Creative tension

Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say... Exodus 4.12

There is something unnerving about Inveraray, whether it is the proximity of the seat of the Dukes of Argyll or the presence of an historic jail? If hostile is too strong a word, it does feel as if one is treading on dangerous ground. Or maybe it was simply that I am here to introduce the presbyters of Argyll to their destiny: Clèir Eilean Ì, the new Presbytery of the Highlands & Hebrides.

It would be fair to contrast the warmth of welcome which I received personally with the scepticism with which my subject matter was greeted - and this from those who had voted for it! Yet change is threatening and the gains are not always obvious. Certainly there is everything to play for because we all know that, as a church, we are not where we ought or want to be. The question is what exactly are we aspiring to become and how much are we will to sacrifice to get there?

Our evening worship was conducted entirely be eXp, the Cowal youth group which is the fruit of former youth leader Paul Beautyman's work over many years. What we saw and heard was a fraction of the full team, whose infectious zeal offers a glimpse of what can be achieved among a notoriously elusive demographic in western society today. Gun gabhabh an Tighearna bho neart gu neart sibh!