After five months 'commuting' from Glasgow I am now a resident of Abronhill. Having heard that I was looking for accommodation a kind lady from Abronhill Church of Scotland spoke to her neighbour who amazingly, comes from a village about eight miles from my own village in the Isle of Lewis. My landlord Donny Smith who is a member of the Burns club is well known to several people at Cumbernauld Old. He is also a fluent Gaelic speaker, who often puts my broken Gaelic to shame, and is in the Cumbernauld Gaelic choir. 

A minor landmark was reached in September when the six month report was submitted to the Emerging Ministries Task Group – this is one of standard requirements from funding bodies as they want to ensure that the work is going to plan. It was nice to get a favourable review from the EMTG members who "were keen to express their support for you all and were very heartened to see how much Donald has managed to engage with the community and begun the process of building positive relationships from which a new model of church can hopefully develop. They wish you every blessing for the continuing work and look forward to hearing how things have further developed in due course". 

Two exciting mission opportunities have recently been identified for the Points North Area. A new form of church service called “Messy Church” seems really appropriate in an area with so many families. Contact has been made with the Acorn Foundation who resource Listening Initiatives in the community. Listening is “a bridge” as very often people cannot hear the good news of Jesus Christ that we have to share until they have had a chance to tell their own sometimes painful stories. 

At the heart of the strategy for mission in this area are house groups formed along the lines of what in missional jargon is known as Missional Communities. In October a “Condorrat” house group was formed in Westfield which meets weekly on Thursday evenings and in November a “Cumbernauld Old” Missional Community will begin meeting weekly on Sunday evenings.

Donald Morrison (Points North Worker)