Drylaw’s White Church welcomes new Minister
Drylaw Parish Church has been without their own for over a year so they were delighted to welcome new Minster Jayne Scott last month. Jane brings considerable community experience to Drylaw and she’s quickly settling in to her new surroundings.
Jayne, who was born in Stockport and brought up in Port Seton, has been an ordained Minister for 26 years but she has worked in a number of roles – she’s been Principal of a theological college, chief executive of Safe Space, a Fife charity that supports victims of sexual abuse and the Director of Community Development Network. She was also parish minister at Culross and Torryburn in Fife. That wide experience will be valuable as Drylaw church faces an uncertain future.
“I have a great interest in community learning and exploring possibilities for communities to get better and stronger. The threshold between church and community should be an easy one to cross – church shouldn’t feel like an alien environment”, she said. “I have been appointed as transitional Minister for five years. It’s fair to say the future of this church is very uncertain – clearly, it’s an open-ended future and my role is to uncover the potential we have here. Our church is right at the heart of the community and communities need facilities that can bring people together. Church, when it is done well, is where you have that intergenerational intersection.”
“Drylaw only has three public buildings – the church, the school and the neighbourhood centre – and what happens in those three buildings is key to helping Drylaw thrive. I have already had very positive discussions at Ferryhill and look forward to meeting Roy Douglas, the manager at Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre. I hope the connections we can make will benefit the local population as a whole: initial conversations suggest there is a lot of scope to look at working in a collaborative way.”
Jayne has made some changes already – the church sanctuary (above) has been reorganised to become a more welcoming space – the regimented rows of pews have gone, replaced by a warmer, more informal circular seating arrangement, and a ‘junk room’ is being cleaned out, painted and converted into an office. You get the distinct impression that this won’t be the last of the changes to life at Drylaw Parish Church.
“I’ve been here a month now and that’s really been getting to know folk and settling in, but I have a lot of plans and ideas. I’m very much looking forward to my time here,” Jayne continued. “We have a number of activities planned in the run up to Christmas (see below) and I’ve arrived at a very busy time, which is really good. I’m looking forward to meeting more people: offering support when life is difficult and welcoming people to Drylaw church – a safe and welcoming place”.
Good luck, Jayne – and Pepper the dog!
Coming up at Drylaw Church:
Sunday 7 December
Vigil time in the Sanctuary from 4 – 5pm. A quiet time to reflect and remember loved ones.
Sunday 7 and Sunday 14 December
How would you like to sing in the church choir on 21 December? Now’s your chance – practice and rehearse from 10 – 10.30am for the performance during 11am Sunday service on 21 December. Open to all!
Tuesday 23 December
Christingle from 11 – 11.30am
Christmas Eve – Wednesday 24 December
Watch Night Service 11.30pm. All welcome.
Christmas Day – Thursday 25 December
Morning Service 10.30am. All welcome.
Port of Leith Housing Association’s (PoLHA) sheltered housing complexes raised nearly £2,800 at their Christmas fayres – over £1,000 more than last year.
