Thomas Baldwin previews some of the reports to this year’s General Assembly, which takes place online from May 22-27.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND GUILD

IN ITS first Assembly report for two years, the Guild acknowledges that it has faced ‘enormous challenges’ over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but states that the report ‘is written with a sense of optimism and determination at its heart’: “Its aim is to look ahead to better times when we can learn from our experiences, take account of our losses (both operational and human) and seek to concentrate on the things we can control and the opportunities that lie before us.”

The losses acknowledged are financial, both general and for the partner projects; and of fellowship through the lack of meetings at every level. The report states that a number of local groups will not be restarting after the pandemic, and ‘that is a loss to the Guild but also the congregations of which they are part’

However, the Guild has responded to the pandemic in innovative ways, including taking the Annual Gathering and Big Sing at Christmas online, with music enhanced by the voices of the Guild’s ‘Virtual Choir’. Other new events include a virtual soup lunch, a virtual afternoon tea, and a Lenten event celebrating the six Project Partnerships as they came to an end. “These events can never replace the ‘real thing’, but they have served to maintain a sense of fellowship and hope amongst many of our members and to provide a platform where the voice of the Guild was heard,” says the report.