Message from the Moderator
Dear friends,
Perhaps as never before in recent times, folks have ‘tried praying’! The global pandemic has raised so many questions, not least about our vulnerability and mortality, that many people have found themselves wondering about deeper matters and not least that which is usually referred to as ‘spiritual’.
There are some within the Christian fold who adopt a somewhat sneering, cynical attitude in response. Much as they criticise those who worship at Christmas by asking: “Where are they on the other fifty-one weeks of the year?”, they contemptuously dismiss those who have turned to prayer in recent times, suggesting that looking for God in an emergency is shallow and infantile and hardly worthy of a response.
I take a different view. An entirely different view.
Should those who are genuinely seeking be dismissed and put off, or encouraged? If there is even a mustard-seed worth of faith, shouldn’t it be fed and nourished?
The trypraying initiative has grown significantly through the years and now has a significant degree of ‘brand recognition’. Its simple seven-day format offers a challenge, but one that seems attainable to those who may be doing no more than enquiring. And just as importantly, trypraying has now built up a considerable case history; that is, people who have tried praying and have met with significant responses.
I can’t imagine that there’s a better year for congregations to have a go with trypraying. I’m delighted to commend it to you and offer my encouragement to those who make it happen, that it may be a blessing to the whole Church at this time:
Every blessing,
Rt Revd Dr W Martin Fair
Moderator
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
