While church buildings remain closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Church of Scotland is very much open for business.
The Moderator the Right Reverend Colin Sinclair is coming to the end of his tenure, but during the lockdown he has been keeping in touch live on Facebook each day at 10.00am.
He has not been alone, as his wife Ruth has been sitting alongside him helping. This is very much her role anyway, and she would have travelled with him to the presbyteries of Inverness and Dundee during April, but the calendar was cleared.
Earlier in the year they travelled together to Zambia where the Moderator lived for three years as a young man. He was part of an exchange through Scripture Union, and lived mainly in his car during that time.
Rev Sinclair and Mrs Sinclair are keen to help anyone who feels in need of pastoral support at this time, and in doing so they have become a bit of a Youtube sensation. The first video attracted around 40,000 viewers.
You can find the Facebook live recordings here on the Moderator’s Facebook page.
We spoke to both The Moderator and Mrs Sinclair about this newfound stardom and the way that Covid-19 changed their own calendar and daily lives, but also about how the church is helping too.
Crossreach is the social care arm of the Church of Scotland and runs over 35 residential services in Scotland, half of which are care homes for older people. They have already put out a call for overalls, disposable gloves and face masks if anyone has spare equipment available.
The Church is also supporting vulnerable people in parishes with food and one to one support.
People can donate through www.crossreach.org.uk or contact supporters@crossreach.org.uk or telephone 0131 657 2000.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
