Page 22 - Contact Spring 2021

Church Family
This past year has been one of uncertainty
and much change for a lot of people and our
family has not been untouched by Covid and
the associated lockdowns, restrictions and
difficulties.
The first lockdown meant the closure of
schools, many workplaces and, sadly, places
of worship which for me was one of the more
difficult restrictions. Church has always been
at the centre of my life growing up in High Kirk,
getting married to Brian and then raising our 3
children Jack, Eva and Charlie. Like a lot of folk
reading this, our weeks were punctuated with
all things associated with church– from Sunday
services, Rush Hour, The Movement, GB, BB,
music ministry, technology team, committees
etc. While I appreciated getting a rest from all
the taxi services back and forth to High Kirk,
my heart was heavy with the knowledge of all
that we were missing out on. I truly had no idea
how much I took for granted; the coffee time
after church, the fellowship with others in
Sunday services, catching up with the leaders
and girls at GB and those passing conversations
in the car park when doing the pick-ups. When
lockdown was announced I knew immediately
how hard it would be to not visit my parents
or sister, or to be able to catch up with friends
but I perhaps underestimated the importance
of our church family and the impact that this
could have long-term.
At the beginning of last year Jack and Eva began
to talk about becoming members in High Kirk
and that there would be membership classes
coming up which they wanted to attend. Brian
and I were delighted that they felt that the time
was right to take this step and we encouraged
them to sign up. In the end the classes had to
be held on Zoom, like everything else in 2020 it
seems!
However, the kids adapted well and were
committed to follow through with the course
and make their professions of faith. As I look
back over my Christian journey so far and
that of my children, I can see the importance
of all those small moments or words spoken at
Sunday School or Rush Hour, in the Sunday
services, at GB or BB, at The Movement or in
Lifegroups. My faith was certainly nurtured at
home by my parents as I hope too for my
children, but the church family at High Kirk
played a role that can’t be measured.
As we move towards Easter again and the
anniversary of that first lockdown, I can’t help
but think of all the moments our children have
missed out on this year, whether that’s a word
of advice from a leader in an organisation, the
building and strengthening of friendships with
their peers, fun at The Movement under the
crazy leaders (they know who they are) or just
the safety and comfort of the ‘same old, same
old’ every week that we would all love to get
back! The impact of the church family on my
life and that of our children is something that I
thank God for more and more as time passes
and the longing to meet together again ‘like
normal’ grows.
We are blessed in so many ways to have each
other in our church family and to know that
there are people who want to pray for us,
come alongside in the happy and sad times
and help to nurture our children in their faith
and solidify what we try to teach them at
home. The old saying ‘it takes a village to raise
a child’ cannot be seen more clearly than in
our church, our home, High Kirk.
Catherine Kelly