Let’s Live Report
On Saturday September 2nd 2006 there was certainly plenty going on in a drizzly Glasgow – a Robbie Williams concert, an international conference of neurological scientists, a Scotland international football match...........and the Guild Annual Meeting in the Royal Concert Hall.
Our National Convener, Lesley McCorkindale, extended a very warm welcome to the platform party, to the many former national leaders, to representatives from various organisations (including Baillie Iris Gibson representing the Lord Provost of Glasgow), to members of Councils and Committees of the Church of Scotland, to representatives of the 2003-6 and 2006-9 projects, and to the 2000 members of the Guild who had travelled from all over Scotland and beyond to attend Let's Live 2006.  There was an enthusiastic welcome for a young man described by the National Convener as “the youngest Guild member” - her five-week old son Ross, contentedly asleep in his Daddy's arms.
Our praise was led by a string quartet from the New Scottish Orchestra, under the direction of pianist Esther McColl, and the first hymn, “Sing to God new songs of worship”, to Beethoven's “Ode to Joy” tune, resounded in the auditorium.  Opening worship was brought to us by our new Committee Conveners, and included a Bible reading, the words of a CH4 hymn, and a poem (by “Anon”) entitled “My life is but a weaving between my God and me”, before prayer.  There is so much varied material we can use in worship in our own Guilds!  Retiring National Convener Norah Summers and her team were thanked for their contribution to the Guild;  Lesley said, “All have led with integrity, care and grace”.  Norah reflected that the past hectic year had been “lots of work, lots of blessings, lots of fun”, which is a pretty good description of Guild life at its most fruitful.
This year's Moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly, the Rt. Rev. Alan McDonald, started his talk “Come with me............”, an invitation to travel with him in our minds to South Africa in 1990 and to a squatter camp church service in which he began his sermon by peeling and eating a local orange, celebrating the fact that he was able to buy South African fruit after years of boycotting it as part of the anti-apartheid campaign.  (He peeled and ate an orange while telling us about it too, sharing some with his chaplain, our General Secretary Alison Twaddle, who helpfully produced a pack of wipes when he'd finished.)  That South African congregation knew about the Guild, their “sisters in the struggle”, and our trade boycott in the 1970s.  Many of us wished we'd had our Bibles about us as he talked about the moment in the Gospels when Jesus was asked, “Which is the greatest commandment?”  Matthew, Mark and Luke all emphasise different aspects of His answer.  (Look it up for yourselves!)  The Moderator stressed that we must go beyond a quiet, private relationship with God to loving our neighbour in positive action.  
“Come with me................” he urged, this time to Edinburgh in May, during Norah Summer's Guild report, when “the General Assembly went silent and hung on her every syllable” as she reported the grim fact that 40,000 women from Eastern and Central Europe were being “imported” for use as prostitutes by World Cup visitors.  “The Guild does not close its eyes and concentrate on just loving God”, he said;  we are “honouring the body” by campaigning against the miseries of this human trafficking.
A third “Come with me............” invitation took us into the future, when the Moderator will be taking part in Scotland's Long Walk for Peace, an 85 mile pilgrimage from Faslane to Holyrood to protest against replacing Britain's nuclear deterrent, Trident. He urged us to join the walk for part of the route, to show that we do not believe that we love our neighbours by targetting weapons of mass destruction on them.  “We can start by walking a few steps together for peace”, he said.  
We were still trying to take in these challenging words as Lesley thanked him and the platform party moved down into the body of the hall to leave the stage area clear for the 14 members of the Edinburgh Signing Choir under the leadership of Mary McDevitt.  They performed three songs for us: “I hope you dance”, which is a version of “Footprints”;  “Holy is the Lord” in which we were taught some of the signs so we could join in; and “Be still, for the presence of the Lord” in which we sang along quietly, unbidden.  Signing songs is beautifully graceful to watch, and the invitation to participate was very moving (once some of us had worked out our lefts from our rights).  Did you know that the sign for “Jesus” involves indicating the nails in His hands?  That says so much more than mere words, doesn't it?
Our next speaker was “bemused Anglican” Adrian Plass, the Christian broadcaster and writer, whose talk was entitled “Life, cheese and pickle”.........although we had to wait a wee while before finding out what cheese and pickle had to do with anything.   He illustrated the theme of God's overwhelming love and grace with a story about himself, trembling outside the headmistress's room at the age of six, having been sent there to be punished.  When she called him in, she was having her lunch and just about to start dessert.  Seeing the poor little soul quaking before her, she decided against punishing him as he deserved and instead she fetched a second bowl and spoon and shared her ice cream with him. That's how God loves us!  And  “until you know you're loved by God, you can't do much”.  The whole talk was a skilful mixture of humour and poignancy in relating personal anecdotes and observation, drawing out the message that we need to know that God loves us so that we can respond to that in our actions towards others.  And the cheese and pickle?  It was part of a food stash Adrian took with him to Spring Harvest this year, which he was planning to keep in his room rather than risk losing it in a communal kitchen, until his obedience to God's ways  encouraged him to share it.  He ended his talk by quoting from his own poem, a response to Jesus' words on the cross, “It is finished”.  “Finished?  Not until I know the names of half the people in my street”.
After singing “Christ be beside me”, which highlights Jesus' presence in our physical as well as our spiritual lives, General Secretary Alison Twaddle gave us a review of the year's Guild activities, including the HIV/AIDS discussion topic, the Time Out away day and the conference on human trafficking.  The final total for the six “Dare to care” projects was announced:  £693,564.24.  The offering was uplifted while we sang “Give thanks with a grateful heart”, then Lesley said grace and we all went off to lunch and to browse the Guild and Wesley Owen bookstalls.

