opportunity of getting involved in the process. Whatever we might think about it all, there is no doubt that the people who are voted into power do make decisions that affect our lives - education, health, roads, housing, working conditions to name but a few. It is one way of making our mark and ensuring that our voice is heard - we may not get the result that we want, but at least we have a chance of saying what it is we do want. I believe it is important that people get involved in the process.
If that is true for politics, then it is most certainly also true for the church, and for this period of Interim Ministry that we are journeying through together. It is my fervent hope and prayer that each member of the congregation will want to be a part of the process we are involved in one-way or another. So far there have been two main opportunities for that to happen, and to be honest, we have struggled to encourage people to get involved.
The first was mentioned in our last magazine when we asked for people willing to help us consider questions that would enable us to discover the way ahead for our congregations - we called it 'Building on the Best.' Sadly, between the two congregations only one person has agreed to help.
The second came on Thursday 26th April when we had a meeting of the Interim Ministry Monitoring Group. This was a chance to let representatives from presbytery and the General Assembly's Committee knows our thoughts on what was happening. There were 40 people at that meeting - not really a large number from the two congregations.
We do have an opportunity to make things happen during this time of Interim Ministry but it will not happen if people are not willing to get involved, to make their mark, or to put their cross where it matters. Clearly, everyone has different commitments and different capabilities, but I do urge you to consider how you might be willing to play your part. To put it into election jargon - Your Vote Counts!' Your opinion matters! Your help can make all the difference. Your church needs you!
Every blessing
lain
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