Reassembling at two o'clock, we sang “We cannot measure how you heal”, a very fitting introduction to our next speaker, May Nicholson, whose book “Miracles from mayhem” had also been on sale, with all proceeds go to her charity the Preshal Trust.  “Preshal” is the gaelic word for “precious”, a reminder that each one of us is precious in God's sight.  In telling us her own story, May took us from a happy but poor childhood in Ferguslie Park in Paisley, through a swift downward spiral into the world of drink, drugs and mental hospitals at the age of 15, then years of living in an alcoholic haze before committing her life to Jesus and becoming a Christian community worker, in Ferguslie Park then in Mid-Craigie, Dundee, before starting the Preshal Trust in Govan nearly three years ago. Missing out whole chunks of her life story, due to time pressure as well as “because you'll need to buy the book”, May nevertheless painted a frightening picture of the world she had inhabited as a young woman and even as a young mother.  Her own mother never gave up on her “prodigal daughter” despite May abusing her generosity and being filled with self-hate.  The turning point came around 20 years ago when a kindly neighbour told May she couldn't accompany her to a church meeting because she was too dirty;  she went along in defiance, watched in baffled amusement as the group sang hymns,  read the Bible and prayed together, then heard in amazement a man in the group pray for her personally.  He prayed that even though she was “filthy inside and out” God would touch her and clean her;  in speaking to him afterwards, May realised that her life had changed for ever that night.  She spoke about the work of the Preshal Trust which welcomes 350 folk a week over the threshold.  It provides free breakfasts and lunches, clothes and furniture to those who need it;  arts and crafts workshops to build up confidence and bring in sales income;  literacy and numeracy classes;  positive parenting support;  befriending scheme for prisoners before their release;  Christmas gifts and summer holidays for children who would otherwise see none;  a New Year party without drink to help recovering alcoholics........ As May said, they are based in Govan opposite the shipyards and perform the same function, some riveting broken lives together and others welding them to keep them strong and whole.  She believes the secret of caring for others in God's way is to “stop, look and listen”.
We sang the aspirational hymn “I have a dream” which paved the way for the next section of the meeting.  Guild Information Officer Fiona Punton and Helen-May Bayne, retiring Projects and Topics committee convener, gave a lively presentation about the six “Let's live” projects, which had been selected from 30 submissions.  Video clips of our new project partners showed not only their dedication to their own causes but also the depth of respect and affection in which they hold the Guild.  We also saw video clips of the Project Partner Co-ordinators from Presbyterial Councils at their conference earlier in the year, excited about the projects: Supporting homeless Scots (Borderline), Action for the Adivasi (Christian Aid), Beyond the blues (Crossreach), Walking in the light (Leprosy Mission Scotland), Miriam:   changing the world together (Lydia Project) and Touching the untouchable (Scottish Love in Action).  We were encouraged to know that almost £2m has been raised for Guild projects since 1997.
All too soon it was the end of the afternoon, with National Vice-convener Ann Bowie thanking Lesley for her leadership of the day before bringing the meeting to a close in worship.  She read a poem about being the hands, feet, eyes, lips and friends of Christ, before leading us in prayer and announcing the last hymn, “Shine, Jesus, shine”, which seemed to raise the roof of the Royal Concert Hall.  Our National Convener Lesley McCorkindale pronounced the Irish benediction, ”May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.................and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand”.  And suddenly we were out into the street, with the damp Glasgow pavements rising to meet us, clutching our papers and our bookstall purchases, on our way back to our own Guilds all over Scotland, secure in the knowledge that God does indeed hold us in the palm of His hand and that we have a job to do for Him, Whose we are and Whom we serve.

(Our thanks go to Carol Herbert of Kirkcaldy Council for writing this lively report)

From our Speakers:

we must go beyond a quiet, private relationship with God to loving our neighbour in positive action. 
Alan McDonald

until you know you're loved by God, you can't do much.
Adrian Plass

riveting broken lives together and welding them to keep them strong and whole.
May Nicholson